Visual Instincts

I spent today just surfing Youtube, music and variety act vid clips, all because of Susan Boyle’s performance in Britain’s Got Talent. Now this feisty woman delivered a performance that was one of the biggest FU, ever served to a crowd of sceptics, who judged her on her appearance alone.

Her performance is not why I am writing this blog though. Earlier this afternoon, I was blown away by a spunk using sign language in his music video.

I was reading a few blogs, surfing as you do, when I came across this story, Womanizer sign language interpreter “speaks”. I was sceptical. I thought here we go, another hearing person, incorporating sign language into their music video. I thought gimmick! Throw in another pretty boy, and we can all wet our pants, and change them once the video is finished.

Anything with sign language in it, is going to peak my interest, even if it’s to look down my nose at their juvenile antics. But for once, my curiosity [inspite of reservations] was rewarded. Handsomely so. I WAS ABSOLUTELY ROCKED OFF MY FEET! I’m still jiving as I write this.

Everything that I thought was possible with sign singing, music, and dance was justified. I’ve always known that you could translate pop songs into use pure ASL, BSL, AUSLAN or other world sign language. I remember having debates about problems of translating pop and rock lyrics, and that Sign Supported English/ Signed English, is the way to sign sing. I disagree, and still do. This video is total vindication for me.

More to the point though, is that Michael DiMartino follows the rhythm and the beat of the song, so that you get more than just the interpretation. You get a sense of the playful sensuality in pop music. You get a sense of hip. You get a sense of personality. Michael has elevated sign language in music from mere translation, into a hip language. It’s not hard too think of rap and hip hop, when he performs.  Heck I even forgot he is hearing [he works as a sign language interpreter].

I’m not going to blather on. I would rather let you judge for yourselves. Well worth wasting precious bandwidth this is. Read all about him, Womanizer sign language interpreter “speaks”,YouTube Womanizer Star : Michael DiMartino, and Crush of the Moment: Michael DiMartino aka captainl0ver. But most of all, WATCH HIM, HERE –>Captain10ver!<-

 

Further Reading:

Signed Song: Devil Gate Drive
Music & Sign Singing
Music: An Aural Sensation, A Visual Pleasure, Part One
Being Deaf and the Essence of Music
The Crossroads
Evelyn Glennie
Beethoven’s Nightmare

This is not the first song that I learnt to sign sing. It was one of the first where I did my own translation. You will have to forgive the camera angle, though I suspect those who know BSL/ Auslan, will get what this song is about. In lieu of captions, I have provided the full lyrics at the end of this post.

This performance was part of a performing arts day, at a school near where I was living in the UK at the time. This is about just over 10 years ago now. The song is Devil Gate Drive, a jolly good rocker, that is the perfect antidote to the crappy lovey-dovey stuff, Deafies love to do. While you all are waiting For the World To Change, I’ve gone down to Devil Gate Drive.

I have three more videos that I would like to share with you, and they will come. The songs are Respect by Aretha Franklin, Independence Day by Bruce Springsteen, and Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison.

I will write more about my sign singing, but for now, let me introduce you to Tony the rock star, and I hope you enjoy the video for what it is. If you watch the oirginal video below, of Suzi performing the song, you will notice some of the moves are similar. At the time I performed this song, I hadn’t seen the video in years.

 

 

The Original video:

 

The Lyrics: Devil Gate Drive by Suzi Quatro

[Spoken:]
“Hey, you all want to go down to Devil Gate Drive?
Well, come on”!

“Welcome to ‘The Dive’!”

Well, at the age of five they can do their jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
And at the age of six they’re gonna get their kicks
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Well your mama don’t know where your sister done go
She gone down to the Drive. She’s the start of the show
And let her move on up. Let her come let her go.
She can jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive

[Chorus:]
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive

When they reach their teens, that’s when they all get mean
Down in Devil Gate Drive
When I was sweet sisteen I was the jukebox queen
Down in Devil Gate Drive
I lead the angel pack on the road to sin
Knock down the gates!
Let me in. Let me in
Don’t mess me ’round, cause you know where I’ve been
To ‘The Dive’ down in Devil Gate Drive

[Chorus]

Well your mama don’t know where your sister done go
She goes down to the Drive. She’s the start of the show
Let her move on up. Let her come let her go.
She can jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive

[Chorus]

[Spoken:]
“Come on, boys. Let’s do it one more time for Suzi!
Are you ready, now?”

Come alive. Come alive Yeah!

When I commenced my self development work last year, I was expecting the typical two chairs, the counsellor and the counsellee [if there is a such a word. There is, I just checked.] I originally expected to be sitting that chair, opposite my chosen shrink, and doing all this yakking, while he interjected with a question every now and then. That can be a good way for the first timer, someone who is wary of the counselling process. But for someone like me, who has been involved in workshops, role plays and hands on group activities, I did need something more proactive, though I didn’t quite realise that at the time.

I had my expectations and preconceived notions of who I wanted my shrink to be, but as My Mountain Man said to me last year, “I was already placing obstacles in my path, before I even started the process.” At the time, I was resolute about who and what I wanted. I didn’t want to spend too much time searching or else I would lose the momentum [and desire]. I followed up a few adverts, and after some negotiating regarding money, I settle for my current counsellor, who proved an unexpected revelation.

I sought the services of a counsellor, rather then being referred by a doctor, and that put me at some risk of choosing a dud. But I need to be proactive, and find someone, rather than follow someone else’s recommendation. As I said previously, my choice proved to be a revelation. Unexpected as it was, proving there is some truth in the old adage, “Feel the Fear, But Do it Anyway!”

Specialising in Gestalt Therapy [which was the clincher for working with], my counsellor works from the premise that

a well-lived life is grounded in a person’s awareness of how they live their life and conduct their relationships, in the present, within their life space. From this perspective, Gestalt therapy seeks to promote a person’s awareness, support creative choice and encourage responsibility in a person’s effort to realise a meaningful and fulfilling life.

I had already established a belief system resulting from reading The Road Less Travelled, Zen Guitar, and Owning Your Own Shadow, and various readings from The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying , and the works of Krishnamurti.

Zen Guitar proved influential. While it discusses the process that the creative person goes through to produce the painting, the music, or the story [though it really talks about the guitar], and that the artistic output is determined by various factors that converge, at any particular point in time, it was a metaphor for living. Who we are, and what we do, is determined by various factors that converge, at a particular point in time. It also means, that the person you are days, weeks, months, and years later, will potentially be different to the one you were days, weeks, months, and years before.

The essence of who we are, remains the same, but we do change as we live our lives, on journey which brings new experiences, knowledge and insights, of which our past, plays its part. This I believe.

An important aspect of my journey, is the Yin Yang, the polar opposites of the positive and the negative, of light and dark, as exemplified by the mandala, provided as food for thought by The Road Less Travelled, and the complicity of the shadow in playing havoc with our ability to live meaningful lives Owning Your Own Shadow.

This is why the counsellor I have chosen, and the methods he works with, fit in with my modus operandi: unifying the polar opposites of my nature, and negotiate my internal warring factions, towards some sort of agreeable coexistence.

As I said, I originally expected my sessions to be two chairs, the counsellor and the counsellee, engaged a convivial chat, interjected with a few questions. But my counsellor being proactive, illustrated the importance of play as part of the learning or healing process, during these sessions. By play, I mean using an activity as the starting point for the session’s dialogue. If you are familiar with the role plays and group exercises in workshops, then this is much the same thing, except that the focus is on you.

Consider the unselfconscious play of children, it becomes apparent that play is not just time wasting, but a learning and healing process. Play allows internal feelings, thoughts and memories to be externalised [so that you become the observer and the one in control], helping to talk to your demons so that you come to understand them, demystify the internal processes causing conflict, discover pleasure in the things and people that attract you; and finally, discovering yourself – who you are, and how you can become that person.

I’m standing in the backyard
Listening to the party Inside
Tonight I’m drinkin’ in the forgiveness
This life provides
The scars we carry remain but the pain slips away it seems
Oh won’t you baby be in my book of dreams [Book Of Dreams, Bruce Springsteen]

In the session I attended, on Thursday, 5 February, 2009, counsellor distributed a stack of cards on the floor. Each card bearing a particular symbol. The idea is to pick any card/ symbol that was either significant to you, or attracted your attention. I reversed the process. I eliminated all the cards that meant nothing to me. I worked rather quickly dismissing several meaningless symbols, like wedding rings, until I was left with just 22 cards.

You can see the 22 cards in the following photograph. During the course of the session, they revealed a remarkably cohesive story. Then again, many of the cards I discarded, contained symbols with similar meaning to the ones I chose. I happened to find these ones, more eloquent in what they expressed to [for] me. The story reflected my dreams, hopes and desires from my past, in the present, and for the future. Dreams, hopes and desires that have remained remarkably consistent.

I don’t know how my friends, or other people, perceive me, but this session [these cards] illustrated how far removed from my intentions I am, and the direction in which I am travelling on [but not fast enough]. Unlike the Sandplay Therapy, in this session, I was able to touch on the subject of my deafness. Not in any great depth, but was acknowledged as an important part of my being Who I am.

As I did with the An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto PII, rather than write a detailed narrative, I will just list the cards and their symbols, and explain the meaning each holds for me, and where appropriate, how they relate.

1. Clasped Hands:
   Hands in supplication. An act of humility. Acknowledgement of a higher power. Acknowledgement of the real me, and not some projected fantasy of who I think I am. I know I don’t do humility terribly well, especially in public, but it’s there.
2. Musical Notes:
   It’s not just about listening to music; but listening to the music inherent in life – the rhythm of life. The music of living life. The music in good relationships. Music is not just an audio experience. It is visual one too. Music is inherent in all the five senses, not just hearing. It’s not just about enjoyment, it’s also about being able to tune in to people, an idea, a feeling, and free wheeling flights of fancy. If my thought processes were a genre of music, they would be, blues, gospel, soul, pop and rock. Hard rock!
3. Yin-Yang:
   There was no image of the mandala, so I co-opted the Yin Yang, to be the mandala. On the face of it, it is about polar opposites, or the duality life, and our natures. The mandala has an area where two circles intersect. This intersection represents the balance between the light and the dark forces. It is this I am striving for. To balance the different wants, needs, desires, and conflicts, that compete with the demands coming from family, friends and society.
4. Book:
   Represents knowledge. More pertinently, it represents the source of everything I know. When I became Deaf, the one thing I trusted. The one thing I zeroed in on, was the printed word. Even though I love reading, the printed word meant far more than just the pleasure of reading. I trusted the information because I could SEE it. I never realised until my college years, 25 years ago, just how much my deafness impacted on my life. Books have been a constant companion on many a solitary and lonely night. Without realising that my deafness played a part in cutting me off from socialising, and interaction with people.
5. Wine Glass:
   Good times, dinner parties, good friends. Intimate strangers. A drink that you hand to a stranger, is a gesture that you want to get to know them.
6. Theatre Masks:
   The Happy Face vs The Sad Face. My first response to this image, was my affinity for playing games. The love of play. having fun, pulling good natured pranks, on family and friends. My counsellor asked if the sadness is present. I replied that I am drawn to the happy face, more, because it’s a sign of contentment. The sad face is the state of being that I am leaving behind. But also a reminder of where I once was. I still listen to sad songs, as an act of humility [yeah I know], to keep in touch with my past feelings. There is a pleasure in listening to sad songs. The best ones have a duality about them. Think of the blues, where the words are sad, but the music is lively, jovial, sexy and refusing to concede defeat. There is an exquisiteness when a sad feeling is juxtaposed with a happy or humourous moment.
7. Heart:
   Simple. Love. Being surrounded love. The love of friends. The love of a family. The love of a lover.
8. Chair:
   Like the cup and the glass, it indicates a place of welcome, room, for either you or the people you love. It also denotes a place to rest.
9. Question Mark:
   My desire for knowledge. My questioning mind. Analysis. It’s my refusal to take things at face value. I always ask questions. Sometimes unsettling people.
10. Sign Posts:
    I see the sign posts as a visual marker. It points me to where I want to go, but also presents me with a choice of options of alternative places to go. I am not bounded to follow the direction indicated, I can alter my course.
11. Road:
    Freedom. It does not symbolise, the never ending search for a home, a place to rest, or the never ending search for answers. That is part of it. Its the desire for adventure, and to seek new faces, new places and new experiences. The never ending quest for knowledge. After I left high school, me and mate would often go out for drives, nowhere in a particular just drive. We would end up sitting on the steps of the old ABC building, in William Street, Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia. Watching the tranny’s ply their trade and cars drive by. Yes, there is the desire to escape.
12. Cup:
    A gesture of hospitality. One that says, that you have a place at friend’s table. One that you extend in return. Intimate.
13. Glass:
    A gesture of hospitality. The same as for cup. For me the cup and the glass are interchangeable.
14. Clock:
    A visual marker of time, not meant to rule me. Like the sign posts, the clock is to tell me where I am now, how much more there is to do, what part of the day I am in. Admittedly I don’t need the clock itself to tell me whether it is morning, after noon, or evening. Just look out the window. The quality of the light will also tell you the time, what part of the day it is. I can tune into my body clock.
15. Lighthouse:
    The light that lights your way in the darkness. It is also the eureka moment, when everything becomes clearer.
16. Moon:
    The light that shines at night. A cooler light, to the sun’s burning warmth. The moon represents calmness. While it is the brightest object in the night sky, its light does not block out the stars. It provides a window into the universe. The quiet, the smile of the moon, the night sky, and twinkle of the stars, imparts a mystery, that excites me. Unlike the Sun, whose light is too bright to look at, which dominates the sky, blocking the lesser lights of the stars, pulls me into the present
17. Key:
    The means to get/discover the answer.
18. Blank Card:
    I can designate any meaning to this. Especially if the symbol is not present in the stack of cards provided. This one is my house. My space. My castle. Something I am yet to achieve.
19. Door:
    The entry to the other side. The doorway to the unknown. Never locked. I can always come back, until I am ready to walk through to the other side. I have one foot in the known and one [tentative] in the unknown.
20. Window:
    Where ever you are, you need a view. A prime viewing spot. Regardless where I am, or what I am doing, I like to keep my eye on what else is happening elsewhere. Anything can be a window for me. A Book, movie, song, or
21. Pen:
    Creativity. Writing, which is something I have always enjoyed much more than performing. The act of creating [creation]. There is a power in creating. I get to create the world I want to see, and how it should be. Recording my stories. Communication my ideas. Which is why I blog. If anything, reading and writing allow me to access and express, unimpeded, ideas, knowledge, and myself.
22. Maze:
    I’m not sure what the significance of this is for me. It could mean working my conflict or obstacles. I have thought about it since my last session, but it doesn’t resonate with me at all.

Now the ritual begins
’Neath the wedding garland we meet as strangers
The dance floor is alive with beauty
Mystery and danger
We dance out ’neath the stars’ ancient light into the darkening trees
Oh won’t you baby be in my book of dreams [Book Of Dreams, Bruce Springsteen]

However there was one image not present.

Related Articles:

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto PIII

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto PII

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto

Recommended Reading & Websites:

Sandplay Therapy

Sandplay Therapy [About]

Sandplay Therapy [Supporting The Emergence Of Self]

Sandplay Therapy [Australian]

Sandplay Therapy [Google Books]

Sandplay Therapy: Inside Out Counselling Service

Zen Guitar [Book]

Zen Guitar [Website]

Owning Your Own Shadow [Book]

Owning Your Own Shadow [Website]

Mandorla

The Road Less Travelled

The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying [Website]

The Tibetan Book Of Living An Dying [Wikipedia]

Krishnamurti [Google Search Results]

Krishnamurti

Prior my recent session with my counsellor, I was thinking about the Sandplay Therapy exercise. The point of the exercise being, to externalise your inner thoughts, feelings, and demons, by engaging in play, using objects and the sandpit as a symbol for your inner world.

One of the reasons why I particularly enjoyed this experience, was the simple fact that it was a visual and tactile exercise. For someone who is Deaf [even deaf or hearing impaired], it is work for the eyes. It makes your inner world real in a way, that my residual hearing doesn’t. I have always trusted my eyes more than my ears. More than this, it appeals to the artist in me – creating worlds, dissecting symbols, and embracing myth and folklore.

I mentioned to my counsellor that it would be a great task when working with Deaf, deaf and hearing impaired people.

If you haven’t read my previous articles on Sandplay Therapy, because you don’t peruse Deaf Read Extras, you can read them here and here.

Related Links:

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto PII

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto

This has been cross posted at Visual Instincts.

I’ve been thinking alot about that last session with my counsellor, which we devoted to activity I described in An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto. Talking about ones thoughts and feelings, and analysing them with yet more verbiage, is well and good, but sometimes it’s good to participate in an activity that frees you from the labour of talking. It’s good to do what kids have always do, and that is play. It’s good to escape the bandage that is thinking, and do what do kids have always known to be good and FUN! That is play.

This session was a culmination of six weeks work, and rather than write a detailed analysis of the session, I decided to describe the landscape, the meanings behind the objects I have chosen, and the rationale behind their placement in the landscape. You can draw your own conclusions from the.

The Landscape: Light [Positive] and Dark [Negative] Zones

I’ve already described how the landscape has been created. I can’t remember the order in which I placed the objects, but once my counsellor pointed out the blue, and suggested that the blue could be water. Once he said that, it all fell into place. The bridge [I think] was the first object, or it have been the last [?], that I placed in the landscape, and defined for me the light and the dark. It’s pretty obvious which side is which, and as you can see from the image below, the dark side is quite crowded. Of course, the aim of any self-development exercise is to reduce the size of The Dark Zone, and expand The Light Zone.

The Light [Positive] Zone

• Old Man Fishing; A figure of contentment. At one with himself. Something I aspire to. A oneness and contentment within myself and my world. There is also the meaning behind the saying [or proverb] “teach a man how to fish, and he will always eat.” something like that. For me it’s meaning of can do. The confidence that comes with the knowledge that indeed, I can do!
• Laughing Buddha: The Laughing Buddha is seen as a deity of contentment and abundance. I have used the figure in my landscape, as someone whose attitude to life is, “It is what it is!” accompanied by good hearted humour. Of course, where I have placed him, subconsciously, in The Light Zone, his meaning is one of contentment and abundance became apparent.
• House: A long cherished dream of mine, to have my own house. My own space, of which I am the king. Which expresses who I am, and how I would like my world to be. It is my sanctuary. It is the place where I can be who i am, unfettered by the expectations of the outside world.
• Blue [Water - Lake/ Pond/ River] : The colour blue represents peace to me. My bedroom walls are painted with this shade of sky blue, and the carpet is a mosaic of blue, grey and white. This patch of blue is on contrast with the colour of the sand, which denotes heat, fire, dryness, and restlessness. Without this patch of blue, the landscape would be hell.
• Bridge: The bridge is the link between the two worlds. It is not encumbered in any way. I am free to move between either zones. But as you can see from the image above, the two little boys, who represent me, are facing towards the light. As my counsellor pointed out, these two figures are close to the bridge. He asked if this was intentional. I said no. But his comment, was a reminder that I am perhaps closer to my goal of oneness [to where I am going] than I have realised.

The Dark [Negative] Zone

• Little Boy [Holding teddy Bear and Towel] : This figure is me. The child within me that I have lost. As my counsellor pointed out, this figure is holding a teddy bear and a blanket, both which are symbols for security.
• Little Boy [Holding teddy Bear] : This figure too is me. Me as I am now. I am looking at the little boy with envy at his innocence, naivety, positiveness, trust and faith, all characteristics that I have lost or buried. The little boy represents what I want to be. What I want to reclaim: innocence, purity, trust and faith. Though older than the other one, and is holding only a teddy bear. One item of security. Which denotes a growing maturity and confidence? This boy is actually looking at the other little boy.
• Evil Wizard: represents dark forces, negative thoughts. He is fighting the Good Wizard. Both are looked in a duel for control of me, my thoughts, and my destiny.
• Good Wizard: represents the good forces, positive thoughts. That the Good Wizard is fighting with the Evil Wizard, is a symbol of my internal/ inner struggle
• Joker: represents distraction. Anything that distracts you [in this case me] from moving towards, achieving your goals, or taking positive action.
• Clown: A fun and effervescent personality that detracts from the real personality. A facade.
• Ghost: memories. That the ghost is so close to the first small boy. The ghost is the inner critic. That nagging voice that is always telling you what you should do, or telling you what you should not do. Its role is to instill a fear. A fear that will paralyse you into inaction. A fear of taking a positive action. The ghost is also the memories of bad experiences past.
• Skeleton: death. This is a nod to the fact that I am getting on. While it is on the far reaches of the landscape, it’s presence is notice that time is indeed running out for me. A realisation that hit me in mid 2008. Remembering the death of a friend who took her own life, really knocked me about for a while. Unlike many, I do not view suicide, or self euthanasia, as a cowardly or selfish act. For me, my friends death was the ultimate act of empowerment. A conscious and courageous decision not made lightly. This contrasted greatly with my own sense of impotence.
• Vampire Teeth: a prurient interest. Subversion. A lurking intelligence not fully utilised or realised. Like vampires and other creatures, my intelligence only comes out at night. Though, I prefer the sun, the silvery light of a full moon would do just fine.

The size of the The Light Zone is small in comparison to The Dark Zone, which denotes my current preoccupation with negativity [like most of us]. But the power of the light is strong indeed, and it is one that I want to move towards. Half way through the exercise, I was directed to alter the landscape. To make any changes that I saw fit to make. If I was happy with what I originally created I could leave it as it is. I decided to make some changes, small but rather telling [profund].

The little boy crossed the bridge to The Light Zone . The older boy has moved to the foot of the bridge, about to cross over. The Laughing Buddha was moved to The Dark Zone. I deliberately placed him between the older boy and the dark forces, pushing them back. The Laughing Buddha now standing between the older boy, about to cross over, retains the same message, “Life Is what it is,” but now the message is directed at the dark forces. In effect saying, “Leave the boy be.” More to the point, that they too, can’t have everything they want.

The following pix, which I nicked from my friend Alison Bryan, reminded me of the Sandpit exercise. She called it Scribble, but I call it, The Light.

How close I was to the light, but summat was in my way. Looking at it now, it’s more of my vision becoming clearer and finally, I am amble to see the light [where I am going to]. However, so near, yet so far. And as she says, “Part of that is about how much distraction people will put up in their lives, away from what is really important. A statement, perhaps much of treadmill existence feels utterly meaningless, and thus difficult to latch onto. The other part, is around a mass of thoughts. Our minds rarely quieten, jumping from one thing to the next (and that means everyone).”

While I was writing this, I decided to google Sandpit Play, and the results turned up information about Sandplay Therapy. A quick read revealed that this is the same as the workshop I did. If you are interested in Sandplay Therapy, I have provided some links below.

Related Links:

An Hour In The Sandpit With The Sins Of Mephisto

Recommended Reading & Websites:

Sandplay Therapy

Sandplay Therapy [About]

Sandplay Therapy [Supporting The Emergence Of Self]

Sandplay Therapy [Australian]

Sandplay Therapy [Google Books]

Sandplay Therapy: Inside Out Counselling Service

Zen Guitar [Book]

Zen Guitar [Website]

Owning Your Own Shadow [Book]

Owning Your Own Shadow [Website]

Mandorla

The Road Less Travelled

The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying [Website]

The Tibetan Book Of Living An Dying [Wikipedia]

This has been crossposted at i.Mephisto.

Yesterday [it is now 5 days later, Tuesday 16 December, 2008 - edit], Thursday, 11 December, 2008, beginning at 11.30 am, the hour that traversed mid day, was an hour of fun. An hour of fun for me, Tony Nicholas, but Mephisto to you, in The Sandpit, aka the Devil’s Playground.

Those who read my blog, will know of my fondness for words, word play, their power and the images they conjure. Heck, I spent ages trying to compose a perfect title for this post, that encapsulates the self exploratory program I am doing, of which yesterday’s activity was the culmination of six weeks work.

The activity is called The Sandpit. I wanted a title that would encapsulate the content, the intent, and the conclusions of the Sandpit [and indeed, the self exploratory work that I have been doing. Of course you may think it is either an invitation to indulge in some child's play or an ominous portend to a disappearance. At any rate, as I was thinking about the post title, I remembered the song, The Sins Of Memphisto, by John Prine. I found it on my song list and double clicked to play. As I was listening, I scanned the lyrics, and it was, "Just as I thought!"

The hands on his watch spin slowly around
With his mind on a bus that goes all over town
Looking at the babies and the factories
And listening to the music of Mister Squeeze
As if by magic or remote control
He finds a piece of a puzzle
That he missed in his soul
Uh huh Oh yeah

Breaking it down, the post title comprises four concepts: time, what, who and where. The "hour" refers to the time spent [which can be an actual hour, if not time of unspecified duration], the “sins’ refer to the issues I wrestle with, the “Mephisto” is yours truly, and the “sandpit” is where it all takes place.

As for the Sandpit, there are two parts to the activity: Creating The Landscape and Populating The Landscape. Bear in mind, the sandpit in this case, was on a long table, with wooden slats to keep the sand from spilling onto the floor [as you can see from the pictures]. There is nothing to say, that the sandpit cannot be on the floor, or outdoors, or anywhere else for the matter [the beach?]. For the purposes of the self exploratory work, it is as described here, and shown in the pictures. The wooden slats create a boundary, border if you like, between the reality of the room you are in, and the sandpit, in which you will be dissecting [i.e. analysing, my favourite passtime, so suck it up FYD!] your thoughts, inner demons, or issue/issues that is/are driving you to distraction.

Back to creating and populating the landscape in The Sandpit [Damn. I just love this word. Sandpit! Sandpit! Sandpit! ]

1.
Creating The Landscape

You are given two minutes for this task. Standing next to the sandpit, you close your eyes. With your eyes closed, you place your hands in the sand. You move your hands through the sand, allowing them to create and follow whatever direction the motion and feeling dictates. Do not think about what you are doing, just do it. After two minutes, open your eyes, and survey the landscape you have created.

2. Populating The Landscape

This is the more considered, no less spontaneous, than the first part of this activity. You are given a number of objects. You are to choose any object that takes your fancy, appeals to you, or holds some meaning, and place it anywhere on the landscap you have just created. With as many or as few objects as you desire. Take your time. Once you are done, step back and survey the landscape [world] you have created.

Of course, the intention of this exercise, is to externalise your feelings, inner demons, or specific issues that are bugging you, so that you can become the spectator, and not the participator. In doing so, you can demystify, dismepower the demons, or gain some perspective.

And to answer the obvious question, “Are there any pictures?”

Happily, the answer is “Yes!”

It’s In The Sandpit. Click on the pictures to view the slideshow.

This article has been cross posted at my rant blog, i.Mephisto. I will be writing a more personalised assessment of this experience [and my self exploratory work] to be posted at a later date.

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I first saw the show Characterful & Joymonger, in its edited version on the ABC, over a week ago. I assumed it would be a one off broadcast of a live show by one of my favourite comedians, Adam Hills. Imagine my joy when a search on the ABC site for information about the program, revealed that it was out on DVD.

Adam Hills is an Australian comedian, best known for his work on the music trivia show, Spicks and Specks. Not only is Adam a big hearted, good natured comedian, unafraid of diversity, watch any of his DVD’s or TV’s shows to witness the fact [and how much he actually loves people], he is also “Deaf Aware”.

He often has a sign interpreter at some of his shows. Characterful & Joymonger [the DVD] not only features a sign language interpreter, whom we see often, but…… but Adam incorporates her into his show, drawing the audiences attention to her, giving the audience a bit of Deaf Awareness, publicly showing his appreciation of her work, and making her repeat signs for the rude words. Yes, I know it is the usual Hearing thing to be fascinated by linguistic differences in swearing, but Adam is a big hearted guy who does it in a genuine spirit of curiosity and good natured humour.

As with any DVD, there are extras, and they are worth viewing. Especially the backstage shenanigans that feature the said sign language interpreter, and asking an elderly member of the audience of she was OK with his swearing. Her blithe reply was, “She’s heard worse.” Summat like that. AND the exchange with someone he thought was Deaf but turned out to be another sign language interpreter.

But what sets Characterful & Joymonger apart from the plethora of captioned and subtitled DVD’s, is the use of invision [ I think I got that right. Correct me in the comments, if I got that wrong] to bring up the sign interpreter in a separate window. I was gobsmacked to see this feature. I would have been content with the captions, as I love watching this guy.. but the addition of invision raised my estimation of him.

I hope he continues to make all his work as accessible as possible.

This is a double thumbs up for the man! Now go buy the DVD. HERE!

During October 2008, 17 to 31, New South Wales Association of The Deaf [NSWAD], staged a Deaf Arts Festival, during what has become National Week Of Deaf People [NWDP] – if I got this wrong, you can correct me.

The Deaf Arts Festival has been running for a few years now, and its focus is the visual arts. Admittedly, I went along with the expectation of something big and exciting. This is not to say I was disappointed, but, yeah, I was expecting more.

Still, two works blew me away. The first one [can't help but catch your eye as you walk into the exhibition] a mural of the Auslan Alphabet.

Too big for such a small space. It really needs to be out there where the public can see it. Such as this. To give you some idea of its size, here’s a picture taken at the opening:

The other work was a short film by Phillip Debs [whom I know from years back] a photographer and filmmaker. The piece that was submitted is called “Torture”, and according to a friend, was filmed using a mobile phone.

I’m trying to get hold of the original footage, and maybe samples of his other work [which, if are as good as this, we are looking at a Deaf Tarantino!]. Where many Deaf are content to explore themes that stay on the nice side of the visual experience, “Torture” is sharp, taut, aggressive and in your face [perhaps that's why it appealed to me].  Which is a nice contrast to all this nicety that threatens to overwhelm.

I know there are many talented Deaf artists out there, but Phillip Debs, is the first [in a long time, that I've seen] that pitches his work, both stylistically and intellectually on par with Hearing artists.

I would have loved to present you with more photos from the exhibition, but alas, my lazy arse prevented me from giving into my motivation! But I managed to salvage two more decent images from the NSWAD newsletter Silent Messenger.

PLEASE NOTE:

All images by NSWAD, and were extracted from the newsletter Silent Messenger [which was in PDF form].

I’ve finally finished reading Deaf Sentence by David Lodge, and I have to say that I enjoyed reading it very much.

I admit that I approached this book with much trepidation, expecting yet another one of those awful whinging, existential ridden angst about the disabling plight of hearing impairment commonly found amongst the unenlightened [that is, hearing people] and other pseudo liberals and intellectuals who tend the vegetable patch in the town village.

The story is essentially about:

..one man’s effort to come to terms with deafness, ageing and mortality, and the comedy and tragedy of human lives. When the university merged his Department of English with Linguistics, Professor Desmond Bates took early retirement, but he is not enjoying it. He misses the routine of the academic year and has lost his appetite for research. His wife Winifred’s late-flowering career goes from strength to strength, reducing his role to that of escort, while the rejuvenation of her appearance makes him uneasily conscious of the age gap between them. The monotony of his days is relieved only by wearisome journeys to London to check on his aged father who stubbornly refuses to leave the house he is patently unable to live in with safety.

Of which the central character’s, Desmond, deafness is but a minor detail. The best way to approach this book, is to ignore any publicity blurb that portrays its own juvenile posturing on deafness as an affliction:

But these discontents are nothing compared to the affliction of hearing loss — a constant source of domestic friction and social embarrassment, leading Desmond into mistakes, misunderstandings and follies. It might be comic for others, but for the deaf person himself, it is no joke. It is his deafness which inadvertently involves Desmond with a young woman whose wayward behaviour threatens to destabilize his life completely.

Publicity that comes complete with some rather lame jokes, “Come again? You don’t have to be hard of hearing to enjoy David Lodge’s latest novel,”

I don’t want to dwell on the shenanigans that arise from being Deaf/deaf in a hearing world. Those are familiar enough to us who are actually Deaf or deaf. Or the lame jokes about deafness [and not hearing], that the mainstream publicity machine churns out, of which some of us Deafies [and deafies?] can actually write better ones. Which even David managed in Deaf Sentence, with much wit and panache.

If it wasn’t for the deafness theme, I don’t think I would have bothered to read any of David Lodge’s books, which for some reason I was avoiding, even though I have four of them: A David Lodge Trilogy: Changing Places – Small World – Nice Work and Therapy. In this case, a familiar topic or theme served as an introduction to a good writer and good writing.

Without the central character’s deafness, the story would be a run of the mill tale about one man’s effort to come to terms with deafness, ageing and mortality, and the comedy and tragedy of human lives. In this book, deafness gives the reader a different perspective through which to view life, ageing, and mortality.

What the hearing reviews have ignored [the ones that I have read] is the culpability of the hearing response to the central character’s deafness. By blaming deafness for the breakdowns in communication, misunderstandings, and changes in relationships, the issue of hearing people’s own unwillingness to adapt to deafness [in a loved one or otherwise] is conveniently sidestepped.

Yet while David dramatises deafness as the cause of personal and social estrangement, and makes some rather illuminating observations, his solutions are technology, shouting to make oneself heard, or the clichéd lipreading classes, he inadvertently illustrates quite starkly, how hearing people can be quite unwilling to adapt to the changes demanded by deafness, and how the responsibility for resolving the “problem” of deafness is solely that of the person who is deaf. So, it is the deaf person who has to wear the hearing aids, it is the deaf person who has to make the greater effort at communication, it is the deaf person who has to attend lipreading classes, it is the deaf person this and it is the deaf person that, and it is the deaf person who is taken for the fool in communication breakdowns and misunderstandings.

The unfortunate thing about Deaf Sentence, is that it does not explore the issue of deafness beyond the clichéd and stereotypical. It is content to wallow in the shallow waters of assumed knowledge [pandering, but never challenging]. It is David’s story, and he is the author, and the choices are his to make. But it would be interesting to see if deafness is a one off theme, or if it will feature in his future work.

Further Reading:

• BOOK: Deaf Sentence – David Lodge P2
• BOOK: Deaf Sentence – David Lodge
• The Tree Of Life, The Fruit Of Knowledge, Of Good & Evil
• The Tree Of Knowledge
• The Idol-Maker: David Lodge – Deaf Sentence
• David Lodge: Deaf Sentence (forthcoming book)
• Whose Story is It Anyway?

Music is an art form that appeals to the aural sense [hearing], in the same way that painting, sculpture, photography, writing, et al, appeal to the visual sense [seeing]. Listening to music, for me, is an “either/ or” proposition. If I can hear it, I will listen to it, if I can’t, I won’t bother.

The remnants of my upbringing, dictate that, if I can’t have it exactly the way I want it, then I don’t want it at all. It’s hardline I know, but I have yet to see the value of experiencing music as a series of vibrations, through my hands, my body, or coming off the dance floor.

My view and experiences of music, are tied to my “hearing” upbringing, and even tho, I have moved on from the medical/ disability model of deafness, I have never been able to shake off the perception of music as an “either/ or” proposition I mentioned earlier. I experienced music exclusively as a sound experience. Even though, I sign sing, and I love the art of sing singing, I can’t imagine it working or me, without the actual sound driving the hand shapes and signing.

My appreciation of music is determined by what I can hear at any given moment, and things like acoustics, even health issues such as sinus, have a strong influence on any pleasure I may derive from listening or dancing to music, and sign singing. I can replay, and revisit, favourite songs inside my head, and sign sing along to the memory, but I just can’t conceive of music without sound.

Like all the other senses – sight, touch, feel, smell, sound has its own intrinsic qualities that dictate that its best experienced in its intended form: aural [auditory]. Though I’m sure  Evelyn Glennie, and Beethoven’s Nightmare would beg to prove me wrong. This does not mean that music [and indeed any of the other arts] cannot be experienced in other ways. Nor does it mean that we can’t explore alternative or different ways of experiencing the form.They can, and many people have gone out of their way to prove this. It just means that essence of the aesthetics and pleasure they [music] impart, lies in the experience of that [its] particular form.

The fact remains though, a Deaf person experiencing music, a deaf person experiencing music, and a hearing person experiencing music, are different sets of experiences, based on different physical characteristics [aural reception and perception]. Which are further influenced by the physical characteristics of location, environment, and acoustics.

Beethoven is held up as an example of someone who wrote music, and continued to do so, after he lost his hearing. But therein lies on oft ignored point. Apart from the fact that music was recorded via the written form of scores, and that each musical notation was a visual representation of a sound and how it is to be played, Beethoven was able to utilise his knowledge and understanding of the language of music [in its written form]. More pertinently, he was able to utilise his memory of sounds Beethoven had a lifetime of experience of music and sounds upon which he could draw from memory, as he continued to write music.

So, how does a Deaf or deaf person create or appreciate music, if its form and its qualities, are not, or not always open to us?

Further Reading:

Being Deaf and the Essence of Music
The Crossroads
Evelyn Glennie
Beethoven’s Nightmare