Lewis Jordan performing at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

On October 4, 2008, musician Lewis Jordan performed a series of poems, musical improvisations and jazz standards on top of the grass mound. I initially asked Lewis to perform as part of this project because I was interested in having someone who was versed and had participated in the experimental or avant-garde jazz scene in San Francisco and beyond. This scene to me seemed to flirt with Utopian ideas both in its experimentation and in its individual narratives. Lewis accepted because he said he was both enamored with the idea of playing on top of a grass mound, which was saying goodbye to utopia, while also being expressly dubious about the idea. You can read more about this below in the interview that I made with him and/or you can hear his performance reacting to the site in the MP3 podcast available below. This was the fourth of six events that I produced as part of A Grass Mound (With Kind Regards to Utopia).
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On September 20, 2008 at 1pm and again at 2pm, the artist Tommy Becker Performed a series of participatory instructional poems involving movement with charged stones. In this post you can read my description and reflection on the event, download the audio of Tommy’s performance, read the poems that Tommy read, and read the transcript from an interview between Tommy and I on his work and working practice, which I conducted right prior to his performance. This was the second of six events that I produced as part of A Grass Mound (With Kind Regards to Utopia).

Artist Tommy Becker will perform participatory instructional poetry involving movement with charged stones. Like mantras or hymns the poems will act as concentration aids to enable the audience to focus and unite their existence to the earth and one another through repeated phrases, movements and the artist’s recitation of communal nostalgia. Prior to their arrival at the gallery the stones will have been subjected to a variety of utopian experiences by the artist such as, chantings, blessings, prolonged cuddling and extended exposure to the music of The Beach Boys. Tommy will perform the series of poems twice, once at 1:00pm and a second time at 2:00pm. Wear comfortable shoes and positive thoughts. Audience participation is required.
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