11/6/21

Some of you who have visited my website before may have noticed a little face-lift in the about section. Some of you who are new to my site, and maybe even new to me as an artist in general, may also be curious as to the three things I highlighted in my "What I love" section. Well, if you want to know more, you're at the right place.

NEW WORK

The most interesting story is the one that hasn't been told yet.

Or,

The most interesting story is an old one, told in a new voice.

Or,

The most interesting story is one that makes us see something transformed.

I like making new work - a very ambiguous term that runs a wide gamut. Fortunately, I love all the range it encompasses: from world premieres to third productions. I particularly love adaptation -- trying to figure out how a text translates across different media. I've adapted professionally since the beginning of my career and I relish in the challenge of trying to fit something impossibly big into a box it wasn't meant for. Adapting into theatre means learning about the visual and physical range of the story. Adapting into video games means understanding the heartbeat of the mechanics of the game.

I think all work is new in some fashion - even a radical take on a Shakespearean classic is new in some regards. As someone who has been profoundly influenced by myth, oral tradition, history, how could I not see reinventing classics as new?? My preference, however, will always to be to make something that hasn't been seen by thousands of eyes yet.

ENTANGLEMENT

Arts are core to all personal identities, economic sectors, and community facets. My work aims to entangle disparate individuals, fields, and tribes together. From directing a video game as a collaboration between developers and theatremakers to using Consensus Organizing as a way to surface mutual self-interests across diverse groups of people, my work builds stake that binds the roots of our organizations together. I think a lot about the great work of Suzanne Simard and how she proved that through a vast underground mycorrhizal network, trees can communicate between one another through chemical and organic exchange of resources. I envision all my projects - theatre, podcasts, games, films - to serve as those nodules which connect the great trunks of our society together.

THE IMPOSSIBLE

When I play video games, I never complete them at 100%. At the time of writing this, I'm at 871 of 900 korok seeds on Breath of the Wild! I love the idea of something unlimited, impossible to achieve. It means, to me, that there is always something to grow towards. It means that life is unending and infinite and trying to accomplish every goal of yours is folly.

This value, applied on a more practical level, doesn't mean I don't complete my projects or assignments. It's the opposite in fact. It draws me to those beautifully unachievable impossible moments. Like Tony Kushner, I love seeing the wires and the technique that artists use to bring their stories to life.

For example, as a theatre artist, my preference is always to do a story that wasn't meant for the stage: A story that has massive transformations both physical and spiritual. And the reason always stems back to the great power that theatre can bring: community. To see artists all working together to solve a challenge like depicting four swans beaten by a malevolent storm spirit, or a war between water and wind, or breaking out into highly choreographed song and dance, it's a great reminder of the beauty of our humanity: that when we are in community, we can achieve anything.