Following is the invitation to my MFA performance at CU-Boulder:
I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. — The Third Epistle of John 1:13,14
AntiThesis: Dialogue
a performance, Boulder, Colorado, April 1989
Invitation:
ANTITHESIS: DIALOGUE
A PERFORMANCE-ACTION WITH JOHN HOPKINS,
APRIL 14th – 23rd AT 1475 FOLSOM, APARTMENT NUMBER 3007,
BOULDER, COLORADO, USA
Meet a stranger. Say things to another human being. Be listened to. Engage in lively dialectic conflicts. Shoot the s__t. Blah Blah Blah Bla. Talk trash. Be quiet. Dig it. Write or call if you can’t come over. I read and answer all correspondence. (P.O. Box 2275, Boulder, CO 80306). You may wish to bring readings, objects, body, mind, spirit, friends, materials, thoughts, words, slides, actions, koans, food, drink, a sleeping bag, consumables, ideas, concepts, and your SELF. Open-ness is a primary concern. So, give me a call, drop me a line, stop by for a visit (I am approximately 10 minutes northeast of main campus). Anytime is a good time.
I WANNA SEE YOUR FACE AT THE PLACE!!! As always: good World music!!!
What did you just say?
I can’t hear you.
Who were you speaking with?
Falling graces.
All the tongues proclaim
the majesty.
Where two or three are gathered together in My name
there am I in the midst.
The exercise of thought-to-word, word-to-mouth: Utterance.
The groan of coming-to-being.
The silence of the Object and the Dialogue of Human presence.
Shall I worship the Image or the Word?
Or perhaps it might be said that ideology is to the icon as psychology is to the dialogue.
A liturgy.
A curse.
Synchronicity.
Fate.
Choking on his words.
She swallowed her pride.
Yet as we share some conversation
I feel safer.
Ennui.
Silence.
Prayer.
The way that Art is defined, created, and shared is a temporal and cultural reality. This cultural reality must be constantly confronted and critically examined so that both the culture and Art might evolve. By bringing our critical Life energies into productive, honest, and consistent Dialogue with the members of our community, we act as catalysts for cultural change and Art (r)evolution. We must begin to take responsibility for our human rights and obligations through this open contact with each other. Dialogue causes important spatial and temporal genesis in the Language of Art — it is a revolutionary Art itself when in critical juxtaposition to silence. Dialogue, as pure expression of heart and soul, is the core of all meaningful activism. Even as the literal and visual icons of culture carry dynamic social values, so Dialogue actively carries and transmits the social consciousness. Dialogue is critical at all times; and while Dialogue is historic in that word and meaning change in the time and space of ideology, Dialogue is ahistoric in that each coming day brings a new imperative for communication. It is essential that we be involved in this living Dialogue, this Logos, in order to return culture and Art from the void of spiritless commodification.
For Dialogue to operate freely within all subjects and modes in our community, we must provide some physical and/or intellectual and/or spiritual space for it to exist within. In the form of this Book, I would seek to create a Community Space wherein ANYONE might freely propose subjects for humane Dialogue as well as begin that Dialogue.