John Cage Saved My Life
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
About a month ago I was fixing a Cartrivision video machine (the first home video system - 1972) on the walkway of my apartment building when I met my blind neighbor Arlene. Over my servos and her cigarettes we got to talking. Her vision loss was a complication from diabetes. She needed a sighted friend to measure and administer her insulin for the next two weeks. I had never used a needle before, but am always looking to take risks with friendly strangers. I took her up on it. It would be a good performance piece.
After 14 injections she moved away to live with her sister in Hawaii. Our project was a success.
But, then the next week her friend Tish came by to clean out the apartment. Apparently the stress of living as a dependant on a strange island had given Arlene another heart attack. (I didn't know she had one in the first place!)Arlene had never come to terms with the seriousness of her condition. She always believed her vision would return. (Her friends stored her photographic equipment in case the impossible ever happened.) Now she refuses to take heart medication nor stop smoking. The doctors say that if things don't change she has less than a year left. (She's only 51.)
I fear that severed from her community and the visual world, Arlene doesn't believe she has a life left to live.So, our relationship is less finite than I had originally conceived. The best thing I can think to do is engage her aurally with the world. She listens to a lot of radio and studied visual design, so I will collaborate with her on a sound art project. I'll ask her to produce weekly audio segments documenting her experience on the island and generally charting aural landscapes. This regular practice will hopefully keep her engaged creatively with a larger community and open her awareness to the wonder of her remaining capabilities. There are sensational images beyond the spectacle.
Now I'm putting together a package to send her. I have a microphone, but am still seeking a simple portable high-quality recording device to facilitate her work if you have a spare. She should be able to mail recorded media back to me each week (MiniDisk?).I will syndicate all of her work on the web then commission you artists to produce monthly and hopefully annual programs / derivative works. It would be wonderful if anyone else wants to mirror Arlene's participation and record your own periodic soundscape/documentaries. I'd send them back to her. Together we can create a common aural arena.If you have any ideas about this project, I'm interested in development. Critical collaborative constructive play is the trustiest steed I've written.Jamie B.JBurkart@ucsc.edu(831) 425-3740335 Felix St. Apt 3Santa Cruz, CA 95060
After 14 injections she moved away to live with her sister in Hawaii. Our project was a success.But, then the next week her friend Tish came by to clean out the apartment. Apparently the stress of living as a dependant on a strange island had given Arlene another heart attack. (I didn't know she had one in the first place!)Arlene had never come to terms with the seriousness of her condition. She always believed her vision would return. (Her friends stored her photographic equipment in case the impossible ever happened.) Now she refuses to take heart medication nor stop smoking. The doctors say that if things don't change she has less than a year left. (She's only 51.)I fear that severed from her community and the visual world, Arlene doesn't believe she has a life left to live.So, our relationship is less finite than I had originally conceived. The best thing I can think to do is engage her aurally with the world. She listens to a lot of radio and studied visual design, so I will collaborate with her on a sound art project. I'll ask her to produce weekly audio segments documenting her experience on the island and generally charting aural landscapes. This regular practice will hopefully keep her engaged creatively with a larger community and open her awareness to the wonder of her remaining capabilities. There are sensational images beyond the spectacle.Now I'm putting together a package to send her. I have a microphone, but am still seeking a simple portable high-quality recording device to facilitate her work if you have a spare. She should be able to mail recorded media back to me each week (MiniDisk?).I will syndicate all of her work on the web then commission you artists to produce monthly and hopefully annual programs / derivative works. It would be wonderful if anyone else wants to mirror Arlene's participation and record your own periodic soundscape/documentaries. I'd send them back to her. Together we can create a common aural arena.If you have any ideas about this project, I'm interested in development. Critical collaborative constructive play is the trustiest steed I've written.Jamie B.JBurkart@ucsc.edu(831) 425-3740335 Felix St. Apt 3Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Comments (7)