Titus Andronicus/Iphigenie
by Steven McCabe
I wrote a line about beauty being the beginning of silence
a pyramid of soundlessness above a white bed
An intuitive synchronicity guided me
as I arranged unrelated
photographs of Joseph Beuys with a book from the 50s
The idea of Greek drapery
flowed into
an action/performance:
Titus Andronicus/Iphigenie
It was Earth Day
I imagined clicking ‘like’ on a picture of a cat
and the cat saying
Oh
spare me
Seriously
spare me…
And
Joseph Beuys
calming the
creature
With an
explanation
of sound
How
the simple act
of
perceiving vibrations
Creates
a white bed
&
revolution anew
Casting
obsolete paradigms
aside.
One of Joseph Beuys’ most powerful performances was Titus Andronicus/Iphigenie, performed May-June, 1969 in the Theater am Turm in Frankfurt, Germany for Experimenta 3: http://ropac.net/exhibition/iphigenie
Iphigenia is a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology.
Photographs of Joseph Beuys performance: Joseph Beuys foundation. Personal Beauty and Charm published by The Homemaker’s Encyclopedia Inc. 1952. I do not own the copyright any of these photographs. I have refashioned them under fair use provisions to create a new work for non-commercial purposes of parody or commentary.
poemimage 
Bloody brilliant!!!!!
Thank you Heather! That’s very generous of you. It is indeed, an enjoyable (though time consuming) experience
creating these ‘conflations’ of influences and meaning.
“an explanation of sound and the simple act of perceiving vibrations”. I like how you speak in the language of “frequency”, Steven. Light and sound both being familial in that sense, of vibration of light or sound. I have always imagined a place on a spectrum somewhere where the frequency of light becomes sound and that of sound becomes light. Your work sometimes feels like a symbol for that place, so deliberately pairing words with image, suggesting new paradigms in the place of obsolete ones.
Thank you Jack for these observations and thoughts. I wonder if, for instance, somebody like Blake did actually live in a realm where these things (sound…light) were perceived without separation…as you say, a spectrum of translation…
If, as you say, I am sometimes creating symbols of a new paradigm, I’ll happily accept that as a vocation and once again you have opened my eyes to possibilities in ‘mission and motive.’ I think that sounds like a wonderful tradition to be part of. Many thanks.
Fantastic – the chance “third” images created by your montages are fascinating and “right”. Great stuff.
I love that phrase ‘chance ‘third’ images.’ Glad you like it. Thanks Richard.
Those first two lines “I wrote a line about beauty being the beginning of silence
a pyramid of soundlessness above a white bed”
haunting, so haunting, echoing in my head…and the following sequences of words and image so absorbing…brilliant piece Steven…every time you blow me away…
Thank you John, I appreciate your sympatico with such things…and thank you for the vote of confidence…
Wow, Steven, I have to agree that this is brilliant!
Your visual commentaries are so wonderfully complex.
‘Spare me’ cat – yes!! : )
Thank you Karen. I’m glad you relate to this. I like creating these visually poetic ‘commentaries…’
This piece is evocative in so many ways Steven…resonating on levels and levels, curving and bending, burning with light…
Nice to hear your impressions Jana, lots of movement and sensations in your description of …levels. Many thanks for seeing what you see.