Observation

Common threads connect
In near infinite bifurcations of subdivision
commonalities run like warp threads
through time
a river
to intersect the weft
singular minds entwined

At this junction
a thought experiment
Where artist and scholar meet
Immediately they weave similarities between
sciences and performances as they speak
of how these activities breathe
through the communion with mortal instruments
an awareness of place
a vantage point from which to see
the granular detail that never belies a beach
Or denies that cliffs shall fall to the sea
as we become the effect
observed particle and wave
sharpening an image
folding the edge of a Mobius strip
to a single atom thick

Dialogue is weaving
Words are whittling
And conversations are by their very nature
Experimental and recursive
Carving like a river


Research

Artist and scholar at this junction
implicitly discuss the etymology of Trivia
How these feats of memory require bibliography
alluding to ancient Greece
to the lesser arts
Learned as a foundation to more serious science
Backwards and forwards they speak
Of ancient oral traditions of griot and bard
Of empiricism and method
And “First do no harm”
Common threads warp
to connect these lines of inquiry
to the repetition of doing time
to the repetition in the practice
of an apprenticeship
to the repetition of steps
on the journey to mastery
The lesson of Chinese Zodiac
that to ford the river
we often ride the shoulders of giants
bedevilled on their backs
The painstaking precision of practice
The repetition of the pipette wielding lab tech
Running parallel to the pen stroke
Of the side joke
Of the poet
In the weft
How chasing unattainable perfection
In the reproduction of conditions
Is always a rehearsal
For addressing a digital mass spec whirring
For preparing a mass in genuflection stirring
Auditoriums are universal
Divining for truth is piecemeal
And recursive

Hypothesis

There is a question that drives all design
In conversation
A syllogistic hypothesis
That this
is what The Fabric is

That every single experiment
is an attempt to contribute to
a conversation
and therefore, change our understanding

That every single piece of art
is an attempt to contribute to
a conversation
and therefore, change our perception

we cannot begin to understand
without perceiving
and we cannot perceive truly
without understanding

there is a question
that drives experimental design
that inspires conversation
after conversation
and this
is what The Fabric is
A syllogistic hypothesis


Run Experiment

Live and direct
Where it intersects
artist and scholar plot
which variables can be controlled
and which cannot
stitch together the masters
Konstantin Stanislavski and Pavlov
In the conditioning of all preparation
And breathe

This is the litmus test
Burning light and heat
Seeping towards entropy
the mission creep of chaos
into the order we seek
so speak clearly
have empathy
They say a performer has PRESENCE
So be present
Breathe

Remember
reactive materials need careful handling
Steadying apparatus has purpose
exchanging energies has inherent volatility
So warm things up slowly
Be present
Breathe

Precision is learned over a lifetime of practice
Conditioning is not an accident
It is part of a bigger picture
You are part of a bigger picture
Take in all around you
It will ground you
This moment is unique
so breathe


Analyse Data & Report

Dialogue is weaving
Words are whittling
And conversations are by their very nature
experimental and recursive

But like the architects of the great Gothic cathedrals
We trust the process
Never knowing where the conversation is going
Or even if
it will finish
We still contribute
We still lay our stone
to cement our place within it
Spinning through the loom
Never knowing how long our thread
Or where it eventually rests
And at this conjunction
At this confluence
the scholar is Dr Faustus
the artist is Robert Johnson
Common threads connect
near infinite bifurcations of subdivision
our commonalities run like warp threads
through time
intersecting the weft
where the singular mind entwines
we invest our souls
we lay our stone
we disturb the flow
and the river
is changed forever