AŊPÁWI AÍYOKPAZA, A Solar Eclipse Performance
Photos by Blair Speed
Description
Kite, AŊPÁWI AÍYOKPAZA, Solar Eclipse Performance.
Title pronunciation: [On-PAH-wee Ah-ee-YOKE-pah-ZAH]
“Kite’s interdisciplinary practice spans sound, video, performance, instrument building, wearable artwork, poetry, prose, interactive installations, and more. As part of her performance practice, she composes ‘visual scores’ for musicians using components of geometric language identified in linguist Sadie Red Wing’s Lakȟóta shape kit.
A ‘visual score’ is a form of experimental musical notation using symbolic forms that performers and musicians read and interpret. The forms are derived from tradition artmaking such as quill and beadwork and communicate concepts without using verbal language. Kite frequently records her scores by embroidering them onto silk or leather; for Aŋpáwi Aíyokpaza (Eclipse), performers will reproduce the image with stones on the ground and the form will become the stage upon which to enact the piece. For this performance of Aŋpáwi Aíyokpaza (Eclipse), Kite will gather a group of local musicians on October 14, 2023 between 9:11am and 10:52am in Bozeman, Montana. The time was chosen to coincide with the unfolding of the partial solar eclipse, to further expand upon the traditional Lakȟóta cosmological understanding of the mirroring of events that take place on earth and in the sky.
Kite’s instructions for Aŋpáwi Aíyokpaza (Eclipse) direct the performer to the workings of the sky as well as the responses here on earth. “Imagine each symbol moves through the human/instrument body as if the instrument is a bird who has stopped singing during the day, whose heart beats furiously in terror,” she writes. “No sound should be made without a listening ear to another being, another instrumentalist, or the birds.” Aŋpáwi Aíyokpaza (Eclipse) is the final event of “Invisible Prairie” a place-based multimedia art exhibition focused on the sensory experience of the Great Plains, with a focus on language and sound.”
- Dr. Melissa Ragain.
Previous Showings
“Invisible Prairie,” Tinworks Art, Bozeman, MT. Curated by Dr. Melissa Ragain. October 14, 2023. Link
