Codfish and Cream

2019, 3:19 sound and text

The clanging of bells on the front door and the lively banter of friends and lovers, forks and knives, the glittering of faces we know and others we might in the search through a room for the friends we’ve come to meet.  That place down the road, the one with the lemon curd on Tuesdays, and the waitress who was your coworker for three years before you left town, they have the best cocktails, mocktails, lighting at night.

At the start of the pandemic I fell into a small, warm studio and began sorting papers, piles of stories, and materials, trying to create space.  Collages blossomed, turned into performative projects, and by fall, a pile of art and a hunt for deeper conversation.  Winter felt long and on days when the sun sparkled I found myself dreaming to the comforting sounds and life of a cafe, lunch buffet, dinner spot, waiting in the bar for our table to clear.  Yet I witness it in my head, in the chatter of the mind who’s companion for sharing and bouncing ideas is herself.  So I brought those conversations to life and offer them to you now, a bit of ambiance… the special is cod today and I’m a vegan.

White Chocolate Milk

2019, story, paper, velum, puppetry by Crystal Hartman, music and puppetry by Devin Frank

Place:  Ubud, Bali, Indonesia February 1995 8.5069° S, 115.2625° E

The story goes like this… After we had been in Ubud for several weeks, I experienced my first hint of homesickness and asked a woman from the village if she could make me chocolate milk.  She said yes, left, and returned with a glass of white milk.  I later came to discover that she had melted white chocolate bars and whipped them into the milk.  It was divine!  I drank it all, set the glass on an outdoor table, and left for the day.  When we returned, the entire patio, the table, and the glass were black, covered entirely with ants.  I suppose it was my first great experience of the surreal and of abundance.

The use of shadow puppets is inspired by the Wayang tradition of Indonesian puppetry.

Divinity

2010, 2:41 sound and video

A Buddhist monk turned over my hands and quietly looked me in the eyes. I come back to this as meditation on emptiness. Two birds move in and out of the frame, human voice mimics the connection of air and wing.

Limbo

2013, 0:45 sound and video

A man wiggles his mustache, the way he might when a tickle is at his nose until he can no longer wiggle it and smiles.