Abbie Minard ’20: Middleman
/
Middleman
The sketches here date from late March 2020. I drew these and several pages more within a matter of minutes, never landing on a narrative arc or revisiting the series after its creation. I was simply desperate to make something tangible, to make it with my hands, and to bring it into the world quickly—perhaps as a way to feel more real, more a part of reality, in a moment where “real life,” or at least the familiar, had proved so unstable. Plus, Zoom fatigue had kicked in fast for me. I needed to create without the computer in front of me.
Several months later, when I began work on my first mini album—as much an experiment in DIY and untrained practice as a product-driven project—I found the same instincts driving me. I think you can hear it! After long enough in front of the screen polishing the electronic elements, I found myself needing to get back to banging on household items with drumsticks. The latter felt more “real” to me, less like cheating, even if it didn’t sound as “good.” I didn’t want the final sounds too divorced from my physical instincts. I wanted to preserve the energy of my most spontaneous vocal expressions (like in this track).
While at Princeton, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko introduced me to the concept of embodied research. I am still learning what that is. I do know there are discoveries you miss when you don’t spend some time kneading a germ of an idea in a very physical way—when you don’t roll a phrase over your tongue before you type it, draw a story with your hands before you tell it, or dance an emotion before you try to describe it in any other medium. So I’ve been asking myself: how do I balance the polish of seated, steady work (which may often take place in front of a computer) with the energy of a more physical, spontaneous process? When is it right to eliminate the digital middleman completely? And how do I pull work most directly from my body-mind?
I have been dancing—a lot!—on my own in my studio apartment. Sometimes that feels like the most creative act!