remnant/reminisce
Below you will see a series of responses to the (re)collection project associated with theatre artist Trey Lyford's performance work The Accountant. The responses are to images provided that inspired a memory or thought from a member of the audience. Collectively we compile moments in our lives to build meaning and identity and yet they often disintegrate into foggy remnants of our fleeting experience. No matter how ephemeral they become, this psychological shrapnel defines us and our world.
Thank you to all who participated.
Thank you to all who participated.
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THE FENCE RESPONSE #1 This image reminds me of a day in February or March of 1999 when my father and I went to Kelly drive to take photos of the Ice under the bridges. I was prepping for my portfolio to submit to colleges. If was very cold that year. The ice stood like thick support pillars under the bridges. We drove up to Strawberry Mansion bridge. This bridge is beautifully ornate and green in color. For being so cold the sun was very bright out and created shadows of the spiraling patterns on the wood slates that made up a part of the bridge. I vaugely remember climbing over or around some sort of barricade to get the right angles. RESPONSE #2 I was with my small child, a week after my partner had left me. It was a cold afternoon in December, but I decided we'd go for a walk. Brutal cold doesn't keep anyone home in Chicago.. I took her to look at a crazy house covered in Christmas decorations, the lights flashing. Santa's reindeer flying through the air, landing on the roof. We stood side by side and looked through the iron gate. |
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THE CLOWN When I was a kid, I saw Stephen King's IT. I think I was five or six - way too young to watch that movie. And it terrified me. It took months for me to be able to sleep with the light off. Of course, my older brother, being my older brother, decided to dress up as a scary clown just to mess with me. I was forced to go trick or treating with him. But there was another bully in the neighborhood, an older boy named Ryan. Ryan was dressed up as Jason from the Friday the 13th movies, and for some insane reason, had a real chainsaw. Where were his parents? He was probably ten years old, dressed as Jason, with a real chainsaw. Oh yeah, and he was on rollerblades. He and my brother have beef. I don't remember much, but I remember having to find my own way home because Ryan was chasing my brother with the chainsaw, and he fled in terror. He still has all his limbs. |
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THE UNDERPASS
I remember when I first moved to London as a graduate, encountering many such underpasses and being willing to jump railings on busy roads to avoid them at all costs. The thought of that water touching even my shoes made me sick to my stomach. Then my mind rolled forward five years to trekking in Thailand in the wet season and having no choice but to wade through torrential rain into muddy waters that same colour. In context of being in place that I was mentally prepared to get muddy through the powers of nature (rather than the flaws of city planners), I plunged through without too much hesitation, only to come out with leeches all over my legs. So, it occurs to me that the upside of the stagnant underpass water is that no leeches could survive in it. |
THE KEYS
RESPONSE #1 I don't actually remember the first time I played the piano. I was probably younger than five, and had a small red book called "Teaching little fingers how to play". Whenever I think of that little red book, which is currently falling apart inside of my piano bench, I remember my young self watching my older sister work through the different songs. I was quite jealous when she got to the end of the book and learned how to play a song called "Wigwam", which seemed quite fun to me. Now, over a decade later, I have long since completed the little red book (and many other music books), and my sister has stopped playing. She still, however, occasionally sits down to fool around on the piano, and always goes back to Wigwam. RESPONSE #2 As a sound designer and entertainer, my one biggest regret is that I didn't follow through more with early formal music training. My parents started me down the path, but I reached an age where piano lessons were not nearly as cool as learning electric guitar by ear... To this day I believe that continued piano and theory training would have made the rest of my musical life a bit easier. 
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DAISY DAISY
My great grandfather sitting by the wooden garage smoking his pipe on a summer morning. He wore seersucker pants and two toned shoes. I was very small and loved to smell the flowers on the hydrangea bush that grew by the garage. He taught me how to sing- 'Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do. I'm half crazy over the love of you It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.'
He kept his false teeth in a glass on the sink in the upstairs bathroom. They terrified me. When I took my bath, I kept my eyes on them to make sure they didn't make a sudden move.
My great grandfather sitting by the wooden garage smoking his pipe on a summer morning. He wore seersucker pants and two toned shoes. I was very small and loved to smell the flowers on the hydrangea bush that grew by the garage. He taught me how to sing- 'Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do. I'm half crazy over the love of you It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.'
He kept his false teeth in a glass on the sink in the upstairs bathroom. They terrified me. When I took my bath, I kept my eyes on them to make sure they didn't make a sudden move.
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TULIP TIME
Where I grew up in Indianapolis, we lived in a white house surrounded by a black iron fence. The fence had spikes that one of the neighbors impaled himself on one day while playing frisbee. My mother planted rows of tulips in the front yard inside the fence. I learned that tulips grow from bulbs and produce flowers every year, after year, after year. I don't remember if she planted them in a way that considered their colors, but every year they grew and it was exciting to see them. It was Tulip Time. Here in Philadelphia, I have a house and a yard. The previous owners were gardeners. I am not. The first few years we lived there, tulips would grow in the backyard, and it was comforting. After a while I couldn't remember where they were planted. Through neglect and an attempt to eradicate the encroaching bamboo, the tulips no longer appear. I didn't realize how sad this makes me until just now. Tulip Trauma. NUDE ACTORS
This feels like a play I've seen before, or an experience I've been a part of before, though it doesn't match an exact memory that I have. I keep searching the image for details that might trigger something...do I recognize the facade on the boxes, or the moulding above the stage? Do I recognize any of the faces in the audience, and is it possible that I'm in there somewhere? So, therefore, because of this, I'm reminded of many plays and experiences from my past that involved balloons, or confetti, or even just nude actors prancing through the audience. I'm reminded of all of them because of their commonalities: some shared object bestowed to the audience by the performance, that allowed the audience to break free of their passivity. These were always my favorite moments in theater, and I wished their could be more. Perhaps...perhaps no more nude actors though. Let's just stick to balloons. Actors get enough attention already : / |
DATSUN
When I was in high school I moved to a new town and didn't quite have my driver's license yet. I would have to wait for the school bus on a long flat stretch of road that was near the ocean. Most mornings the fog would roll in or already be there and cover the road. I would shiver in the cold waiting for my predawn ride. In the distance I would see the headlights coming. It was always so eerie and made me sad.
I was glad to get my drivers license and lucky enough to get a used Datsun . . .
When I was in high school I moved to a new town and didn't quite have my driver's license yet. I would have to wait for the school bus on a long flat stretch of road that was near the ocean. Most mornings the fog would roll in or already be there and cover the road. I would shiver in the cold waiting for my predawn ride. In the distance I would see the headlights coming. It was always so eerie and made me sad.
I was glad to get my drivers license and lucky enough to get a used Datsun . . .
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HEART SHAPES
As soon as I saw the image of the waffles I remembered the wonderful, yummy waffles that my father used to make for our family. He used an old waffle iron that was regularly oiled to maintain its wellbeing. The heart shapes immediately connected me to the kind, generous and loving heart that my father had for my mother, sister and me and for so many others in the world, those known to him personally, as well as those in need of kindness and support. My father connected his loving heart to action in the world. My father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep over 9 years ago, after a long life. He continues to inspire me to be the best version of myself that I can be and to look to be of support for others. |
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PINK CROSS COUNTRY
When i was About 4 or 5 i got my first pair of skis. They were pink cross country skis. I didn't Really use them very many times, but right across the street from where we lived was an area that looked very similar to the one in the picture. I remember Trying my skis there in Christmas Day and not being very good at it. It's the only time i can Remember my mother taking me out to ski. I don't Think i used The skis again in many years and I've never developed a fondness for skiing. I'm still a terrible skier and am always left out when my friends go to the cabins in the mountains in winter, although I'd like to come and maybe learn how to ski better. Instead i make fun of myself to hide how hurt i am That I'm never invited skiing. |
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FIRST FLIGHT
Travel by plane will forever remind me of the day I met my partner. I was new to travel and I was returning to the states from my first European vacation. As I entered the plane from the jet bridge, I saw beautiful flight attendant with a shining smile. I showed her my boarding pass and she excitedly shouted my seat number at me. We immediately connected. We smiled and laughed. The attraction was palpable...Though, being a woman interested in women, I still was uncertain of what type of attraction was at hand. Throughout the flight we spoke and began to learn about one another. As I left the plane, I ended up giving her my number on a napkin and told her to let me know next time she were to be in New York City, and that I'd love to meet up. This was the first flight I ever took that I was more focused on what was happening inside the plane than what I was currently flying over, where I was headed, or from where I had just been. We now live together in New York City and are madly in love.
Travel by plane will forever remind me of the day I met my partner. I was new to travel and I was returning to the states from my first European vacation. As I entered the plane from the jet bridge, I saw beautiful flight attendant with a shining smile. I showed her my boarding pass and she excitedly shouted my seat number at me. We immediately connected. We smiled and laughed. The attraction was palpable...Though, being a woman interested in women, I still was uncertain of what type of attraction was at hand. Throughout the flight we spoke and began to learn about one another. As I left the plane, I ended up giving her my number on a napkin and told her to let me know next time she were to be in New York City, and that I'd love to meet up. This was the first flight I ever took that I was more focused on what was happening inside the plane than what I was currently flying over, where I was headed, or from where I had just been. We now live together in New York City and are madly in love.
SNOW ANGELS
My first dog. She came to me when I was 22. She came with the marriage. The marriage ended quickly. My dog stayed with me until she passed 12 years later. I got married to get out of my mother's house. The dog guaranteed that I would never be welcomed back. Thank God! She gave me freedom, taught me to be decent. We walked together, one Christmas morning, at 2am. We walked to a park close to our apartment. She sat and kept watch as I made snow angels. I felt so safe with her, so capable. I used to order organic produce... she would get most of it. We would sit on our balcony on the third floor, during the summer (it was too hot inside) and share baby doll watermelons. |
R O S E B U D
Going to Disney World. Anticipation. Trying to go back to childhood. Rosebud. 
LIGHT BIKE
When I was a kid one of my favorite movies in the world was TRON. I was obsessed with what it would be to be inside a computer game. One of my favorite "make believe" games was holding a broom stick or branch and pretending to be on a Light Bike. I would grab the stick and immediately transform into an encased tron competitor. The florescent ring of lights reminds me of the world of TRON. I learned later in life that all those glowing lines were hand painted on the film negative! |
SNOWMAN PANCAKES
When I was growing up, the first snow day of every year my mom made snowman pancakes for me and my brother and sister. They were shaped like snowmen, and she'd use chocolate chips for the buttons and face. She did it from kindergarten until we graduated and moved out. Now I call her on every first snow. |
(re) collection
reke'lekSH(e)n - the action or faculty of remembering something.
- a thing recollected; a memory.
Thank you to all who participated in the project and to all those who supported the premiere of The Accountant. Please feel free to respond with more memories HERE.
reke'lekSH(e)n - the action or faculty of remembering something.
- a thing recollected; a memory.
Thank you to all who participated in the project and to all those who supported the premiere of The Accountant. Please feel free to respond with more memories HERE.