August is called Performance Month

I just was chatting with my cousin, Grace, on facebook chat. A spotty communication device but I was so glad to see her online! Because she is in Guatemala in the Peace Corps! Man, do I feel lame when both my sister and my cousin are so cool to have the commitment to do this AMAZING thing. Grace said the sweetest thing that she loved reading this blog because my life was interesting to other people! WOW, what a compliment!So I got on blogger to talk about my week. It has been a crazy one. This weekend I had two different performances I was involved in. One my mentor invited me to be a part of her solo dance at RedCat. RedCat is THE avant garde art performance place. This was QUITE an opportunity! And I LOVE dancing with Hana van der Kolk...her dance is an amazing mixture of meditation and exploration of what reality means...what emotion is when isolated and how we can play with that in performance specifically a thing we box in as dance but we all like to call art.
(this isn't the performance we did this week but another performance I did with Hana at MOCA...it gives you an idea as to what we are into and do)...will get photos of this performance when available.)
All week we had rehearsals...this was made easier for me cause my friend Hanna (i know there isn't that many people with the name Hana or Hanna and here are two of my very best friends with the same name!). Hanna was also in Hana's dance. ;) Hanna was asked to be in this dance also. And she DROVE us downtown...making my commute SO MUCH EASIER. we rehearsed Monday and Wed. and then performed Thursday and Friday. It was AMAZING because at the end of Hana's solo...she recites the words to Prince's Die for You....and then starts to dance in one space...just dance to no music...and slowly 7 of us come down and join in...but the music to the song comes on when half of us were on stage....people sort of chuckle...because many of them didn't realize the words she said to them...looking them in the eye were the words to a pop song. we all dance with the intent to stay in the present moment....and say to with our bodies I will die for you to the audience. it is a magical experience to be a part of!I won't get into every part of Hana's solo dance because it would be a long blog entry but my favorite part is when she asks for volunteers from the audience....she has them to simple actions with her...intimate actions....touching shoulders with hands....nose to nose...mouth to mouth...and i was lucky and very happy to be a part of this during our dress rehearsal...I was the second volunteer....and Hana told me to go nose to nose with her....and that when she breathed out I would breath in....and everytime we should think about how we were both dieing togehter with everybreath....wow one...it is HARD to do that type of breath excercise when nose to nose with someone....and two i would just get chills every time I thought that we were both dieing...but not in a sentimental I know Hana as a friend isn't it sad she will die and I will die it was more bodily than that! amazing experience.I met a lot of cool people and go tot dance with old friends I adore!This was just my Thursday Friday and all of this was done while working my new job. Which I am enjoying immensely and adjusting to. When I talk to people I am just so glad for my life and how it is going.
THEN Saturday was Pedestal & the All Girl Band's mega event at 18th Street Arts night. There was weeks of planning..well months of planning with this event! And man, we had the coolest posters....and we hired a gourmet ice cream truck created by architects to sell ice cream...it was a two part event...with us traveling with our mobile karaoke unit and having people sing off scrolls that we had in amazing tubes created by Hataya...THEN a few hours later we had a karaoke party in the 18th street studio.Our mobile karaoke unit was a BIG hit! and even got told to stop cause people were being to loud singing with us! BIG hit! loved it! It was a lot of fun and we wore crazy outfits!
The party was fun too...but all of us were pretty wiped out by then and we couldn't serve booze so things were a little more quiet than I was hoping....but man oh man three of us organized a two part high energy performance! what an accomplishment!
(these two photos are for Grace....this is the sweater that i sported at Xmas this year...that she has been showing to her Guatemala friends....I know hot right! And i want her to show her my new fav shirt which is this green and black number...not as outrageous but still very Paige-a-licious)

This week I have a part in Barbara T Smith's fundraiser! and the next weekend magic garage! The performances continue! and so will this blog! Try to keep up! ;)
I will need a long break after this month!

well i don't have any words of art wisdom today.little tired from dog sitting to tell you the truth. i was so worried about doing a good job
or someone trying to get into my friends beach apartment...that i had anxiety dreams for 2 hours before i could really fall asleep. but there was a beautiful moment while walking Bo, the dog, yellow lab of comfy friendliness...SORRY no pics of Bo....that everything felt really sublime. hours later i realize everything feels sublime in the morning cause you aren't getting enough oxygen to your head to really compute everything.So backing up the weekend. busy i don't remember all i did....oh it comes back. we are starting the public practice 2010 collaborative...still to be named....and it is EXCITING....more later when we have our public branding more in place. ;)

SO sometimes you do things for love. sometimes you travel all the way to west hollywood on two buses in scorching heat...when you haven't eaten enough to feel close to someone far away. you know i worry...i worry i worry that my family in Minnesota and abroad think i don't care about them or think of them. i don't always do everything right...i forget aunt and uncles' birthdays...i come home as much as i can but it is hard to show appreciation from a distance...so I trekked to west hollywood...cause i miss my sister...BAD. I was sweating bullets surrounded by well balanced elder women...sweating more than me in one case....taking in an amazing folk dance concert based on a wedding....i was there cause one of the dances was Uzbek and Megan just went to a Uzbek wedding in K-stan...I mean i love dance and I was there for that...I love dance for the channeling of spirit...for the way you let go and let things flow...as the Uzbek dance started I knew I was there for Meg to in some weird way be closer to her and I teared up...cause it did make me feel closer to her...as I imagined her at the wedding of her host sisters just two weeks ago. how we show love is so strange. we see the movies...we read the books...where you wonder why people do what they do. the actions they decide to take. it is very hard to show love to someone when they are around---So we make up rituals of solitude that relate back to that love. strange. we all do it. i took a photo of an old old truck thinking of my dad. i listen to this or that song to remember a friend or an old flame.....

these are my thoughts for the day as I sit cross eyed in front of the computer alone.

7-11-10

Wow, what a week! Week number one of my job completed! It has been a good week…great week really. The adrenelaine that is connected to a new job is intense. I woke up early every morning. Grumpy but awake. Waking up not of my own free will is very hard for me. I know boo hoo but I am adjusting to a very set schedule whereas Grad school was hurry up and then wait. Grad school was RUSH RUSH RUSH. Now in my fellow ship there is a bit more time to pay attention to detail. There is time to ask questions more than in Grad School. I learned a lot this first week. From condition reports to honorarium forms, I enjoy jumping right in. All the people I work with are really fabulous! I will next learn about the more PR side and purchasing side of things. I CAN’T WAIT to be involved with the woman’s house exhibit that is coming up in 2011!

As for life outside work, I GOT ANEW BIKE! (I will insert a pic soon). I love her. Her name is Maggie Maude she is the most amazing color and a Raliegh beach cruiser. My Dad sent her to me. What a lucky daughter I am! AND I learned how to put together a bike cause it came in parts! So I learned a lot about bikes already. I haven’t taken her on a big trek yet. But I hope to go to the farmers market every Sunday with her.

I am really glad I like my new job, but my mind and body are in transition because of the shift. I think I am so good at change but it really stresses me out. So I am trying to find ways to stay balanced and grounded. Change really shakes up my body, I get tense and I grit my teeth. So I am trying to take it easy and not be too hard on myself.

But of course I also want to pack in A LOT of things during the weekend!

Friday I met with Christine Suarez about our dance collaboration! I am REALLY excited. We are both on the same wavelength on many points about performance. I am REALLY excited to start rehearsals for our piece together.

Saturday was the day I put together Maggie Maude. I also got some books from the library’s booksale area! What a great thing! Then Andy and I went to the premiere screening of “Night Sky” which I was a dancer in!!!! what fun it was to see Alison O’Daniel’s film. It was gorgeous and cosmic and of course I liked seeing myself in it! I will attach the link to the trailer. AND my dress was in it too on the partner I danced with (I was in the lesbian couple of the movie). Alison wanted me with this dreamy tall African America guy who is deaf but the deaf actors wanted to stay together…which I get. And Xio my partner rocked and we had fun dancing together. So Xio wore my patterned dress from England…so whenever I saw it I thought of the life that dress has had.

Andy was so sweet for going with me as he had had a long day. And then on the way back to the car we ran into like 6 PEOPLE!!! It was hilarious…then we got a little lost going home and past the spot where he and I had changed his truck tire last summer…it was really weird and reminded me of the movie we had just watched! Life was telling us something..i have no idea what…but andy and I do love to get lost in LA together!

Today! I went to Chinatown for a Public School event (see I told you I packed it in cause I am working now!). first I met with Hataya and we had a meeting about our collective! We are getting reved up for 18^th Street Art night! I am SOOO excited for our karaoke performances and for eating Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches. It is my job to write up the scrolls for our performances…got to get on that this week! Then when we parted ways I watched this break dancers warm up for a competition it was AWESOME. And while I was watching latinos, Asians, white guys, black guys, one girl, one adorable tiny kid, and who ever was there break dance…I realized again why I love LA. I can stumble into Chinatown and there is everyone dancing to the beat on a Sunday afternoon all together. DJ mixing it up for us all to groove to…WOW…the wind would rush through the plaza and for a second we wouldn’t be sweating throughour tanktops…and I just had to sigh and say AHHHHHHHH….inside my head.

Then I went to Adam Overton’s experimental music class at the Public School. Which I enjoyed thouroughly through a allergy headache : (….Sun Ra was first up and his friend Steve led the class…I have to say I really liked hearing a chronological listen to Sun Ra! I also think that Sun Ra was HEAVY on the west African influence early on….i felt like I was in ghana while listening to Watusa..the second recording of it….Next was Albert Alyer…who if you don’t know him…check him out…though my head was really achy by then….I think he is worth some listening. I am not a huge fan of jazz or know that much about it…but I have heard Alyer’s stuff twice now…and I think it is unique. I like this misunderstood artist mystique…and what it leads artists to do. I wonder that if in alyer’s case the reason he turned to God was because he needed something or someone to understand what he was doing. Or like if he said his music was about God people wouldn’t give him such a hard time….the class is about spirituality and music. I missed the John Cage class with a zen focus. In two weeks is satanic and psychedelic music…which will be a trip! Just google The Public School and you can see all sorts of classes to take at this site.

OK OK its 940pm and I have got to break down and take something for my allergy headache and get some rest before I start another week.

Fourth of July

So I spent Fourth of July away from my homeland of Minnesota...and I must say there is nothing like a Lake Cabin Fourth of July and I did yearn for it. But I pulled my self together :) and got out there!
I spent a day being as lazy as possible on the 3rd and succeeded. Then andy called me up and said LETS GO! and there was only one thing to do....GO! And go we went. We tried to go see the Baths show at the Troubadour...but as we stood in line for tickets THREE people before us it was sold out. Disappointing but as Andy and I both said we have been talking about seeing live music for months...this was our first step to realizing it....so next time we will get in...probably still won't be on time but we will get in. :) INSTEAD we went to the Landmark and saw Toy Story 3...something we both wanted to see badly and in 3D and next week in LA it is going totally 2D except in far off theater. I thought it was a great plot and the cartoon was beautiful. I don't want to be a spoiler but there were some suspenseful parts...well played pixar.
As fourth of July proper started.....I got up early to get to the Farmers market on Grand View....WOWZERS what a great farmers market...a big organic section. It seemed like i spent a LOT of money but left with $20 in my pocket....In the pic there is tri colored organic green beans...yellow plums...white nectarines...yellow honey nectarines all organic...kale..two types of lettuce...organic strawberries..honey...half a loaf of rosemary bread...CHOCOLATE with salt and almonds...and blueberries and lavender...and one chocolate pastry to start my fourth! I don't know how that happened. I bought fancy things like gourmet chocolate and honey! All these gorgeous nectarines!! YUM....I love all the nectarines in Cali...yellow ones...white ones....ones that taste SUPER sweet...more mellow ones...yummies....so I made out with lots of organic produce and didn't feel like i had spent all my money on a head of lettuce. This farmers market had a great feel and I can walk there and then bus back.
After that I napped and then went to the beach with my friend Sally. We enjoyed my first in a long time sober Fourth of July. Which was amazing to do in the waves of drunks that were in Venice. We beached it. We had some hamburgers, fried zucchini, french fries....WOOOOO. Sally lives close to the beach so we went back to her house and watched Alice and Wonderland. Then we didn't brave the drunken crowds to get to the Marina where the fireworks but were able to watch from afar very clearly on a bridge in Venice. It was great. I didn't have to get stressed out by the crowd and saw my beloved fireworks....there was a heart shaped one...yup I am that sentimental to LOVE that they made a firework like a heart....the grande finale was AWESOME. I give the Marina an A- for firework display.....I keep comparing it to the Boston fireworks...it could be...COULD be...but I am not ready to commit to that.
So overall a great stress free Fourth of July. It felt great to laze around with my friend and we ended the night with another movie and a root beer float. :) Funny People...WATCH THIS FILM! Not only was it funny but it hit home a bit. There is this scene in the movie where Seth Rogan playing the moral up coming comedian gets in a fight with a girl for sleeping with his roommate like they are a couple while they hardly know each other. I can relate to Seth :) on that one. Sometimes we ask incredibly emotional things from strangers cause we want more from than or we see the potential to be happy with them. Of course I also related to Seth Rogan cause he is living in LA trying to make his dreams happen. his search for mentors and his ambition. i get all those things.
Overall a great weekend! Though I am sure I missed The Peacock, the christening of Uncle Joe's new pontoon, and some romping games of Pounce and Bananagrams. :( Next year....I am hoping to get home for all that fun!

LIFE! is good!

THIS IS WHERE I LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS ME LOOKING GOOFY on my first day of work!

LACMA and Female

Yesterday I went to LACMA. I haven't been since the first summer I was here. Mostly because I have been swamped with school. Today I had a meeting there to meet with Jules Rochielle about possibly being involved with her project, Portable Cities. Which I am honored she wants my input and involvement. Here is a link to her awesome project http://www.portablecityprojects.org/lace-residency-public-interest/

I went early to check out the art, Beuys and Baldessari have exhibits up. And what a combo! Beuys is very hard to exhibit because his work was performace, design, and art in the name of a political agenda. But more importantly I think was his belief in mystery. That you shouldn't explain away the meaning of your art or the passion in your art. But it leaves the objects a bit lifeless in the gallery. My favorite part of that exhibit was the animal prints. Images of animals that are just scratches of images are so mysterious and beautiful.





BALDESSARI what a man! everything blends together spirit, image, design, deliberation, and performance. This man really is quite an artist. There is spirit in composition. God has a nose. letting an image breath. letting an image float. composition is a language that creates a feeling.
It is all in the overlap for JB. He has these paintings that are images from photos or film with paintings and double exposure....that is where we live in reality and that is where art lies. Art lies in the overlap...of image and composition....JB lets you create reality through setting up a structure that breaths. The man plays with simple things but in building on those simple things creates quite a story. Hope is a color and a form on top of a field of images....brillant.



as you can see i enjoyed what I saw because it made me think about how distance and overlap work....how the impersonal can become personal and how the personal can be mundane....our brain creates images...our culture creates images (cinema-photo) and text creates images...all of these things meld together into something more...something with flesh.



so this brings me to my own work which was on Venice Beach today. For thirty minutes I meditated on my femaleness. I meditated. I embodied. I was flesh with the thoughts the structures of female. This idea was inspired by Adam Overton when I had explored speaking to art works through a feminine gaze....but men are female too! He reminded me of this. The experience personally was gratifiying and I learned a lot about receiving. How male and female are so intertwined every wave contains both. But the FEELINGS of this were rather magical. As I sat there letting life in and not judging, that THAT is something I want to do every moment of my life. And I left the beach more ready to receive life. I thought of Baldesarri as i sat there and i wondered what he would think of this work. At first I thought man he would hate it...there is no image to overlap to make reality POP. And then I realized he would love it...it sure as hell wasn't boring ;) and that in going to FAR into the cinema image in our everyday life this act of getting make to reality is an act of consciuos overlapping!!!!! woo!
Here is the link to the awesome series I am doing this work through
http://plus1plus1plus.org/subtle-bodies-series/paige-tighe-2010-06-30
Lets just say there was a lot of good thoughts and feelings that happened today....as for yesterday Jules and I's meeting was very fruitful! and i am excited to work with people and movement within Jules' residency at LACE! So excited about art! yes!!!!!!!!!!!

Past and Present

So here I am days away from my new job! I must admit I nervous. Something I won't be showing on the first day of work. :) I have been procrastinating about pulling out the paperwork I have to fill out.
Today was an easy day...one in which I slept through my scheduled chat with my friend Russell in England because I forgot while really enjoying a few more hours of sleep. Something I just couldn't seem to get the past few weeks.

I am organizing my room as I organize my life. I have bought a few new dresses, shirts, and pants so I can look and feel professional. I got a dresser today after two years of letting my clothes rule my room. :) I got some mirrors from the studio and rearranged my room.



And my biggest project is creating a book of all the momentos I have kept the past two years. What is amazing is....it feels like mementos from about 5 years...there are all these amazing things and people that were CRAMMED into two years....and the thing is these are just the mementos and moments I chose to keep and organize. There were so many more that were thrown away....either in good riddance or just that everyday things seem less important when collecting objects. We want to tell stories with objects...not always mundane moments.
So I photographed a beautiful moment from today. This bowl of cherries....what a bowl of cherries, eh? I think of my Dad when I see cherries cause he likes them so much. I got TWO pounds of cherries for $9 at the farmers market. The red ones are earthier and more full bodied, whereas the yellow/red ones are sort of tart and light. I know he would be a bit envious of all those cherries. :)

Had a great tea time chat with Michele J. I hope to someday be as grounded as she. I also hope to someday teach and facilitate like she does in some capacity. We both agree my new job is going to be a GREAT opportunity for me to learn and to see what my capabilities and interest lie within curation.

Yup getting nervous and EXCITED for my new job!