Thank you. This is very moving (& alarming and soothing all at once). The writing embodies the narratives and you are so right about it all. I guess also stillness is needed as an antidote to a performative hyperactive dangerous presidency & political moment.
So happy to rediscover you and your work here after I left Twitter. This is compensating for my distress at seeing the outgrowth of the feed on this app as well. I'm going to hold this thesis in my head alongside whatever thoughts I'm forming on the role of camp in our culture--whether that too has been entirely compromised or whether it can be punctuated by truly spiritual and still moments that restore what was embattled, jagged and subversive about it. It seems to me that the combination of over the top theater and _polish_ is the death knell, really. The Marvel-fication of all art.
Wondering though, as someone born in 1966 and who is trying to teach college students to engage with long-form texts (movies, novels, concept albums, concertos)… wondering how we build a culture that engages fully without the spectacle.
Cecil Taylor would say: the audience has to meet me halfway, more than halfway. Could Sade command attention today? How do we (re)build a culture where the performer is secure not pandering?
Absolute poetry, devastating details, caustic & necessary social commentary, but absolutely poetic! Thank you, HH
Thank you. This is very moving (& alarming and soothing all at once). The writing embodies the narratives and you are so right about it all. I guess also stillness is needed as an antidote to a performative hyperactive dangerous presidency & political moment.
Very skillful and elegant landing on Madleen, which felt earned and inevitable. (Di**y used the pseudonym Frank Black —WTF?)
Real. Amazing. Bring back the power and radical potential of performance.
Feeling so much gratitude for your wondrous language in service to the power of your insights. A wake-up call to be still, and know. Beautiful.
Thank you!
So happy to rediscover you and your work here after I left Twitter. This is compensating for my distress at seeing the outgrowth of the feed on this app as well. I'm going to hold this thesis in my head alongside whatever thoughts I'm forming on the role of camp in our culture--whether that too has been entirely compromised or whether it can be punctuated by truly spiritual and still moments that restore what was embattled, jagged and subversive about it. It seems to me that the combination of over the top theater and _polish_ is the death knell, really. The Marvel-fication of all art.
I’m down with this, all of it!
Wondering though, as someone born in 1966 and who is trying to teach college students to engage with long-form texts (movies, novels, concept albums, concertos)… wondering how we build a culture that engages fully without the spectacle.
Cecil Taylor would say: the audience has to meet me halfway, more than halfway. Could Sade command attention today? How do we (re)build a culture where the performer is secure not pandering?
Brilliant.
Read, reread and then double take to reread again.
The essay version of a southern Black granny saying “get somewhere & sat down”. Very necessary in these times.
Harmony, thanks for your words. A moving dive into the heart of this "ugly beauty."
Thank You. Powerful.
Magnificent. Thank you.
Tremendous. Thank you.