Here I am again at Heathrow airport I have been debagged, checked in and now I am eagerly awaiting for that final degradation of going through security. As I stand patiently waiting for all my possessions to be scanned and viewed by people who I have never met and the possible additional delight of being frisked, I look down at my little plastic bag and begin to reflect on my life.
My virtual reflective ‘little plastic bag’ contains an interesting mix. I have met and worked with some amazing people. Along the way my ideas, inspirations and achievements have been shaped, moulded, guided and strengthened by people.
They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and that can certainly be true of many things that we all encounter along the way. As I stand quietly in this interminable queue I think back to the freedom of living on a farm way up in the North of Scotland. My life seemed very simple, I knew that I wanted to be a percussionist and nothing was going to stop me.
I shared those feelings with Thomas Reidelsheimer in the film Touch the Sound which has been a great backdrop for my career.
I look down at the scant makeup in my Heathrow standard edition see through container and I consider what to wear when I appear on the stage with the talented Maya Beiser when we perform the new piece titled ‘Stuttered Chant’ at the UCLA. I think about the unusual piece I am going to play written by David Lang and his brief to me about enjoying the experience of creating sounds from a Cello –an instrument not usually amongst my arsenal!
Isn’t it amazing the things that go through your mind when you are standing in a queue clasping a little plastic bag!
The latest years I've been commuting on a weekly basis between two towns in Sweden. Trying to entertain myself to not get too bored by this routine I've spent a lot of travel time just observing people and making up narratives of who they could be and why they possibly are travelling. I think this 1l and it's content tells a lot about the person holding it. Is it brand new or re-used? Packed in the piece and quiet of home or in great haste at the airport. In what fashion is it's owner holding it - dead tight, relaxed loose or perhaps just pinched between the thumb and index finger?
ReplyDeleteSorry, this wasn't really planned to be random musings from a stranger on the airport plastic bag. I'm Lisa and I recently saw a video with you, on listening, on TED that really made me think. Thank You for a really interesting lecture!
At the moment I'm doing a photo documentary project at a church and it'll involve many shoots of musicans and also listeners at the very services and events. If you have any thoughts on how to really show the making of music and the act of listening in photography I'd be really keen to hear your opinion.
Greetings from Kiruna, Sweden
Lisa
A static moment, without the possibility of a voluntary movement and simply waiting for a massive security operation by simple harmless objects, gives us a chance to stop an imposed and forces us to think of our life. Reading you makes me think of my own life and how your music and your beautifully thoughts touch my heart. I love you. Have you a great perform!!
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