DAYS 2 & 3 - BARRETT

I'm realizing now that I may not be able to post each day, since I'm sometimes away from Happy Valley for more than a day at a time, and currently am without my own computer. Grrrrrr. In that spirit, I'm writing for two days in a row here, anticipating that I won't be back til Thursday. 'Nuff said on that topic.

I find Pete's system of card-dictated image and sound generation fascinating, and would like to know more about how it works. Pete, if you don't mind, I'd love more detail on that Alternately, I can call or come by soon to see for myself, if you don't mind.

At any rate, your previous word of "Knighthood" sparks my imagination, though I'm not sure with what. The main character of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Philosopher's Stone" is a blind young woman. One of my heroes/fixations over the years has been and remains Joan of Arc. Andersen typically seems to have elevated women to saint-like status, placing them on pedestals of innocence and purity seemingly unattainable to males, as shown through his main character here, known as the Angel of Devotion, I believe. As you may have guessed, I'm connecting her now with Joan, known by the French as Joan d'Arc.

This reminds me of "The Passion of Joan of Arc," directed by one of my all-time favorite filmmakers, Carl Theodore Dreyer, which features the near-mythical Antonin Artaud in a supporting role as the only noncorrupt member of the priesthood who otherwise uniformly despise and condemn the French folk hero. The native spelling of her name I find to be especially stirring... "d'Arc." It reminds me, perhaps all too predictably, of "Dark," which I find inherently appealing.

DARK:

a) The heroine is blind after all, which shows itself later as a strength against the attempted deceptions of the Evil One who would thwart her mission of rescuing her fallen brothers (deluded through the heightened sense each possesses, their individual strengths having become the Achilles heel through which the Devil brings them down). Her blindness I have likened in previous discussions (years ago) with Ike and Josh to be a metaphorical equivalent, for me, of "going into the darkness" and relying upon the Unknown as Source for creation and discovery.

b) I think also of The Dark Knight, as vigilante hero, outside the system and unforeseen by the oppressive elements of Gotham's criminal underground. She, as the Angel of Devotion, may seem an unlikely equivalent to The Bat-Man indeed, but in such a world where her princely brothers had all gone out one by one as the seeming best and only hopes of their father's court, she does have a way of coming from out of left field, unexpected and, unlooked for (quite so, having no functioning physical eyes, indeed). A superhero in essence, cloaked already in the secret identity of the flesh's protecting frailty.

c) I'm reminded of that very short song by Low, I think at the end of "The Curtain Hits the Cast"(?), titled "Dark"(?):

There are many things to be afraid of,
like boats and death(?) and flying high.
There are many things to be afraid of,
but don't be afraid... of the dark.

That's the entirety of the lyrics (the song's maybe under a minute or less), but it comes to mind, perhaps because of the simplicity and childlike, comforting faith of the piece, in association with the purity of this Angel of Devotion. Perhaps I would use that actual song in the piece, or a reflection of it.

This makes me think of tying her with a less obvious kind of luminosity than the brazen, overpowering Sun or perhaps even the romantic and elusive Moon... perhaps she could be tied to the "Invisible Sun" that The Police dwell upon in thier "Ghost In the Machine" album (my favorite by far). In fact, their track (from that same source), "Secret Journey," puts forth that:

Upon a secret journey, I met a holy man.
His blindness was his wisdom,

and later the refrain,

You will see light in the darkness,
You will make some sense of this,
You will see joy in this sadness,
You will find this love you miss,
and when you make your secret journey,
you will be a holy man.

Here's a theme I should respect and note: I find great consolation and inspiration in Darkness, Blindness, the Unseen shining forth, perhaps undetected for its dark rays burning against a sable sky. The Angel of Devotion as Joan d'Arc/Dark/Knight of the Dark, associated perhaps with a single firefly's invisible light...

In the vein (mentioned in my previous post) of drawing upon or evoking folklore from all over the world, perhaps this use of "d'Arc/Dark" could also be employed even obviously (through use of a French accent when speaking her lines, if she has any at all), thus evoking not only Denmark (Christensen's native home), but France as well. The piece could serve not only as a kind of kids' science fair on the nature of the various senses, but also as a way of highlighting diversity through depicting the various characters (even the sibling princes and their sister) as suggestive of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. This could also supply me as performer with a way of exploring, further developing, and showcasing a range of dialect skills! A tricky part of this would be to avoid the danger of showing any cultures as somehow inferior, and the French as superior to them all. Don't want to confuse the show with unintended messages. Hmmmm. May just cross that bridge when I come to it, rather than worrying about it too early (and thus cut out possible creative discoveries that would otherwise be edited out before they could even occur).

Noted: Joan Dark.(?)