Welcome to the Survival Pages Blog-site!

What is this blog about?
I am a performing artist in Minneapolis, working on developing a show about survival. This blog is a space to post my latest thoughts about what this piece is about, titled
"The Survival Pages; From the Brink of Extinction"

"You make art about what you can't stop thinking about. Whatever it is that you keep turning over and over in your mind, that's your material." (~instructor at a Performance Art workshop I recently attended)

Well, I can't stop thinking about this planet and the predicament we're in. Somehow, the separation of human culture from nature is about to sway the pendulum further than it's ever rocked. Global Warming is suddenly on the tips of everyone's tongues, but that barely scrapes the surface of the major ecological catastrophes imminent.

And despite our touted intelligence as a species, we humans seem unable to muster the imagination and action required to turn this Titanic around. Why is that? Is it the system? Are we really that powerless? Or is it more a matter of collective will?

When the oil ends, when the water runs out, when the 6 billion people on this planet are suddenly faced with an environment that can really only support 2 billion, what's it going to take to survive?

But before I get into all this, first:
Who am I? (& more about my art...)

• My name is Malia. (That's my real name)
• I was born in Minnesota, USA, but my ancestors are from Japan and Germany, with a smattering from England, Ireland, and Norway in there, too.
• I'm 31 years old. (That's my real age)
• I make my living by teaching art to kids, and performing around the Twin Cities.
  
• The main art-forms I work with are puppetry, (giant spectacle puppets ala Bread and Puppet Farm in Vermont), pageantry, parades, and Butoh Dance. I am also a musician-- I play a variety of instruments, but my home will always be with the piano. I love to sing, and also play a bit of guitar and accordian. I write my own music. (and hope soon to have a link here so you can check it out!)

When is the show, and where?
"The Survival Pages; From the Brink of Extinction" will premiere at Intermedia Arts in Minnepolis, MN, on the weekend of Nov 8-10, 2007. Check out www.intermediaarts.org for more info. The show is part of the "Naked Stages" Program... which supports emerging performance artists in their development over the course of 9 months.

Why should you read this blog?
Well, I'm hoping you'll tell me why you're reading, but some reasons I'm putting this out where you can read it are:
* You can't stop thinking about the planet's problems, either. You might have some interesting thoughts or responses to what I write.
or, * You're a friend of mine and would like to know more about what I'm up to.

Subscribe to this post to get regular updates! (link below... where it says "Subscribe to: Posts--Atom".)

Lastly, a note to the reader:
I intend to write this blog as though in my journal. It's just more fun for me to write as though no one else is reading this... However, I will post a question, or a series of questions, to invite you to respond to. If you share responses with me, I may end up using what you say in the show.

I am not going to try convincing anyone who isn't already at a similar understanding that the planet's in trouble. So I'm not going to include facts or figures, or otherwise debate whether Global Warming really exists. What you are about to read is one artist's process-- not a manifesto, not an academic document. Still with me? Let's go...