Actions/Reactions

I toured the Act/React show by myself on an afternoon when it was fairly slow--not empty, but slow. I found myself engaging with the work differently than I had expected. In Cardiff's To Touch I was as enraptured by the performance of my hands across the table as I was with the elaborate soundscape. Initially, I was least intrigued by this piece based on the previews I'd seen, but I found it to be my favorite, as I kept going back to it several times.

With "Peg Mirror" I was actually more intrigued by the sound of the rotating pegs than the visual pleasure of seeing my silhouette reflected in such an unusual way. I would stand as close as I could, to the point where the image was completely indiscernable, but where the pegs were in constant motion. The sound reminded me of a soft but persistent rainfall on grassy earth.

Generally speaking, the pieces that didn't have that kind of "vertical" element of perception were less intriguing to me.

Journal

I plan to follow the Oxford journal Screen for the remainder of the semester.