Paige Barnes & Amy Denio
(P:SA showing on Saturday 10 August 2013)
we were a group of six artists
we knew one another
we entered the space together
the lighting was dim
it was quiet
we took off our shoes
left our bags by the door
moved into the space
two female artists both nude
with white fabric covering their faces
were in the white space to the left
the floor was strewn with maple seedpods
& they were throwing handfuls of them into the air
the six of us crossed the floor to the beige daybed
we removed our clothing & placed it
in personal bins under the couch
we took thick rolled towels
& made seats for ourselves
in the white space with the artists
gathering lifting dropping throwing falling shedding scraping sliding
once supposed to fell away
& this is only this
so let us experience it
came forward
we got energetic & sat up & knelt
& threw seed pods with exuberance
when in time our energy
died down naturally
paige and amy left the space
we turned to follow their progress
paige went behind a row of privacy screens
amy moved off to our left
a video projection appeared
on the hanging plexi-panels
that paige had disappeared behind
vellum frosted panels
hung one beside the other
at a slow angle
it took a moment to realize
what i was seeing
at first i thought it was
a static desktop image
like the one you see
before the video plays
it was live feed from a camera
there was a blue light in the space
& a pubic triangle at the table’s edge
& the crease of a woman’s stomach
amy still nude stood to our left
& began playing the clarinet
the body in the video moved
the body of paige the blue body
falling softly to the table
hands caressing the wood
face down felled fallen
head sideways turned
arms out like blue notes
a maple seed pod having spun down
now looking for soil life
not only were the screens at an angle
but the table & paige’s body were at an angle
which gave the scene a rich pathos
like in the lamentation of christ
painted by andrea mantegna in 1480
this is about death & rebirth
about renewal & salvation
here we have
the humanity of paige
the light shifted
from blue to orange-red
& paige’s body to purple
her breathing expanded
& contracted a shadowy arch
between the table & her waist
the line of her spine stood out
the line between her butt cheeks
the purple shadows of her fingers
she sat up on the edge of the table
raising & lowering her torso
making another dark shadow under her
which she claimed power over
i own this shadow these notes this blueness
then she lay on the table
face up head towards the camera
towards us
hands on her body
one high on her chest
the other low on her stomach
she breathed in waves
first one then the other hand
swelled like the sea
she moved to the music
the music quickened
it moved through paige differently
pulsing & shaking
making the fat on her legs jiggle
i noticed i could see paige
between the panels
& found the reality
of her nearness conflicting
with her video distance
the body was simply & naturally sensual
she moved forward
& made a shadow on her body
a darker mark
she gave us her hands and wrists
in a close-up
open closing dance
then she lay face-up on the table
with the crown of her head
towards us towards the camera
& her face flattened
i didn’t recognize her
she struggled to rise
a sneeze from the audience so raw
from the bodies on the floor
when paige moved out
of the camera field
i looked around at the space
sparse & clean
ritual areas set up
with glass bowls candles
benches chairs low red lights
paige approached the panels
she stood facing us
rocking forward
pushing a panel forward
with her hand making it rock
she then buckled back away from it
she stood in the next panel
sideways classic shower pose
when she stepped away
her form grew hazy & large
the quality of amy’s music changed
she began alternating tones
between clarinet notes & her own voice
which gave her music a hovering quality
like a maple spinner slowly fluttering to earth
paige emerged from the panels
& walked with amy to a bench
set against a white wall
with a large metal bowl on it
we moved our mats closer
amy sat at one end
playing & vocalizing
paige at the other sat
marking herself with red paint
using a red sponge
& drawing liquid
from the metal bowl
she made lines down her torso & legs
spirals around her arms
a curled fern on her back
amy gave longer tones
with a new consonant quality
no-ohhh no-oh-ohhh
this was a cleaning score
a ritual preparation
after long calm application
paige was properly marked
& moved alone into the raised back room
a coyote mask on the floor
stood looking at a mirror
paige picked it up
& held it to her chest
she tied it to her body
with long black ribbons
then walked away from us
she stood against
a white wooden wall
lit with little votives
not until she blew on it
did i notice
the floor was covered
with reddish dirt
a plume of dust swirled
in the candlelight
amy’s voice changed then
to puttering & blumbering
her lips made new wilder sounds
paige kicked up dust behind her
& put her head in the dirt
i could see the spiral paint
on her back & around her arms
like a candy stripe or a devil’s tail
then her left arm got caught
in the coyote’s mouth
she stiffened & struggled to free it
both she & amy increased their efforts
with louder longer movements & tones
paige’s hair fell from its tie
though the struggle was devised
the purpose was clear
to relive the release
it didn’t matter
this was a shamanic healing
after struggling & failing
paige stopped & easily removed
her arm from the animal’s mouth
she had seen her own release
she removed the mask
shook it until
a few curled sticks fell out
removed the long ribbon ties
& held it to her face
the face seemed longer & more vicious
she put a handful of dirt into it
& held it to her face again
she blew one big huffing breath
smoking coyote!
she tipped the mask up
& dirt slid down her neck
& chest & marked her
with a new track of brown
she spun like a maple leaf
& laid down in the dirt
the creature was dying
amy’s voice got longer & louder
paige was on her hands & knees
propping the mask in the dirt
pushing it forward with her face
then she retreated
& left the mask there
without a body
she reclaimed her body
& stood & danced in it
i saw some of paige then
the dance i know she owns
because i’ve seen her dance it
but now it had
a new vocabulary to it
with some low standing spinning
when paige stepped forward
i feared it would end
i didn’t want it to end here
i felt it wasn’t finished
from where i was sitting
a chair was often in the way
of my viewing
a chair at a desk
with a book on it
& a bottle & a glass
now that the mask had dropped
now that the ceremony was over
i wanted to know
what she’d been through
in her own words
i wanted her to verbalize it
to a close & distant friend
i wanted her to sit at the desk
& write a letter
& read it aloud as she went
not a letter she pre-composed
but a live letter
about what she’d been through
i felt a great potential
in her body just then
like she’d had wild visions
a remarkable journey
that might be cemented
into her soul & mind
if only she could give it words
something was being kept from us
a k mimi allin