DEBORAH CARRUTHERS
  • Home
    • Artist Statement
    • Bio
  • Performances
    • Ecstacies of Influence - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre -Montréal - December 2018
    • slippages - The UBC Symphony Orchestra - Chan Centre - Vancouver - October 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
  • Exhibitions / Residencies
    • Recent Exhibitions ... Now You See Me... >
      • The Aura of the Already Said - Zygote Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio - 2019 >
        • The Aura of the Already Said: Exhibition - Press
      • Souvenir / Souvenir - Montréal, Québec 2017 >
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Press
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Essay ​Culte du Souvenir
        • Souvenir / Souvenir: About the Exhibition ...
        • About ​Safe Passage
        • About the Paintings ...
        • About the Photographs ...
        • About the Vitrines ...
        • Souvenir / Souvenir : Invitation card
      • Souvenir sacré - Opasatika - Hearst, Ontario 2016
    • Residencies ... Home Away from Home >
      • Ecstasies of Influence : matralab, Concordia University - Montréal 2018 >
        • Ecstacies of Influence - December 16, 2018 - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre - Montréal
      • The Past Sealed Away - Peter Wall Institute Artist in Residence - Vancouver, BC 2017 - 2018 >
        • The Past Sealed Away... Article
      • What's in a Song ? - Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2017
      • In The Hole - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2017
      • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2016 >
        • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Installation
  • Graphic Scores
    • slippages - 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Between the Song and the Silence: Berlin 2017 - 2020 >
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Banff Iteration
      • My Muses
      • What's in a Name?
      • Taking Flight ... The Process
      • Swan Song... A summary of my process for my MFA research
  • Portfolio
    • The Past Sealed Away ...
    • The Past Sealed Away... Prints
    • Immense Immensities
    • In The Hole
    • Mortsaf for My Father
    • Souvenir sacré
    • Fleurs sacrées
    • Mortsaf
    • Genetics for Cowboys
    • Beautiful Ghosts
    • Niagara Tondos
    • Twinned
  • C V
  • Contact

Between the Song and the Silence: A Bird's Eye View ...

 It was daunting to approach the vast expanse of blank pages. I hate having to do things over as I often feel that my first iteration was the best one – and that any attempt to recreate it would result in a poor imitation of what I had done before.

I read and reread the Hemingway homily about his lost trunk of work, and decided I wasn’t going to try to redo sixty-odd sketches. I’d been there, done that!
​
So how else could I approach doing another storyboard for the performance if I wasn’t going to make a sketch for every action change?
 
Over time I’ve managed to amass an amazing number of Post-It notes, in a variety of colours. I use them to organize papers and essays, plan project timelines, make shopping lists, post notes to my partner on the fridge or mirror, and on the door for the postman and neighbours. They are a ubiquitous tool in our household.
 
So why not use them somehow for this? I had started taking photos with my phone to record what I was doing in my sketch books, in case they were ever stolen (or lost) again. Instead of recording sketches, I could just cut to the chase and use the photos to make a sort of stop-animation storyboard.
 
The stage at the Tieranatomische is within a round amphitheatre, and after ferreting through my paper drawer, I found some beautiful round paper - voilà, my stage!
 
So now all that was necessary was to make my cast of colourful Post-Its: blue for the audience, neon pink for my vocalists, neon orange for my birdwatchers, and neon chartreuse for my musicians. Yellow would be used for other information, such as titles or stage descriptions.
 
By turning them into .gifs, I’ve been able to get an even better sense of the flow of movement on the stage, and having just sent the .gifs off to some of my performers, they’ve indicated that they like they flexibility of working this way. On our next Skype in a couple of weeks, the plan is for each of us to have a version of my Post-It stage maquette, and use them as we begin to go through the staging.
 
A bird’s eye view, indeed!
Picture
One of my "process boards" in my studio
Over time I've managed to amass an amazing number of Post-It Notes, in a variety of colours ...
Picture
My Post-It maquette, with cast and audience
​ We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada de son soutien.
Picture
  • Home
    • Artist Statement
    • Bio
  • Performances
    • Ecstacies of Influence - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre -Montréal - December 2018
    • slippages - The UBC Symphony Orchestra - Chan Centre - Vancouver - October 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
  • Exhibitions / Residencies
    • Recent Exhibitions ... Now You See Me... >
      • The Aura of the Already Said - Zygote Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio - 2019 >
        • The Aura of the Already Said: Exhibition - Press
      • Souvenir / Souvenir - Montréal, Québec 2017 >
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Press
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Essay ​Culte du Souvenir
        • Souvenir / Souvenir: About the Exhibition ...
        • About ​Safe Passage
        • About the Paintings ...
        • About the Photographs ...
        • About the Vitrines ...
        • Souvenir / Souvenir : Invitation card
      • Souvenir sacré - Opasatika - Hearst, Ontario 2016
    • Residencies ... Home Away from Home >
      • Ecstasies of Influence : matralab, Concordia University - Montréal 2018 >
        • Ecstacies of Influence - December 16, 2018 - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre - Montréal
      • The Past Sealed Away - Peter Wall Institute Artist in Residence - Vancouver, BC 2017 - 2018 >
        • The Past Sealed Away... Article
      • What's in a Song ? - Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2017
      • In The Hole - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2017
      • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2016 >
        • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Installation
  • Graphic Scores
    • slippages - 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Between the Song and the Silence: Berlin 2017 - 2020 >
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Banff Iteration
      • My Muses
      • What's in a Name?
      • Taking Flight ... The Process
      • Swan Song... A summary of my process for my MFA research
  • Portfolio
    • The Past Sealed Away ...
    • The Past Sealed Away... Prints
    • Immense Immensities
    • In The Hole
    • Mortsaf for My Father
    • Souvenir sacré
    • Fleurs sacrées
    • Mortsaf
    • Genetics for Cowboys
    • Beautiful Ghosts
    • Niagara Tondos
    • Twinned
  • C V
  • Contact