So because I was in the box, I was not checking my phone and as a result my two guests ended up going to Spencer Art Building. Somewhere at the intersection of my shows usually being there and me referring to it as a gallery of performance work, meant they spent the afternoon wandering around that cavernous hanger on the other side of campus. Here are my impressions from my perspective.

First of all, for me personally, given my perspective in relation to the exhibit itself, it was really interesting to see the way in which people moved about the space. There was definitely a lot hesitancy, a sort of dance around both the box and the pieces in general. I would say one of the most interesting moments was when everyone stopped in their places to watch Kimmy’s performance. I couldn’t even see the performance but I could also see the way in which people as I moved to look around at them through the holes in the box people would look back or I would catch them looking at the box in relation to Kimmy’s performance.

Also, much like sheep, people very much had to be lead to put their head in the box. I think there was this consistent issue of choice and in fact people really only did what they were compelled to do. Through the holes I could keep track of people who did and did not participate in the box and I think there is a lesson to be learned here about guiding. When you make something the only thing you can do, people will do it.

First Object: the Space

Second Object: The Performance

Third Object: the Sound

Word/Text Art/Play

-John My Father is Secretly A Nudist (5/50)

-Omar Puns (As a form unto themselves)

-Gabrielle’s Letters in Easter, 1996 (5/50)

-Paige “Calling All Nymphets” Lolita (5/50)

-Bailey “Deer” Live Forever (5/50)

-Paige “My OCD Is Not/Is…” Obsessive. Compulsive (5/50)

-Sarah “Youth Man” Peter (5/50)

-Kimmy Five Senses “Sight” and “Sight and Touch”

-John Brail in Five Senses

-Kimmy Posters for Black Panther Party

Romanticized or Perverted Memory

-Bailey “Bailey and the Bruja” (5/50)

-Carina “Titanic” (5/50)

-Gabrielle “Juxtapositions: Love is…”

-Molly Show Don’t Tell “Show me what you found”

-Phoebe Show Don’t Tell Memory

Coping with Mortality

-Bailey “Brothers” (5/50)

-Phoebe “Ouija Board” (5/50)

-Sophia “Cosmogeny” (5/50)

-Carina Show Don’t Tell

-Molly Cremation (5/50)

Thing I Made:

“Wind” and “Blue”

There’s something interesting to me about creating something hypnotic or lulling that is either punctured by the middle finger in “Wind” or just unsettling like the pigment in “Blue.”

“Show Don’t Tell” (and sort-of the quick little piece from Will’s class)

I think they both ended up playing with a performer’s relationship and responsibility to the audience; I like the dance between making the viewers invisible and reaching out to touch them.

Things Other People Made:

David’s Juxtaposition: Quarter Life Crisis with Sophia’s The Story of David Carter.

The combination of the two was so unsettling and incredible, not to mention that I think that the transcript of David’s archive of his performance would make a great monologue.

Carina’s Juxtaposition

The use of the space, the unique way of putting the audience on stage in this exposed compromised way are all things I would really love to see this expanded into a larger piece.

Maddie’s “A combination of cacao powder and sea salt, served on a plastic spoon. Should taste like dirt, blood, and tears.”

That text was brilliant and hilarious and, with that put into my head, tiny taste on a finger tip (much like how you would taste blood, tears and dirt) it made strange even though I could very much identify the salt and the bitterness of the cacao. 

Hiccups (or Hiccoughs) are defined as two seemingly simultaneously involuntary contractions in the diaphragm and larynx, that causes the epiglottis to close causing the characteristic hic noise. That’s a whole lot of science to mean that something in your belly and your neck tense up causing a little flap in your throat to close. Let’s start with what happens in your belly. The diaphragm is a muscular dome that is found at the base of our breathing system.

Located at the bottom of our lungs it separates our lungs from the rest of internal organs. So when we breath in the muscle contracts, pushing down all the organs below, our stomach, liver, kidneys and all, so that our lungs can fully expand with air.

Next we have the contraction in the larynx. The larynx or voice box is found in our throat and contains the supraglottis, the vocal cords, the glottis, the subglottis and, most importantly for hiccups, the epiglottis.

The epiglottis is that little flap that’s red with blue in the center all the way at the top of the larynx. Now when we breathe in and out all that air has to travel past the open epiglottis to get into our lungs. When we swallow food, it snaps shut to keep it from getting down into the trachea (our breathing tube) and causing us to choke.

So what happens when we hiccup? Basically there is a spasm in the diaphragm. A spasm is when a muscle quickly tenses up without us using our brain to tell it to do so. So rather than normally contracting and relaxing as we breathe, suddenly it sharply contracts. At the same time in our throat, the epiglottis snaps shut and there isn’t even any food it needs to protect our lungs from! For just a moment we can’t breath, which causes us to make the hic sound of a hiccup, as the air gets stopped by the epiglottis as we try to breathe it in.

But why do we hiccup? Well the biological, sciencey explanation is our vagus nerve causes these contractions. Our nervous system controls EVERYTHING in our body. Many of them work to run our body, making it pump blood, breathe, digest food, without our having to even think about it. The vagus nerve connects our brain to our organs so that it can keep our heart at a constant rhythm, digest our food and keep our body breathing. Now the series of contractions happen when our vagus nerve gets stimulated, or tickled, in a certain way that it tells our diaphragm to contract and our epiglottis to close.

Now here is where we get to the tricky part. Scientists still have not discovered the reason why we hiccup. In fact, hiccuping, despite being found in animals as well as humans, serves no actual purpose. It is a completely useless function! Here are some possible causes:

• Drinking fizzy drinks
• Eating too quickly
• Eating too much, which puts pressure on the diaphragm
• Sudden changes in your environment’s temperature
• Eating hot or spicy food
• Drinking alcohol

But we still do not what it is about all of these different causes that sometimes do and don’t cause hiccups.

How do you get rid of hiccups? There are many different solutions, eating sugar or peanut butter, taking tiny sips of water, making yourself gag or, as the legend goes, scaring someone so they gasp and forget about their hiccups. None of them have proved to be the be all end all solution so keep exploring until you find out what works for you. That being said, if your hiccups last longer than 48 hours, you should go see a doctor!

Souces:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/181573.php?page=2

What are hiccups, and how exactly can you get rid of them?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larynx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_diaphragm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve

http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/vagus-nerve

Just outside of the Porta Maggiore, one of the main and few remaining 3rd century Roman gates, is the tomb of Eurysaces the Baker. Made in 50-52 A.D., his tomb is just outside of the city walls making it one of the most coveted and expensive burial spots. He was afforded this luxury due to his immense success as this legendary, celebrity baker.

Recipe for Cato’s Bread

• 500g Spelt flour
• 350ml Water
• A Pinch of Salt
• A Splash of Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the spelt flour and the salt in a large bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and then slowly add the water. Mix with your hands until you end up with a dough that is no longer too floury, but also not too sticky. Knead the dough well and form it into a round mound. Lightly score the bread with a knife, diving it into eight. Place your loaf on an oven sheet and find a way to keep the moisture in a contained space around the loaf, for instance cover it with an oven safe bowl. Bake for thirty minutes and then remove the container. Bake for another 15 minutes and test that the bread is done by knocking on the bottom, listening to make sure it sounds hollow.

Allow to cool and serve with honey or olive oil with a pinch of salt.

(Originally found then tweaked from here)

SIGHT – A Room Lit By Candles

TOUCH – Handed a Chunk of Bread

TASTE – Dip it in Sweet or Savory

SMELL – Blow out the Candle, Smell the Smoke

SOUND

Chanting of the tomb’s inscription “EST HOC MONIMENTVM MARCEI VERGILEI EVRYSACIS PISTORIS REDEMPTORIS APPARET” over recreated Roman music.

STOCKHOLM–Tragedy struck this little apartment on Kindstugatan yesterday for the second time this month. Ten year old Karl “Rusky” Lejon passed away yesterday morning after a three year battle with tuberculosis. This loss in the Lejon household comes just weeks after the death of their older son, Jonathan. After a fire broke out in the family kitchen, brave Jonathan took his little brother onto his backing and leapt from sixth floor window. Breaking his brother’s fall, Jonathan was pronounced dead on the scene; Rusky, cushioned by his brother’s body, survived the fall. In a cruel twist of fate, that blessing was short-lived, but the story of the lionhearted Jonathan has already become a local legend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Lejon family during this difficult and trying time.