| On January
1st, 2002, we began a collaborative writing project. We
designated by chance one weekday for each of the seven company
members. Each individual writes twelve sentences (17.5 word
average), equivalent to one every two hours, on that day.
The writer differentiates between diurnal and nocturnal
sentences, with night/day lengths plotted according to Chicago’s
latitude. A question and a “terrestrial variation”
of structure distinguish each month. Individual company
members or invited guests devise these questions/structures
through the year. Our objectives at any given point in the
project include, but do not limit themselves to, 1) answering
the question; 2) documenting the development of our new
performance work; 3) keeping a diary; 4) writing creatively.
The project produces 210 words/day; 1,470 words/week; 76,650
words for the year.
Litó Walkey (Tuesday)
Bryan Saner (Wednesday)
CJ Mitchell (Thursday)
Lin Hixson (Friday)
Mark Jeffery (Saturday)
Matthew Goulish (Sunday)
Karen Christopher (Monday)
The Parasite
Para (beside) site (grain): a grain beside another grain;
one who eats beside another; in ancient Greece, a professional
dinner guest. In the context of the year-long writing project,
the role of the parasite involves a different guest writer
who will intervene on each of the four 30-day months of
the year, in a pattern running in an opposing direction
to the grain of the 7 project writers. The pattern of 15
total parasite sentences for the month increases in reverse
symmetrical proportion to the pattern of non-parasite sentences:
regular days: 7, 4, 2, 2; parasite days: 2, 2, 4, 7; total
days: 30
The parasite has the last word. The pattern grows
backward from that final note.
| 15 |
On the 30th day, sentence #12 (hours 10-12
PM) |
| 14 |
On the 29th day, sentence #11 (hours 8-10
PM) |
| 13 |
On the 28th day, sentence #10 (hours 6-8
PM) |
| 12 |
On the 27th day, sentence #9 (hours 4-6
PM) |
| 11 |
On the 26th day, sentence #8 (hours 2-4
PM) |
| 10 |
On the 25th day, sentence #7 (hours 12-2
PM) |
| 9 |
On the 24th day, sentence #6 (hours 10-12
AM) |
| 8 |
On the 21st day, sentence #5 (hours 8-10
AM) |
| 7 |
On the 20th day, sentence #4 (hours 6-8
AM) |
| 6 |
On the 19th day, sentence #3 (hours 4-6
AM) |
| 5 |
On the 18th day, sentence #2 (hours 2-4
AM) |
| 4 |
On the 15th day, sentence #1 (hours 12-2
AM) |
| 3 |
On the 14th day, sentence #12 (hours 10-12
PM) |
| 2 |
On the 9th day, sentence #11 (hours 8-10
PM) |
| 1 |
On the 8th day, sentence #10 (hours 6-8
PM) |
The 7 project writers will leave gaps in their daily writing
at the appropriate points, and the writer in the parasite
role will insert his/her 15 sentences at these points, electing
to follow or ignore the month’s question and structural
variation.
| January |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| February |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| March |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| April |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| May |
Question
and Structural Variation |
Text |
pdf
|
| June |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| July |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| August |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| September |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| October |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| November |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
| December |
Question and Structural Variation |
Text |
n/a |
You may download each month's writing as a pdf document.
download
the free acrobat reader
Links will be made live as the writing becomes available.
top
|
