Hello & Assignment

Hi All,

Welcome to the Linda Putnam blog. I will be updating this blog daily with all the notes I compile for each day of the workshop. I will try as hard as I can to update before 7pm, but this may not always be possible - so I will have the workshop notes completed by Saturday August 18th, after which they will forever be on this blog for your reference.

Also find below the assignment you were hopefully all given before Day 1 of the workshop.

I am happy to be in the room with all of you and look forward to this week. I have been excited to work in this way again, and am excited to share my work with you all.

Tanya Marquardt
Teaching Assistant
Linda Putnam Workshop
Way Out West 2007

===========
Source Room Assignment

Dear Friend:
Thank you for your interest in signing up for the five day SourceGroup. We have a very short time to study a very big subject. Because of our time constraint I am sending you an initial assignmentso you will come to the first class with a "working source" fullyprepared in advance. Also, by writing, I hope to bypass a lengthyintroductory explanation to acquaint the "newcomers" and remind the"old-timers" of the type of work we will be doing and to overcome ourtendency to debate and discuss theory before we get on our feet.

Although the concept of source may be different for each of us, forall of us source exploration is personal, intimate, and mysterious.At the same time as we feel exhilarated by breaking free from therestraints of commercial pressure and judgment, we are suspicious oflingering in uncharted terrains of vague feelings, instincts, andimagery. We fear that without the context of performance we will become self-indulgent and loose direction. In this sense, source workis difficult and controversial.
Popular artistic theory tends to define exploration and performanceas opposites. Certainly, we all crave the relief of results or performance. After all, performing reassures us that our standards of "good" and "bad" have validity. We can "measure" success. We feel justified that our work has "value". And these are good and essential states for any artist to experience.

Yet, just as any performance requires rehearsal in order to be worthyof an audience, our capacities for compassion and empathy (those ancient theatre values) continually need to be reassessed and revitalized in order to make us worthy of translating human experience, behavior, and imagery into art. Source work is a formalbody of techniques and skills we use to achieve this.

Source work is completely different from performance or result workand has a completely different set of standards, work styles and goals. Most strikingly, in the source room we work without judgment toward ourselves, our work, towards others or their work. We create a work environment where personal and group imagery can be discoveredand developed. Our goal is to learn specific techniques whichprovide context and direction for source explorations. These techniques give us the means to loosen inhibitions with which personality and society bind us. Our source studies inform our artistry and expand our range of understanding of art and life.The technique I am assigning now, to be done as homework, will not be the only technique we will learn. During successive classes we will study other ways to tap source material and build progressions from"raw" source into artistic expression.

HAIKU ASSIGNMENT
HAIKU is an ancient poetry form with strict traditions. It is a 17syllable poem written in three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Beyond this, much is written concerning the content,style, and requirements that make a poem a HAIKU. For our purposes we will reduce the HAIKU form to its most vague and simplistic definition: a poem of 17 syllables that represents a state of being.

In one day write 3 different HAIKU: one upon waking, one at noon, and one before sleep. (Please count syllables AFTER the poem is written. No need at this point to get strung out on exactly 17 syllables or a 5-7-5 pattern. But try for the feel of it. We are using HAIKU tohelp ourselves comprehend an uncensored single impulse image. Perhaps as we become intrigued by and skilled at creating these images, the formal traditions of HAKIU might become fascinating,inducing us to study the form).
Proceed in the following manner:1) Feel the specific time of day.2) Fully comprehend the state of being you are experiencing in the environment you inhabit at the moment.3) Inhale 4) Exhale and try to compose a HAIKU in that one exhalation
Should you desire to work sounded but without language or in silence follow the assignment for writing steps 1 thru 3, then 4) Exhale and complete your series work up a movement series of 17 syllables or beats. Holding the image you have 3 breaths to complete your movement series. 5) Immediately repeat series as exactly as possible. (Be strict. For example, one spin is a single syllable, three spins andthree syllables. A jump or a leap is at least two syllables - up anddown. Keep it simple and precise.)

Whether written or in a movement series, you can practice this assignment for as many days as you wish, but please, at a minimum, prepare at least one full day of 3 HAIKU. Pick one favorite out ofall those you have created, memorize and bring to the first class.

If you have questions, you can contact Tanya Marquardt, workshop coordinator
and teaching assistant at 778.329.6021 or at tanya_marquardt@yahoo.ca.

I look forward to seeing you Monday, August 13th.

Regards,

Linda Putnam