The Arts in New York City
To be honest, I spent a majority of the performance “Spellbeamed” trying to figure out what was being conveyed. I would think I was getting somewhere with the interpretation, and then the performance would swerve onto a totally different path and I would be utterly confused once again. However, even in my hopeless attempts at dissecting the performance, I still managed to enjoy various aspects of the work simply for what they were.
The first part of “Spellbeamed” was the perfect beginning to a baffling performance. The vocalist Joan La Barbara spoke into some sort of voice modifier and read what I now know was Walter Benjamin’s essay on books. At the time, however, I had no clue what was being read and I could understand a word of it since Barbara’s voice made deep and unintelligible. The only reason I know what was being said is because in the Q and A session after the performance Parkins explained that the deep voice was meant to be Benjamin speaking from the grave. In hindsight it is a novel, thought provoking idea; I just wish I would’ve had a copy of the text or some sort of explanation while it was going on so I could’ve appreciated it.
The only thing I knew of “Spellbeamed” before the show was that it included an electric harp. This harp was “played” while Benjamin’s essay was being read. This was probably my favorite part of the performance. Parkins would choose an object, like a piece of bark or silver-foil, and would handle it to Shayna Dunkelman who was dressed in a lab coat and looked like a doctor performing surgery. Dunkelman would then take the seemingly random objects and create amazingly unusual sounds by using the objects on the harp. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the unique sounds each of the objects created when used. Dunkelman used exact precise movements while playing the harp with each object, which, for me, explained the surgeon’s outfit.
The rest of the performance included chaotic instances of dissonant music (played by violins, a xylophone-like instrument, harps and a trombone) and random objects flashing across the screen. An impressive bit was when Barbara had a solo where she made noises that I didn’t think were humanly possible. Another enjoyable part was watching Dunkelman play the xylophone-like instrument. She was extremely passionate about the music and she would do this Jekyll-Hyde type move every time she was about to play, where she would jerk her body in a weird position and then slowly and precisely hit the note.
At the end of the performance, an elderly man sitting behind me and some other students noticed our confusion and was kind enough to explain who Walter Benjamin was and how he felt about collections and the stories objects told. This helped clarify some of the more ambiguous parts of the show. However, even though I was confused during “Spellbeamed,” I was still able to enjoy little parts that made it special.
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I also had trouble deciphering the message and direction of “Spellbeamed,” haha. Instinctually, I connect harps with beautiful melodies and soothing sounds, and like you, the incorporation of the harp was all that I knew about this performance. So as you could probably tell, the dissonant sounds and notes were totally unexpected for me. From what i know about music, dissonance in most music usually leads to resolution of a “pleasing chord.” So the dissonance in most music adds tension and builds up to a chord that is relieving to the listener’s ears. However, in “Spellbeamed,” the dissonance rarely resolved and, to me, the whole entire piece was just a big clump of notes randomly put together.
I personally, didn’t enjoy the sounds of the performace, but like you stated, the artists were very emotional, such as Dunkelman on the xylophone, which is something I greatly respect in arts. I thought it was amazing how the musicians got so into it that it seemed like an electrical pulse traveled through their bodies. Overall, I would classify this experience as interesting rather than pleasing. There were some little parts that I also found special such as the creepiness in the voice modifier, which gave me chills in an almost indescribable way. It felt really cool and I like the “dark vibes” that surrounded the “Spellbeamed”