Monday, December 26, 2011

aerial view

these grooves are deep - december 9, 2011 - tucson, az

Saturday, December 24, 2011

i didn't kill her!!!

i didn't kill kid paris! i hid her (like in a closet somewhere...). to protect her.

she needs permission to come out. she needs to know its safe. i just have to give her permission...

(and the process continues...)

!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

(re)found: ballet / summer / scorpion jellies

(re)found: mall performances

(re)found: saturday morning spot

re(found): duke drive

the street i grew up on.

(re)found: the desert

a hike with one of my oldest, dearest friends during this residency.

(re)found: my stats


do i feel shame around this?
yes.
do i want to?
no.

step one: acknowledge her existence.

(re)found: ruby slippers


my great aunt's shoes - altered by my mother with spray paint and sequins.

ruby slippers.
as in dorothy's shoes.
as in the wizard of oz.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

these grooves are deep: the installation

an exploration and physical mapping of well-worn pathways in the brain. traveled through a meditative labyrinth walk, the map investigates the points of intersection and physical/emotional/mental effects of past on present, mind on body, body on mind.

a single string, over 1.5 miles long.
25 9" gutter nails.
25 sentiments/states/feelings/qualities/internal realities/relationships...















day 7 of the residency:
testing. to see what sort of stakes were needed.

day 8:
hammer in the points.

day 9:
walk. light. show.

i moved intuitively through the map, starting at OPEN. for the first hour or so, i focused on deep connections - well worn pathways - traveling between 2 points many times before refocusing on another connection. as the afternoon progressed, i tried to move through the map in broader strokes, connecting each point to a new point. i didn't have a determined point of end - the length of the string and how i intuitively traveled would dictate. i ended on (self) LIBERATED.

i should mention that the map was constructed in my parent's back yard.
this is not a house i have ever lived in.

i invited a small handful of people from my past to an open house that evening. these were relationships of all sorts - the lifelong close yet distant, the best friend, the former musical partner, the middle school bully...

the open house took place in the dark. i lit 100 tea candles and placed them throughout the map, inviting those who came to walk through at their leisure. i walked through too - answering questions, listening to individual commentaries.

at the end of the night there were 3 candles still lit - 2 at places intended to light string, 1 at the point: FEAR.

these grooves are deep: the residency

i have just returned from a 10-day residency in my hometown - tucson, az - spent excavating artifacts and relationships of my past.

i knew i had done a lot as a child - but the memories i have been letting myself access over the last 10 years barely reflected a mere sliver of that reality. i had blocked tucson paris out almost entirely. i had blocked child paris out almost entirely.

i rescued her just in time...

boxes upon boxes of photos, dance costumes, print ads i modeled for, hand bills of shows i acted in, cassette tapes of me singing and playing violin - practicing, performing...

i went to the dentist.
i got an eye exam.
i went to the mall because it was what my brother deeply wanted to do.
i had "christmas" with my family for the first time in 7 years.
i cried.
i counseled.
i listened.
i reminisced.
i played. (not like "playing" the violin - like "played" as in "playing" - you know, having fun, being childlike.)
i studied. myself, my past, my family, my former environment...

i also spent a lot of time interviewing my mother - about herself, about her past, about our extended family (who i am pretty disconnected from), about me and my past...


the residency culminated in an installation created (and left) in my parent's back yard - a mind map traveled - through creation - as a meditative labyrinth walk, shared by candlelight with figures of my past.

artifacts gathered and all discovered/uncovered/integrated will inform a subsequent performative installation, IDENTITY/PERSONA: symbols of the self (?), which will be developed and presented in a residency at PROJECT: space available in january/february 2012.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Friday, December 2, 2011

theese grooves are deep

i am currently in tucson, arizona - where i spent the first 17 years of my life. this time, i have come back not only to see family and the small handful of friends i'm still in contact with, but to embark on an excavation of my past, my former self. there's seattle paris, and then there's tucson paris. they've never quite found a way to co-exist. seattle paris really hasn't liked tucson paris...she's been embarrassed and ashamed of her. deeply, actually. seattle paris resents tucson paris for growing up with a tv as her closest companion. seattle paris is embarrassed by tucson paris' years spent training in the art of regurgitation and 'perfection' vs. cultivating creativity and self generated creation. seattle paris ran away from tucson paris, nearly blocking out her entire existence in the process. it's time to re-find her. face her. accept her. love her.

THESE GROOVES ARE DEEP: an exploration and physical mapping of well-worn pathways in the brain of sound/physical artist, paris hurley. traveled through a meditative labyrinth walk, the map will investigate the points of intersection and physical/emotional/mental effects of past on present, mind on body, body on mind. december 1-10, 2011.