NON:op's immersive platform for virtual performance and participation
volume 2:4
Please Join Us
as we investigate alternative futures
through music, poetry, performance, and observation
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
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Welcome to the August-September 2021 issue of NON:onLINE!
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On the Cusp
by William Brooks
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. . . but of what? “The New Normal,” apparently—or so pundits and politicos would have you believe. But what is the “new” normal? Doesn’t something normal have to have existed, have been created, have happened before? (Before what? Well, before “the cusp,” at least.) It’s normal for me to brush my teeth—meaning that I’ve done that repeatedly before and now I notice it if I don’t. It’s normal
for me to have a second Manhattan . . . ditto, except I notice it more
than I notice if I haven’t brushed my teeth. So what’s “new” about being
“normal”? Something is amuck here.
Maybe
what is meant is that we’re on the cusp of the New Abnormal, but we are
encouraged to hope that the abnormal will seem normal after a while.
Reasonable enough—but if the abnormal becomes, sooner or later, the
normal, what becomes of the abnormal? Don’t we need an abnormal
to set boundaries around the normal? Don’t we need an outside before we
can talk about inside? Don’t we need others before we can understand us?
Imagine
that, somehow, we don’t. Imagine that we can understand ourselves
without having to create an “other.” Imagine that normality is so
inclusive that there’s nothing left to be “abnormal.” Imagine that the
new embraces the familiar, that the stale becomes fresh, that the
unimaginable can be imagined.
If that
is where we’re headed, we’re on the cusp indeed—the cusp to end all
cusps, but not to end revelation or aspiration or beauty. And then
follows a simple question: can art help us? Art . . . well . . . what is
“Art”? Susan Taggart once said that “Art is short for Arthur”—but
that’s not enough. Can art and Art and Arthur and all the rest (of us,
of them): can they (can we), together, help us? To whom—to what—else can
we possibly turn? What else can propel us toward a new non-normal—not
ab, just non—that grants us freedom from restoration, from
recapitulation, while containing within itself all of our individual and
collective histories?
On the cusp. NON:op. NON:normal. NON so fair in Flora’s treasure . . .
• • •
To find out more about our program initiatives and how to participate,
please visit our website.
To make a donation to NON:op Open Opera Works,
please visit the SUPPORT page on our website.
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[ IMMERSIVE ] ON THE CUSP ... at EAR TAXI 2021
a hybrid in-person, live-stream event exploring "otherness" and power
September 24-25, 2021, 8pm • SITE/less, 1250 Augusta Blvd
Purchase In-Person or Live-Stream Tickets: FRIDAY • SATURDAY
WORDS : MUSIC : ACTION
Historically,
Western culture has identified persons who are not members of the
privileged class as “others” or “outsiders” and seeks to conceal their
existence by casting men to play women’s parts, whites to perform in
blackface, redface, and yellowface, and non-disabled actors to portray
disabled characters. Where are the boundaries between sound, speech,
act, silence, metaphor, and the real? Who determines who is "in", who is
"out," and who is "other"?
On the Cusp
investigates these and other boundaries. Poised between theatre, music,
and movement; between story, song, and act; between mundane, alien, and
ecstatic, the four works that are On the Cusp open onto dark
worlds of difference and reveal who is “outside” and “in,” where power
and agency lie, and how art can further resistance.
a ladder beckons . . . a narrative fractures . . . a voice is silenced
Performed
by artists with and without disabilities and part of its thematic
exploration of the junction of “Otherness” and Power, On the Cusp features Playing God,
a new work by Enama based on the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, with
additional classic works of the past century by Sam Shepard, Samuel
Beckett, and Tristan Tzara.
NON:op
seeks to foster community, collective responsibility, and mutual
respect and well-being; to this end, it is offering performers and
attendees two options to choose between. Individuals may gather in
person, in which case they must comply with Covid-19 protocols, or attend via live streaming.
Performances
are Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25, at 8pm, and take place at
SITE/less, 1250 W Augusta Blvd, Chicago, Illinois. General admission is
$20 to attend in person and $10 to access the live streamed
performance. Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketleap. For more information visit our website or call 773-418-0119.
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Ear Taxi's 2021 theme, HEAR CHICAGO,
is a call to engage with the vast multiplicity of styles and traditions
that constitutes Chicago’s expansive musical identity in the 21st
century. It expresses our firm belief in the vitality of Chicago’s
musicians of color, and especially the contributions of Black musicians,
as a significant part of the city’s complex history. As our society
takes steps to heal from the multiple tragedies it is currently
experiencing, as well as its centuries-long legacy of injustice,
inequity, colonialism, and violence, it is most importantly an
invitation to challenge, collaborate, and change together as artists and
listeners. We remain committed to doing the steadfast work necessary to
progress towards a just society.
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[ INTERACT ] Aural Neighborhoods partnership with OHC and MSAE
The
economic disparities between different Chicago neighborhoods have been
clearly identified and publicly displayed in community activist and
photographer Tonika Johnson’s Folded Map Project.
But are these equally perceivable in the world of sound? What are the
sonic characteristics of different neighborhoods? How are they the same,
how do they differ, and how can these questions help us understand
matters of difference, agency, and power?
NON:op Open Opera Works and Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology
present a second season of Aural Neighborhoods—two soundwalks that
reveal the aural characteristics of diverse Chicago neighborhoods. This
year we encounter Logan Square and Back of the Yards, disposed on the
two sides of the south/divide that bisects Chicago. Like last year, from
each neighborhood will be drawn a sound trail—a complete audio
recording, with sonic points of interest clearly identified on a map.
Each point of interest will include one or more photos, a description,
and a brief audio sample.
Created by teaching artists Allen Moore and Paige Alice Naylor and presented by means of an app—OHC2021—Aural
Neighborhoods will lead the user through clearly marked sound trails,
information, and brief recordings to learn more about the sonic features
unique to each neighborhood. Additional content, including information
on our teaching artists, will be available on our website.
Audiences may interact on site or virtually with one or both sound
trails, and they may submit their own recordings, photos, and written
responses to be included in our Aural Neighborhoods blog.
In
addition, interested persons can experience the neighborhoods directly
in Aural Architecture: Listening is the Other Half of How We Know.
Site-specific interventions—relevant to a site’s architecture, history,
purpose and acoustic properties—will occur at sonically and
architecturally significant sites in both neighborhoods: Logan Square
and Back of the Yards. Teaching artists will guide audience members,
supplementing their aural experience and architectural encounters by
exploring how architects design sound into our built environment. Aural
Architecture complements the Aural Neighborhoods soundwalks; it invites
participants to engage architectural spaces to feel and enjoy their full
social, musical, spatial, and symbolic implications.
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[ REPORT ] Viral Silence: community portraits in response to Covid-19
VIRAL SILENCE
Community Portraits in Response to COVID-19
There
was something transformational about the time. When I couldn’t do
anything else but sit inside. I learned not only that I am capable of
being still, but that I am capable of immense creativity of stepping
into the person that I am. I wrote, I transformed, I emerged totally at
peace with myself. I guess this is what it’s like to face your
mortality.
R.A. Frumpkin, Carbondale, Illinois
• •
Well it makes you more considerate about things.
It makes you value the family more.
It makes you more united when you go through these things.
It makes you appreciate what you have.
Azalea Amezquita, migrant farm worker
(Spanish translation by Martha P. Orsonio)
• •
The
Writers of Oya developed wonderful insight and respect for both artists
and activists within the CU Community. They gained a great deal of
confidence by conducting the interviews and recognized that activism
stems from a deep love for one's community.
Ashanti Files and The Writers of Oya, Urbana, Illinois
• • •
Viral Silence: Community Portraits in Response to Covid-19
was a statewide collaborative community commissioning and
virtual touring program that captured local experiences
and responses to Covid-19. Three commissioned Illinois
artists/teams collected materials within their community—including
recorded and live sound, poetry, and interviews—to create
original audio/performance works that were presented
within the communities and live-streamed across the state. The
project’s participatory processes and resulting portraits will help
to heal and bind communities around memory, loss, and
rediscovery.
The
following indoor and outdoor events took place in three Illinois
communities. Click on the links to view the streamed program.
Adaptive Response – June 12, 2021, 7pm followed by a reception
Carbondale Community Arts, 304 W Walnut St, Carbondale, IL 62901
Ground/Work – June 19, 2021, 4pm (DIY Sound Workshop 2:30pm)
Club 21 Community Garden, 90th and Loomis, Chicago, IL 60620
Champaign County, March 2020 and Counting – June 30, 2021, 7–10pm
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, 202 S Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Viral Silence: Conversations with Three Illinois Communities – July 7, 7–8:30pm
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, 202 S Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
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Viral Silence was supported by
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[ PARTICIPATE ] THEATRE Y, The Emerald Camino
The Emerald CAMINO PROJECT is a game of communion—a 12 day pilgrimage along Chicago's Emerald Necklace
(Logan Square, Humboldt Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale,
Little Village, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Washington Park,
Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn and Jackson Park.) Each walk is a 6-hour guided conversation with a stranger while walking side by side through a Chicago neighborhood... with spectacle from time to time... ending with a meal.
Because we need each other.
If you want to join us through any of these neighborhood walks, sign up here!
(Come as often as you wish and pay what you can or nothing at all!).
For more information and to register visit Theatre Y
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Thank You to Our Funders
Robert H. and Terri L. Cohn Family Foundation
For the second year in a row, NON:op Open Opera Works has received significant support from the Robert H. and Terri L. Cohn Family Foundation.
We thank them for their generous donation during these difficult times.
Because of funders like the Cohn Family Foundation, NON:op can continue
to produce engaging, participatory, online experiences that expand the
meaning of arts and humanities and provide opportunities for all persons
to participate in the arts.
Illinois Arts Council Agency
A big thank you to the Illinois Arts Council Agency for their support of our Viral Silence: Community Portraits in Response to Covid-19
project with an Arts Tour project support grant. Arts Tour funding has
paid three artists/teams to create and present work in partnership with
local communities in Auburn Gresham, Urbana, and Carbondale Illinois.
The in person and virtual tour was presented in June.
• • •
 OpportunitiesNON:op is
seeking volunteers, interns, participants, assistants, artists, and all
who have creative ideas and who would like to work with NON:op to
implement a shared vision. Please contact Christophe non [at] nonopera [dot] org if you would like to find out more and join us as we create an alternative future.
• • •
SUPPORT NON:op by purchasing HPSCHD@50 merch!
Also available are Musicircus T-Shirts, John Cage CDs, HPSCHD@50 buttons, and souvenir programs.
Click here to order and support NON:op and its artists. |
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Thank you for taking care of each other by staying indoors and practicing social distancing.
We hope you and yours are well and staying safe as we work to create an alternative future.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
Christophe, Bill, Yolanda, Theo, Saba, and all of NON:op's creatives, volunteers, and interns
NON:op is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Please consider supporting NON:op's program initiatives, creatives, and mission with a donation today.
All donations are tax deductible according to federal guidelines. Thank you.
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