10×10, Performance and Presentation by Eliza Ladd, May 2017, Sarasota FL
About the evolution of my creative work.
- UPWARD
I started out in Nature, seeing nature being in nature.
That which is above, below, before, behind, 360 degrees around
The great grace of the sky
The nimble delicate reaching fingers of the trees
Arching canopy of protection, open possibility, potential expansion
The heavens
- SEE THRU DRESS
Blue Flowers from the sky fall down into my eye
Some people ask why the sky is blue, I know its cause of you
I did locate in the body, visual at first,
The innards, the container, the animal feet
The conscious – ness
The magnificence and the distortion
- ROCK LAND
I did see and feel the trees and the greenery
The boulders underlying in the belly
The rocky hill land scape moving across the territory
Sprouting upward growth, round rooted weight
The flock of birds soaring up above
All in a composition on the page
I did draw
- WALKING THE LAND
I did translate this drawing to the three dimensional space
Marking with materials on the theatrical floor
Circling with bark, drawing with stones
Walking the land in front of our very own eyes
Freedom came like a pearl, freedom was made by you and me
We were running across the field we were running ourselves right in to the heat
Long thigh bones tore us off, in to the distance, in to the horizon,
Forward in to the next big thing
- HOLDING THE STONE
I am like Boulders on the sea shore
Water moves me and I rub in to myself
Water moves me, water moves me
Vga d ding ding da dee dee, gene gee da ba da bada bee ba bem
- ENSEMBLE TOOLS
We did work with tools and objects, we the ensemble,
We did sound and sing and stir and plow
We did dig and spoon and fork ourselves forward Like an
Army of Ants, Band of Gorillas
Cloud of Gnats, Congregation of Alligators
Drift of Swine, Murder of Crows
Plague of Locusts, Parliament of Owls (see b. dilley)
Tribe of Humans, group gathering herd
Ensemble
- SHAPE SHIFT TO ELEPHANTS
We did shape shift (shift our shape) to become the Elephants
As the humans are able to do
Walking with our weight as Mama and Baby
Iron railroad hooks served as our feet.
We did study the land in this elephant mind
In order to understand our place in the natural order of things
- ONE AND FOUR
In our play, Elephants and Gold, we find the composition of One and Four
One Poacher Man and four Sleeping Elephants.
Dynamic did emerge, tension between the two,
Competition for space, race, money,
Who’s space? Who’s place?
Conflict on this earth between the animals and the humans and the greenery
- STANDING ON STONE
Here we are, standing on the stone
Supple toes curled around the circular earth, gripped (to the big ball)
So easy to tilt, lose balance, fall, run astray, topple topple topple over, run away
Four ways of building a tower to the sky, four ways of saying I don’t want to die
O la cantita, bonjour aujourd’oui, yekka sala manaka onoko ye ha yea eheh
10. NEEDLE HANG
Here I am
Just watching the world go by, yup, hust watching it pass.
Its pretty, its ugly, its disgusting.
(skin of teeth, . . .)
Here I am, yup
Thank you.
I love you