I can imagine this phrase being used by those in favour of shooting the waste we produce on our over-everything planet out into the galaxy. A fine return to the medieval geocentric view of the universe, not in terms of location, but as in feeling we are the pretty bellybutton of it all. However,

…it’s actually in the context of performance that I’ve heard this phrase and said it myself. Since yesterday it’s sounding too utilitarian. Use the space – I have to admit I’ve generally taken it to mean travel through it, spread my presence over it, even if I do so in clear patterns, drink it all up, go here and there – a bit like a dog peeing in every corner to mark it as own territory.

Would I speak of using a performance partner? Would I jump on everything they do as if it were all an invitation for me to react? Would that not be a bit like colonizing what they’re doing, making everything mine?

Is the space not a performance partner? Can I not interact with it rather than use it? Can I not let it do its thing? Can I not let it interact with what I’m doing? Can I not leave spaces untouched, so that they can resonate with their own self-ness? Can I allow myself to appear small in a big space? Can I accept that I AM always smaller than the space? Can I let that be seen?

Can I keep these possibilities in mind?

Thanks to Jagna Anderson, with whom I came to this yesterday.