Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Day 234 Try August Wilson Multiple Choice Events- Kaki King a visual explosion and guitar

  
Kaki King-Potters Clay visual on guitar
The August Wilson Center which has a small  theater was the perfect intimate setting to experience Kaki King. She is a unique artist who fuses  a visual experience  with her distinctive inventive method of guitar playing. Just like  Pink Floyd’s The Wall, her show is one that you have to see, hear and experience. It’s an escape with an explosion of  light and music (see video) .



Reflection
Her guitar develops a life of its own in this show entitled, “The Neck is the Bridge to the Body”.  As King puts it, “the guitar changes her” and you can feel it evolving and maturing during the performance.  King pushed the limits of creativity just like the dance company Pilobilus. Pilobilus created a story with human shadows: King told a story with digital technology and imagery projected onto her guitar (see Day 198 Pilobilus).
Guitar Awakens
The guitar awakens, it grows eyes and ears, it tries to speak, it develops notes, it feels, and it travels. This is done with her phenomenal playing and the use of  lights, shapes, and color visually mapping images on the guitar in conjunction with images on the screen behind her. 

She produced her sound by playing the guitar's neck as a base, by picking, tapping a rhythm on the guitar's body, or by using her nails along the guitar's side.  Her sound was unique and I heard a jazz influence.  It was a  total experience! (watch here)
Trying to speak






Her guitars are uniquely made and customized for her purpose. I believe the surface of the guitar that she used in this show was carbon fiber. It  made a distinct sound when she ran her nails along its body.  


Growing eyes and ears


I really enjoyed the humorous part of the show where she produced “talking like sounds” while the visual behind her displayed  the “day in the life of her misunderstood guitar” using subtitles. It  reminded me of the sounds  from the Peanuts cartoon when the adults talk to the characters. Her guitar was talking to us!
Her Guitar was talking to us. "I was always nervous..."
There were parts of the show when you just wanted to lean back in your seat, watch, listen and enjoy without much thought.  Enjoying the sound and visual was like a hallucinogenic experience in the absence of  drugs.
At times you just enjoy the visual and sound 







Kaki King was “stand alone” different as she masterfully worked her guitar. I think Kaki King and her guitar have both self-actualized –they have reached their personal best! (get  tour dates)
Had so many questions to ask her


(This show was part of the August Wilson Center Multiple Choice Event Series where you can chose to eat from the food truck, see a show  then join a dance party for $25.00 or  you can choose to just join the dance party for $5.00 in advance or $10.00 at the door. It’s a great night out of  interesting entertainment, food, and dance. Don’t miss the  next one on October 14th which features a Variety Hour of local talent hosted by Rick Sebak.)    

August Wilson Multiple Choice Events

Spiritual Sources
Behold I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you" (1 Kings  3:12)

Other sources
The Neck is the Bridge to the Body https://www.kakiking.com/playbill
Surface changes visual guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziPD16xCBBg