Tina Stefanou
“The Singing Lesson: Actions for Phono-Chronophobia”
The following is a singing lesson by Tina Stefanou to accompany Motet Fail that might reorient fear of the voice, or the fear of time. This score is an invitation to test the futile pursuit of perfection to the point of rupture.
Look at the candles, try not to blink, let your eyes water
Mouth something silently, something you can’t say out loud
Imagine an animal, trace its shape in the air with your fingers
Imagine the sound of that animal, whisper it
Hum
Tap your chest three times
Count the letters in your first name—or a name you wish you had—out loud
Trace your teeth with your tongue
Say out loud "AH EI EY OH OO" three times on one note (any note)
If you came with someone, notice the sound of their voice, ask them to say "do you have a minute?" very slowly, or, notice the voice of a stranger in the distance
Notice and hear the subtitles on the benches
Stand near a candle flame and hum a long note without blowing it out (it’s okay if it happens—enjoy the smoke
Clap for as long as you like
Close your eyes, imagine a clock with no numbers
Yawn
Stand up and sit down on each bench (if you are able), if not, lift your eyebrows up and down
Stare at the carpet
Imitate a singer in your head
Imitate yourself in your head
Sing “Which side are you on, which side are you on?” in low tones, in any style
Vocalise a machine out-loud—very quickly
Stare at the fire and think of the sun
Imagine a foe and tap your temple three times
Grunt
Imagine it’s raining
Imagine your grandmother is sitting next to you, whisper your first word to her
Think of a sore body part and sigh
Close your eyes, fly over a landscape, gift it something
The game is almost over and it's time to acknowledge you, me, them, do this by shaking your left hand with your right hand as if it was a good game
Take a deep breath in and hold it as long as you can
Tina Stefanou is a visual artist and performer in Naarm (Melbourne). With a background as a vocalist, she works across mediums, approaches, species and labours in an embodied practice she refers to as 'voice in the expanded field'. As a means to seek more inclusive ways of making and to frame tangled relationships, Stefanou engages in multispecies performance with a family of local others, friends not-yet-made, and poet(h)ic meetings of matter. Stefanou works with sound, filmography, and research as social practice, often working with communities over long periods of time through para-ethnographic field work, vocal workshops, performance making, and filmic traces, exploring forms of poetic knowledge.
