On the Eve of International Collaboration

We are flying to Thailand tomorrow. In the mountains around Chiang Mai, the DV camera and sound recorder will collect two and a half week's worth of material to be assimilated into the Mysteriam body of work. There is no clear indication of what will happen, although we will be relatively safe, guided by family of ours that have been Christian missionaries there for thirty years.

The goal is to interact with orphans and educators in remote villages. We're taking singing, clapping, theatre games, and recording devices with us to facilitate the moments of uncomprehending fascination (of which I hope they will experience as many as I expect we will), and there will be artwork generated from the results this spring.

To learn more about how far we can go in engaging such a foreign community, we visit the Interactive Institute.

To prepare for the unpredictability of our own reactions in an exotic culture, we take the Invisible Bias Tests, and you should too.

To practice the acceptance of absurdity, we use the Translator from English to another language, then back again, and what we have is perverse, just like we will be. Good to be prepared to look ridiculous for awhile.