Before we begin you can view the Artwork, performances of Jonathan Hayter @ the following domain;
www.figureofspeech.org.uk
and for further viewing of more sound and images related to fig. of spch. please visit the following;
http://www.myspace.com/jonathanhayter
The world is currently in chaos.....
But it is my belief that about 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age a significant change happened to humanity. We began to farm , eat the wrong foods - become attached to the earth in more ways than one...
In India the philosphy of `Dharma`, within the Hindu religious teachings has a great significance on the way that cultures are collapsing into chaotic fervent. It is obvious our place on the earth has been distorted through time and successive human incarnation and the truth that Dharma teaches us been neglected and ignored. Dharma teaches poise and grace in the understanding that all actions are guided by the divine and cosmic influence.
At least up to 10,000 years ago civilisations knew their place in Gods creation to keep the flow of cosmic harmony. After all the earth does not belong to anyone of us , it is all of ours to share . It is evident if you look around today that this message of harmony and being a productive part of God`s creation has been lost in the march of global capitalism and humanities material greed is in effect destroying the planet. As successive in carnations of us all and new souls join or planet we have become more immersedand `stuck ` in matter. This age the Hindus refer to as the `kali yuga` and for no other reason that it is the age in which the fiercesome aspect of the mother- Goddess Kali is present in her blood thirsty cull of misdeeds.
It is also a time when the dharma has been lost , there is lawlessness in the streets , crime , hunger , poverty , as well as social inequality- which breeds anger suspicion and war...
However , spiritual transformations that were more meditative and ponderous in the other preceeding ages now become instant if persued in the kali age . Esoteric knowledge on all fronts is readily available alongside the trashy cultural parts of materialism. Oly the strong in mind and spirit can be disciplined enough to follow the path of salvation in an age such as this . The choice is really up to each individual.......
.to be continued..
On saturday 3rd feb - a gig with `Rama` - my indian based shadow show - that takes the audience on a journey from creation through destruction and finally to rebirth. Should be a good gig for Bristol uni- english student ball at ashton court house bristol...
Meanwhile work continues on my sculptural experiments- enjoying using differen t materials to explore 3 dimensionally the possibility of my archetype cards ...
The teachers workshops for Barton Hill went well last week . I thought it was interesting linking the IT and the group work with laying out the shapes... it was intersting too in the recurring themes of nature and nuture and environment....
Promoting my solo show `Light` is a priority - to find a suitable venue...
`the Pilgrimage` animation will be shown i a local animation festival at community @ heart , here in Bristol, in march...more about that soon...
The york project is still on target for the end of march- withthe possibility of a multicultural project there too at the end of the year..
No word from `The Muslim Supplementary School` folowing last year`s project....
MOONTIME 2007...
(on this site on `my videos` you can view various versions of the `Moontime` experiment- as an attempt to explain the show the following is an account of the development of thepiece in all its forms as well as a brief description of the history of some its live presentations...)
In 2004 `Moontime` the multimedia shadow puppet and dance , musical screen presentation was performed at a number of venues - including the successful Bath fringe - where the show was ppresented live with original musicians Mark and Madelaine Osborne . Mark , in my opinion , had written an excellent soundtrack to the on screen alchemical transformation I was trying to represent throughout the performance. We performed this version of the show at the excellent venue of Bath Green Park station. A former glass roofed Train station converted to a covered market, `Moontime ` flourished as an avantegard piece on that June evening in front of an enthusiastic audience .
Earlier that year and with prerecorded sound we had performe a diasastorous rendition of the show at the `Bath Puppet Festival`. Cramped conditions and tight running times - meant that the set up was frenetic in the small Rondo theatre alongside other acts from London and beyond....still you live and learn.
In february 2005 the original crew of the 2004 production took `Moontime ` to appear at the `Exeter Animated Live Festival 2005` .After the fringe Mark had lost some of the original compositions when his computer crashed. I had already commited to a performance at the fringe and had to scout around to fill in the missing gaps on the score.I contacted James Holingsworth, who had previously worked on Rama , and with little time they set to work to recrd and compose as acccurately as they could similar sound scores for marks missing pieces. James and sean mcbride - recreated the atmosphere of the original piece . They only had a bad live sound recording of the original show recorded live in bath to work from...By late 2004 with the pieces finsihed and matched to the original video projections we were once more ready to re rehearse with the original crew again for our exeter apperence. Jim Brown, dancer- played the central binding role of the `Moondwarf` and Itta Howie provide the lighting , Huw Griffiths - was in his role of video artist and animator. I was puppeteer once more. ..
Exeter was a critical success for me , I remember thinking - wow - I have got this really insane show into a mainstream blackbox space- and people are watching it!
The others thoroughly enjoyed the night too, the best bits etched into my subconcious - with allthe bits of huw and i driving down the motorway from bristol in the tiny rascal van with all our equipment and the shadow screen poised on the roof! How we made it unscathed I dont know!
After exeter the original team and crew fell apart, due to other commitments - everyone wanted proper wages- was I going to get funding etc etc. It was a nightmare for me - because close to realising my amnbition of getting a show like this to work it all just melted away...!
The last show was a downbeat affair at community at heart here in Bristol. All the glamour of exeter was wahed off with the grease paint- I think I realised then that it wasnt all going to work out as I planned.
As the end of 2005 came - plans to work with a new team of artists unfolded. I took to heart Jim`s ideas to get a director . Eventually by the end of the year I found one who matched the task of the project. Peter Reynolds - had a long line of exotic lookibng projects that looked very interesting. When we met I liked the way he talked - and he had some positive criticisms of moontime to add too. Ella Bissett Johnson I had met through the awful project I had found myself involved in with `Clerical Medical` As I started that project ....well that is a nother story.. Any way ella had some intelligent and interesting things to say abiout the development of the ne w media in the show - beyond what we had currently been doing. It was exciting disscussing how `Moontime ` might become an installation as well as performance piece...
I had also searched the internet , and through my connection with Puppeteers uk I came across the work of Michaela Bartonova - with alchemy and the work of Heironymous Bosch the medieval painter who inspired so much investigation. Her puppetts were exquisite . By christmas 2005 I arranged a visit to Prague to meet her...
(to be contnd.)