Poesique with Artist Shaw Pong Liu

Our performance is the culmination of an intensive summer of deep listening, sonic explorations, improvisation and composing workshops, roundtable dialogues, and a good measure of manual labor (building instruments, creating sets, and performing).

Many of our discussions have revolved around the question, ”How will you choose to live?” We explored social inequality, personal and collective agency and the role of artists in maintaining or challenging the status quo.

“Mythearthical: Tales of A Blue Sky” explores these by examining different perspectives on the creation and purpose of the world. The 20-minute piece weaves together the prophetic Hopi creation legend with commentary from other storytellers: fragments of religious texts, Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”, global statistics from a “science guy” as well as our own short story about the impact of consumerism on the planet. It includes original music by Poesique and excerpts of Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres” arranged for wineglasses.

The performance showcases the writing, composing, performing, and improvising talents of the ten members of Poesique, each of whom designed and plays one, to three, of the twenty-some built and found instruments in the production.These inventions include: water bowls, a glass bottle xylophone, a plucked-rattle crank-glass “thingamajig”, a junkyard metal xylophone, an umbrella bell-shaker, a hand-drum, several “junk” percussion instruments, and an Egyptian lute, the Shamisen. Traditional instruments employed include guitars, violin, bass clarinet and voices.

[Special thanks to the staff of The Raue Center for the Performing Arts, for their generosity and assistance hosting our live recording session. Thanks to Chris Tumbin, sound engineer, for mixing and recording. Recorded live at the Raue Center, Crystal Lake, IL, August 5, 2008.]

Student Artist
Susanne Anderson, Spring Grove
University of Illinois, Chicago

Jason Bachler, Ringwood
Cali Beeson, Harvard
Ursula “Charlie” Charles, Harvard
Sebastian “Seb” Gonzales, Crystal Lake
Roma Jensen, Crystal Lake
Huaira Martinez, Woodstock
Airin Virgilio, Lake in the Hills
Gabri Zmich, Cary