Seriously though! Charleston had not elected a democrat as mayor since 1864, Reconstruction! Of course, democrats then might as well have been republicans. But still, this represents quite a shift. Who knows what will happen to the latest Union Pier Sasaki plan? And more precisely, to the Asiko group? The three Black women hired by Sasaki as urbanists and ‘Engagement Strategists’. The only 3 Black members of the team, by the way … for engagement strategies which may prove very necessary indeed! One of them is Thetika Robinson. She was invited to be the guest at the last podcast. And I was supposed to meet with her and Victoria, at my studio, this Monday. I wanted to show her that TINYisPOWERFUL has something to communicate! But now, the new political landscape will force new strategies. And whether it is accidental or planned, Victoria has managed to invite Thetyka to the next OhmRadio podcast also. And she asked me to participate. Very timely, Victoria. Very timely!

I want to ask Thetika about the unavailability of the chat in the Zoom set up of the last Union Pier session. The first question of the facilitator was: What are you worried about in this presentation, so far. I tried to write the following:

• I am worried about the missed opportunity to address the needed process of REPARATIONS in which Union Pier could be a SPACE FOR REPARATIONS.

——

Interesting though that, last night, in the middle of the night, I concocted a new approach to the last part of the Tale. There were to be four parts. Two of them were a public space and a parliament. Now, I prefer to see them clustered, on both sides of a partition of sorts. Not sure yet … On one side I see a set of bleachers or benches to invite citizens to assemble. On the other side, I will have a Punch and Judy puppet theater – thus opening the Tale to children and the significance of doing so.

If I succeed in implementing this latest idea, does it mean that I am liberating my mind from more brainy, loftier pursuits? From the political realm to that of fantasy, youth, games! If it is the case, I welcome the move! I am actually getting a little tired of seriousness and weighty subjects I am often not able to get my arms around. Would it also mean that I am letting go of some of the control I usually insist on over the images my pieces suggest? Doesn’t dealing with anything ‘Theater’ mean letting go of control, self-control? Also, if it frees me from some preconceptions or male domineering tendencies, it is fully welcome! Yes, it may be an opportunity to invite theater people to the Tale: puppeteers, actors … because the theater I would build, however big or small, could be expandable, from a decor, a backdrop to a full stage. What l also like in the idea of a puppet theater is its active reality. Which would have been introduced by the fish and fruit sequence, so colorful and real. In the free development of an imaginary, one thing always pulls with it a load of associated idea, mostly unconscious till then.

They reveal themselves as the work goes on.

I am now being carried away by the layout of Japanese theaters, particularly Kabuki theaters, where the parterre is divided, low on the ground, into cubicles in which spectators seem to socialize, standing or sitting, eating, drinking, taken care of by ambulating servants. Very much the way the public was behaving in European theaters until the 18 century, when theater was still a wholly popular art.