Visuals

I love the website etsy - it's an online store for artists and crafty types and I've found many a beautiful object there (and have a long, long "need/want" list).

So, I was procrastinating at work and decided on a whim to do a search for the word "corpus."

This is the first thing I found:

It's made by an artist named Tom J. Byrne.  You can find the print at his etsy shop.

I like that it's at once a simple, natural pose (torso & legs), yet his arms seem to be in a torqued position.  Simultaneous action and repose.

Your thoughts?  Leave them in the comments box!

Why Do We Seek?

Here is a fascinating article that Melissa sent around about our obsession with seeking information, and how technology today is very well, and dangerously, suited to the way our brains work. Anyone who has a day job in front of an internet-abled computer should read this article!

http://www.slate.com/id/2224932

Here's a highlight:
"So addicts become obsessively driven to seek the reward, even as the reward itself becomes progressively less rewarding once obtained. 'The dopamine system does not have satiety built into it,' Berridge explains. 'And under certain conditions it can lead us to irrational wants, excessive wants we'd be better off without.' So we find ourselves letting one Google search lead to another, while often feeling the information is not vital and knowing we should stop."

I think this definitely applies to our addiction to obtaining material objects. We shop and buy and consume because we think it will be rewarding somehow, but when we actually make the purchase, we go home often feeling let down, because the seeking of the object, the desire for it, is more exciting than actually having it.

In addition, we are using material objects to fuel our addiction to seeking information: computers, iPods, iPhones, Blackberrys, etc. We need the newest gadgets to get the information faster and make everything available right at our fingertips at all times.

I also really liked this list of adjectives: It is an emotional state Panksepp tried many names for: curiosity, interest, foraging, anticipation, craving, expectancy. He finally settled on seeking.

It appears that seeking information is a drug like any other, and a very addictive one at that. After all, they call it "crackberry" for a reason, no?

New Post from Alex

This is from Alex, our costume designer, until we can figure out how to get her account going!! 

Thanks to the magic of whatever records my tv shows for me, I was able to watch Tuesday's So You Think You Can Dance tonight and wow, Kathryn and Legacy danced to Two Steps away by Patti Labelle. Though they were focusing on fear, i think the movement really illustrates what we were talking about in terms of the weight of excess and what i was trying to hit on in terms of the emotional attachment we have to our things. Although Kathryn is trying to escape Legacy, there is an element of wanting him at the same time. She reaches for him, caresses him. Anyway, here is the link, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Hqa9YJAmQ

Thanks Alex!

Lyrical Inspiration

On my way to work this morning, thinking about our rehearsal last night and the project at hand, I suddenly found myself singing this song:

Look at this stuff
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?
Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got whozits and whatzits galore
You want thingamabobs?
I've got twenty!
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more

Synopsis: Excess

Excess will look at our society’s obsession with and intense love for stuff.  We’ll investigate how our materialism has manifested itself into loneliness, isolation, and disconnection in exchange for the satisfaction of inanimate objects.

Text: The Cherry Orchard

Preparation: Excess

Here are some articles of interest that we looked at when talking about/brainstorming on Excess:

Storage!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06self-storage-t.html

Excess squandered:
http://nymag.com/fashion/09/fall/58346/

Finding romantic love in material objects:
http://jezebel.com/5331003/woman-to-wed-amusement-park-ride
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

And just plain excessive behavior:
http://jezebel.com/5350154/hey-nineteen?autoplay=true

The Unveiling

Hello! And welcome to the blog Constellation.

This is a process journal that will be created by the artists working on The Anthropologists' newest show: For the love of....

For the love of... is a series - or constellation - of short dance theatre pieces. This series is all about love and obsession. Juicy.

For the love of... is a mash-up of classical texts with contemporary dance and movement. In three original pieces - Falling, Excess and Corpus - the words of Shakespeare, Chekhov and Kafka will illuminate our obsession with other people, material objects and our own selves.

We'll be posting updates on the scripting process, some rehearsal video and pics as we create these pieces. We hope you'll feel free sharing your thoughts and helping us find our way to something great to show you in February 2010.