as an artist in the exhibition Cha Real Smooth: Art with Instructions i made a participatory songwriting installation.
this included a jar of prompts, drawing and writing materials, and a large unraveling scroll of paper.
once exhibition attendees picked a prompt, responded through drawing or writing on the scroll, they could add their names to an email contact list.
now i am currently working on an EP by translating the scroll into sound and songs.
so far i have written the first song. in march 2024 i performed this first song at Pinch Cabaret alongside the scroll.
the lyrics for the first song of the scroll's translation:
mom, i know you love alice
and that real estate agent
named marty apartments
mom, i know you’ve got 3 hearts
one for alice
one for marty
and one for yourself
though they ache
boldly
please know i mean no harm
i hope your flight was uneventful
soon i will knock knock knock on your window
hi im here
and im spiralling
because staying still
is harder than moving
your surrounded
by all kinds of colours
and music
and branches and leaves
that i’ve never seen
i left my email
in brown pencil
so you could write
about your reality
reality and the void
under blue water
reality and the void
next to the toilet bowl
reality and the void
and you and me
reality and the void,
is there nothing at all?
no there’s a world
and there is a seed
yeah there is a world
and there is a sprout
and that sprout says
may we all witness
collective healing
may we all witness
collective growth
and beside the world
there are shapes of darkness
and beside them shapes of love
to remember
to love myself
just as hard
as i love the earth
there’s a face
looking one way
and there is another face
it's looking the other way
but they’re connected by dark circles
they're connected by something called dragoste
dragoste is love
even when frightened
with those wide eyes
just wait for something
that everyday sunrise
even if you can’t see it
it rises whether you like it or not
XE is over there
under the tree
amongst the black rocks
and the grass and leaves
we heard the story
of being drugged at the strip club
of not remembering 2 hours of the night
but a kind stranger ensured safety
and that’s why
it’s okay to ask for help
it’s okay to fall in the void
it's ok to love a real estate agent
it’s okay to spiral lightly
it’s okay witness healing