cris wrote:
>>>Basil Bunting
declared that 'Poetry must be read aloud'. How many do that. And when they
do, how aware are they of the subtle particularities of what Steve Paxton
calls the small dance , taking place in their bodies?
Any thoughts? I'm keen to hear on this<<<
This is something which has interested me for some time. The entire body is
continually mapping and consulting with what becomes constructed at various
levels as realities. In one model it absorbs/seeks out about one hundred
billion bits per second, the mind/perception at the same time swimming in a
data space many many times this size. This raises all sorts of interesting
questions. Clearly not all of this activity is conscious. However, by
subconscious I do not mean the gizmo laden productions of Freud et al. Not
that I am necessarily against, or for, them. I simply mean to refer to a
well of far from raw data/experience which is not always available at will.
Memories can seem to lodge in the body, one can see people fall into
coherent posture-dialects as they talk about particular things. I am
interested in seeing how this might relate to the creative process. By
focusing in a meditative way on particular parts of the body, e.g. the feet,
subtler and subtler sensations arise which may then transform into images or
sounds. There are also breathing techniques which stimulate "dead" parts by
altering the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance. (This can lead to a full body
orgasm. You have been warned.) Temperature is another medium. I tried
things like somatic meditations in a sauna longer and longer times (drink
lots of water before and after). And texture: walking incredibly slowly in
bare feet and noticing every sensation. When doing any of these exercises,
I would avoid having any desire to come out of it bearing a hot little poem
in my hand. Rather the idea is to open out in general, to enjoy doing
nothing, to notice the subconscious (I have an idea that it can get quite
crotchety if ignored constantly or indeed if it feels one is exploiting it
for creative software), to remember that I have a body.
Yes and yes to reading aloud. And to noticing.
Randolph Healy
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