LINDA MARY MONTANO: 2018

Saturday, November 24, 2018

NICOLAS DUMIT ESTEVEZ 2 WRITINGS:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/537c9eb6e4b0ca838c2f4f52/t/5bec8f0a898583d50e1518e7/1542229770641/FINAL_QUESTIONS+FROM+NICOLAS+DUMIT+ESTEVEZ+TO+LINDA+MARY+MONTANO+2018.pdf

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/537c9eb6e4b0ca838c2f4f52/t/5bec8ed140ec9a2420fd9087/1542229714144/FINAL_UPDATED_heart-in_hand_final.pdf

DAD ART INFO AND PR

DAD ART INFO /PR AND /BIO

_{Video
by
Lal Avgen}

LINDA MARY MONTANO [ http://www.lindamontano.com ] is a seminal figure in contemporary feminist performance art, Linda Montano’s work since the mid 1960s has been critical in the development of video by, for, and about women. Attempting to dissolve the boundaries between art and life, Montano continues to actively explore her art/life through shared experience, role adoption, and intricate life altering ceremonies, some of which last for seven or more years. Her artwork is starkly autobiographical and often concerned with personal and spiritual transformation. Montano’s influence is wide ranging. She has been featured at museums including The New Museum in New York, MOCA San Francisco, and the ICA in London. Montano has taught Performance Art, published five books, and has over fifty free videos on YouTube.

“In 1998 I began collaborating with my father on video: recording our meals, time together, and finally getting to know him. For four years we enjoyed this art-life collaboration. After he had a hemorrhagic stroke, I literally hid behind the video camera because I couldn’t face my Dad’s situation. So for 3 years I recorded it all so I didn’t have to see it…feeding/bathing/walking. I mourned his death with my art family, probably around 2007, at Pauline Olliveros’ Deep Listening space on Broadway in Kingston and then for some time after that I shared the video-performance, but very rarely because the pain was too raw. But thirteen years later, I am able to re-share this experience because of many things but especially because of music! My parents had a band in the 30’s and 40’s: Dad played drums and trumpet and sang; Mom sang. So when I began focusing on SINGING FOR MY PARENTS AS ART in DAD ART and seriously included my singing in this INTERACTIVE mourning-meditation, the video took on a teaching-tool function and way for me to rise out of debilitating pain and fly toward trance-formation. Also audiences have a chance to interact with over seven other performer-collaborators and deal with death performatively, which opens a door to REALLY being with Impermanence. We all get it: LIFE IS SHORT. Art makes it spacious and long for a minute. The interactive aspect is what makes DAD ART a communal ART OF HEARTFELTNESS/COMMUNITY. Dedicated to Pauline Oliveros.”

– Linda Mary Montan

MORE DAD ART INFO FOR PERFORMERS

INTENTION: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE EXPERIENCE: THAT YOU HAVE A PERSONAL KOAN/INTENTION/PRAYER THAT YOU BRING TO THE EXPERIENCE. WE ARE NOT "PERFORMANCE ARTISTS" BUT SHARERS OF ENERGY. AND WHEN THAT ENERGY CIRCULATES AMONG US AND THE INTERACTING AUDIENCE, WONDERFUL THINGS HAPPEN. THE PERFORMANCE IS DEDICATED TO PAULINE OLIVEROS. I FIRST PRESENTED DAD ART AS A MEMORIAL "SERVICE' FOR PAULINE/IONE AND A FEW FRIENDS AT THE PAULINE OLIVEROS FOUNDATION ON BROADWAY, KINGSTON , 2007. THE NEED FOR ALL OF US TO CONTINUE TO EMBRACE EACH OTHER, IN ART, CONTINUES. LINDA

: DANCE OF LIFE: YOU WEAR DANCE CLOTHES, NICE HAIR, EARBUDS WITH 2 EAR BUDS ONE FOR U ONE FOR DANCING WITH YOU. MUSIC: PLEASE DOWNLOAD JACKIE GLEASON MUSIC FOR LOVERS FROM YOU TUBE. YOU AND PARTNER DANCE TO THIS MUSIC AS LONG AS YOU FEEL IS GOOD FOR YOU BOTH.

WATER HEALER: PLEASE CREATE A LOW IMPACT HEALING ACTION WITH WATER. EASY/SIMPLE/ LOVING... PEOPLE COME TO U AND U USE WATER AS A VEHICLE. BLACK CLOTHES NICE HAIR RED LIPS.

: CHOIR LEADER. YOU STAND NEAR/BY ME AS I SING AND AFTER EACH OF 7 SONGS YOU LEAD THE AUDIENCE IN THE GLAND SONGS. PLEASE PRINT OUT 7 PAPERS WITH THE 7 GLANDS MAKE SURE TO MAKE LETTERING BIG AND USE THE NUMBERS 1, 2, 3 ETC GLANDS ARE: 1. OVARIES/TESTES 2. PANCREAS 3. ADRENALS 4. THYMUS 5. THYROID 6. PINEAL 7. PITUITARY ...YOU WILL REHEARSE AUDIENCE IN THYMUS BY HOLDING UP THAT PAPER AND SINGING THAT ONE ONCE AND THEN ONCE WITH THEM. TO LEARN THE GLAND SONGS GO TO NURSE NURSE YOU TUBE OR 7 SONGS FOR 7 GLANDS ( THAT MIGHT BE PULLED OFF U TUBE, NOT SURE)) WE ALSO CAN REHEARSE ON PHONE 845-399-2502..YOU CAN ALSO LEARN FROM INTERACTIONARAM VIDEO BELOW. YOU NEED A CHAIR NEAR MY CHAIR.

: SECRETARY TO DEATH. YOU WEAR A BACK WARDS DEATH MASK. I BRING THE DEATH MASK. AT UR INTRO YOU INVITE PEOPLE TO COME TO YOU AND DICTATE ANYTHING THEY NEED TO SAY ABOUT DEATH TO YOU AND YOU WILL WRITE IT DOWN. YOU PROVIDE PAPER(START RECYCLING PAPER) OR IF U HAVE A PAPER CONCEPT YOU WANT TO USE. MAKE SURE U BRING SOMETHING HARD TO WRITE ON BECAUSE WE MIGHT NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A TABLE FOR YOU TO WRITE ON AT THE SITE. KEEPING IT LOW TECH.

: MASTER OF CEREMONIES; YOU WILL BE THE MC. PLEASE MAKE A NICE SIGN TO SAY MC ON YOUR CHEST OR BACK...SHOW ME VIA EMAIL BEFORE THE DAY. CLOTHES BLACK. BUT AS MC YOU 2 SHOULD HAVE A DISTINGUISHING HAT???OR WHAT?? SOMETHING? PLEASE HAVE A WHISTLE..EVERY 12 MINUTES YOU USE THE WHISTLE AND BLOW IT, TO INDICATE WHEN I WILL SING. ALSO YOU WATCH EACH OF THE "STATIONS" AND ANNOUNCE WHEN A PERSON COULD GO TO A STATION BY SAYING: " IF YOU WISH YOU CAN GO TO THE WATER HEALER" OR "IF YOU WISH ONE OF THE LISTENER CHAIRS IS EMPTY" ETC

: ANGEL YOU WEAR ALLLLLLLLLL WHITE CLOTHES. FLOWY IF POSSIBLE. MAKE SURE U KEEP IN TOUCH AND SHOW ME YOU WEARING YOUR CLOTHES ON EMAIL PHOTO...(ON THE EMAIL) NICE NICE HAIR...FLOWERS IN HAIR. I BRING THE WINGS. YOU FLY AROUND. BLESS YOURSELF ALOT.....AND WHEN FEEL MOVED FLY AND BLESS OTHERS. MAKE SURE YOU STAND IN BACK OF ME DURING THE SONG YOU LIKE BEST AND BLESS ME AS WELL.

: RESTING: YOU WILL BRING SOMETHING NICE TO LAY DOWN ON. AND ARRANGE THAT BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE. YOU WILL WEAR SUNGLASSES AND STAY RESTING/SILENT/ LISTENING THE ENTIRE TIME UNTIL THE ENDING PROCESSION OUTSIDE.

: LISTENER: YOU SIT ACROSS FROM AN EMPTY CHAIR. PEOPLE COME TO YOU TO TALK ABOUT DEATH …..PLEASE DONT FEEL OBLIGED TO GIVE ADVICE JUST LISTEN...AND BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU CAN ASK, "DO YOU WISH ME TO SAY ANYTHING?" ...OR SOME WAY OF CONNECTING.. I GUESS SAYING "I'M SO SORRY."..IS GOOD? LETS CHAT . CALL ME IF YOU WISH .WEAR, ALL BLACK GREAT HAIR, OR WIG.. RED LIPS...

PROCESSION LEADERS YOU 2 WILL BE ONSTAGE. BLACK CLOTHES SUNGLASSES. DURING THE PERFORMANCE CAN YOU AND RICARDO PROVIDE VERY VERY VERY LOW IMPACT RATTLE(EGG?) OR NICE BELL OR CHIME? YOU DESIGN A PROCESSION AT THE END ( AS YOU ENTER STAGE YOU INVITE ALL TO COME OUTSIDE AT END TO BURN THE LETTERS TO DEATH) YOU GO TO STEPHANIE, HELP HER GATHER THE LETTERS AND START THE PROCESSION FROM THERE ALONG WITH STEPHANIE.. YOU AND RICARDO BRING A METAL BOWL AND MATCHES...ALSO SOME PERFORMATIVE WAY TO LEAVE THE SPACE AND MARCH OUTSIDE ..I HAVE USED THE SONG I'LL FLY AWAY AND YOU CAN DO THE SAME IF YOU WISH????OR WHAT EVER YOU WISH. IF YOU WANT CAN INCLUDE BANNERS???? CAN SING ILL FLY AWAY????LOW AND SOFT??? ANGEL ACCOMPANIES YOU..

LISTENER: YOU AND ARE THE 2 LISTENERS : YOU SIT ACROSS FROM AN EMPTY CHAIR. PEOPLE COME TO YOU TO TALK ABOUT DEATH …..PLEASE DONT FEEL OBLIGED TO GIVE ADVICE JUST LISTEN...AND BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU CAN ASK, DO YOU WISH ME TO SAY ANYTHING YOU CAN ASK, DO YOU WANT ME TO HOLD YOUR HAND?? ...OR SOME WAY OF CONNECTING.. I GUESS SAYING "I'M SO SORRY."..IS GOOD? LETS CHAT . CALL ME IF YOU WISH .WEAR ALL BLACK GREAT HAIR OR WIG, RED LIPS

VIDEO: E. PLEASE MAKE THE VIDEO PARTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT OF THE PERFORMANCE. HAVE A SIGN THAT SAYS PRESS...A REALLY NICE SIGN ON YOUR BODY OR ON YOUR FOREHEAD??? BE "OBVIOUS" MAKE IT A GAME OR FUN...ORRRRRR LET'S TALK.....WE NEED A WAY TO PERFORM PRESS....ETC.

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ROSHI BERNIE GLASSMAN

ROSHI BERNIE GLASSMAN RIP

In the 70's I was living in California…..5 years in San Francisco and another 5 in San Diego. At that time, I was going to Maezumi Roshi's Zen Center in LA for teachings and remember seeing Bernie there. Over the years I would read about his clowning and peace and justice work and was always very inspired/impressed but about 6 months ago I got that I wanted to go to his Concentration Camp sesshin but did not follow the call.

I had also heard about his Yonkers social practice bakery and the fact that there was MORE!!!! ...that he invited students to live on the streets to do sesshin practice there as literally homeless dependent/needy people who had no money/no bed/no clothes. Bernie seemed to be a performative kind of person friendly with fear and trembling as substitutes for sitting on the cushion to achieve the big wake up.

So when he died this weekend I found links and have listened non-stop to his teachings and posts and interviews which rounded out the portrait of this man and his life's work. And in almost 20 hours of listening I have not smelled an ego or a subconscious blunder or a stain of oye vey....but have seen and witnessed someone cleaned out by meditation and called to reach out and share non-seperation with others. But not with just others but with the Hungry Ghosts.

It happened this way: He was driving to work in LA, still being a Roshi at the Zen Center there but heard a call to "feed the hungry ghosts" or something like that. After listening to many variations of this story I was able to piece together his "hungry Ghost" reference and got that he meant that the "hungry Ghosts" were others in need of more: more food/money/pleasure/power/etc. But he also indicates that wanting to address these hungers and fix others was also a call to "fix" his own hunger. For I think 10 years he had been a bona-fide/strict Zen master who could keep hunger in order and when he saw students being "hungry" he could invite them/order them back to their cushion when they presented their "hungers." Then he was literally called to leave the world of order and sitting inside and took the show on the road to the streets/the bakery/the housing he built/the concentration camp but once outside in the world, in the streets as a homeless person or at a concentration camp surrounded by millions of Holocausted beings waiting to be honored and mourned, it was less about clean cut control. No bowing and silent entering and leaving the dokusan/darshan room. Outside, things get messier, more chaotic, more human and scary. But the intention the same as the one for those who sit sit sit: it was to cut through the conditioning and fear and veils we all swim in to make way for wake-up-Love.

He thrived in these atmospheres and that is why I am so taken with his sadhana...how can people put themselves as leaders and organizers in these atmospheres of care-giving/danger etc. That equals taking care of people who are crying/dirty/smelly/needy and HUNGRY!!!! He talks about wanting his students to become fearless on the streets, become fearless at the Camp because the many, many people on sesshin present/act mixed up and messy and guilty and chaotic and angry. He talks about the camps/the bakery/the streets/the homeless suspension of safety which invites his student into the fearful unknown BUT like zazen, breaks the shell in a way that sitting can and does, but when it occurs at the Camp or the street or the bakery, it does it with bravado that does not stink of zen. Walking the tightrope over the Grand canyon is Bernie's way.

I think of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Padre Pio, the Berrigan Brothers, Maryknoll Nuns/Priests and others willing to touch the holy via the unkempt, the smelly, the needy, the hungry. Bernie talks in many of his interviews about being called a social working Catholic because his social justice practices smell of Catholic practices that bring comfort/healing/housing/food/food kitchens to the unloved/starving etc. And he mentions that he was a forerunner in the Zen world of practitioners who once were encouraged to sit, sit, sit but NOW are encouraged to reach out and do and not just sit. Joan Halifax, Peter Matthiessen are only two of his many lineage holders. And their practices are a mix of cushion/non-cushion.

BERNIE GLASSMAN thanks for being willing to get dirty and literally "not know" when on the streets practicing homelessness; Bernie thanks for teaching that it is mind blowing/enlightening to not know where to find a place to shit.

Linda Mary Montano 2018 November.

SHORT BIO

Linda Mary Montano. It seems I was born performing according to my Mother and began acting as Chicken Woman in the 70's. I took all of my issues/problems/traumas/questions/secrets/dissociative personas to the performance world where I showed myself what was happening to me by acting things out!!! That way I could "understand/learn/heal." Performance Art is my medicine , my drug of choice, my language and I teach it, write about it and you can find 61 free videos of my thinking on you tube. Free! lindamontano.com and lindamontano.blogspot.

DAD ART PERFORMER DESCRIPTIONS

DAD ART PERFORMERS DESCRIPTIONS

: DANCE OF LIFE: YOU WEAR DANCE CLOTHES, NICE HAIR, EARBUDS WITH 2 EAR BUDS ONE FOR U ONE FOR DANCING WITH YOU. MUSIC: PLEASE DOWNLOAD JACKIE GLEASON MUSIC FOR LOVERS FROM YOU TUBE.

: WATER HEALER: PLEASE CREATE A LOW IMPACT HEALING ACTION WITH WATER. SHOULD NOT BE MESSY... PEOPLE COME TO U AND U USE WATER AS A VEHICLE. BLACK CLOTHES NICE HAIR RED LIPS.

: CHOIR LEADER. YOU STAND NEAR/BY ME AS I SING AND AFTER EACH OF 7 SONGS YOU LEAD THE AUDIENCE IN THE GLAND SONGS. PLEASE PRINT OUT 7 PAPERS WITH THE 7 GLANDS MAKE SURE TO MAKE LETTERING BIG AND USE THE NUMBERS 1, 2, 3 ETC GLANDS ARE: 1. OVARIES/TESTES 2. PANCREAS 3. ADRENALS 4. THYMUS 5. THYROID 6. PINEAL 7. PITUITARY ...YOU WILL REHEARSE AUDIENCE IN THYMUS BY HOLDING UP THAT PAPER AND SINGING THAT ONE ONCE AND THEN ONCE WITH THEM. TO LEARN THE GLAND SONGS GO TO NURSE NURSE YOU TUBE OR 7 SONGS FOR 7 GLANDS ( THAT MIGHT BE PULLED OFF U TUBE, NOT SURE)) WE ALSO CAN REHEARSE ON PHONE 845-399-2502..YOU CAN ALSO LEARN FROM INTERACTIONARAM VIDEO BELOW. YOU NEED A CHAIR NEAR MY CHAIR.

: SECRETARY TO DEATH. YOU WEAR A BACK WARDS DEATH MASK. AT UR INTRO YOU INVITE PEOPLE TO COME TO YOU AND DICTATE ANYTHING THEY NEED TO SAY ABOUT DEATH TO YOU AND YOU WILL WRITE IT DOWN. YOU PROVIDE PAPER(START RECYCLING PAPER) OR IF U HAVE A PAPER CONCEPT YOU WANT TO USE. MAKE SURE U BRING SOMETHING HARD TO WRITE ON BECAUSE WE MIGHT NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A TABLE FOR YOU TO WRITE ON AT THE SITE. KEEPING IT LOW TECH.

MC: YOU WILL BE THE MC. PLEASE MAKE A NICE SIGN TO SAY MC ON YOUR CHEST OR BACK...SHOW ME VIA EMAIL BEFORE THE DAY. CLOTHES BLACK. BUT AS MC YOU 2 SHOULD HAVE A DISTINGUISHING HAT???OR WHAT?? SOMETHING? PLEASE HAVE A WHISTLE..EVERY 12 MINUTES YOU USE THE WHISTLE AND BLOW IT, EACH TO INDICATE WHEN I WILL SING. ALSO YOU WATCH EACH OF THE "STATIONS" AND ANNOUNCE WHEN A PERSON COULD " IF YOU WISH YOU CAN GO TO THE WATER HEALER" OR "IF YOU WISH ONE OF THE LISTENER CHAIRS IS EMPTY" ETC

ANGEL YOU WEAR ALLLLLLLLLL WHITE CLOTHES. FLOWY IF POSSIBLE. MAKE SURE U KEEP IN TOUCH AND SHOW ME YOU WEARING YOUR CLOTHES ON EMAIL PHOTO...(ON THE EMAIL) NICE NICE HAIR...FLOWERS IN HAIR. I BRING THE WINGS. YOU FLY AROUND. BLESS YOURSELF ALOT.....AND WHEN FEEL MOVED FLY AND BLESS OTHERS. MAKE SURE YOU STAND IN BACK OF ME DURING THE SONG YOU LIKE BEST AND BLESS ME AS WELL.

: LISTENER: YOU SIT ACROSS FROM AN EMPTY CHAIR. PEOPLE COME TO YOU TO TALK ABOUT DEATH …..PLEASE DONT FEEL OBLIGED TO GIVE ADVICE JUST LISTEN...AND BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU CAN ASK, DO YOU WISH ME TO SAY ANYTHIGN ...OR SOME WAY OF CONNECTING.. I GUESS SAYING I'M SO SORRY...IS GOOD? LETS CHAT . CALL ME IF YOU WISH .WEAR, ALL BLACK GREAT HAIR, OR WIG.. RED LIPS...

YOU 2 WILL BE ONSTAGE. BLACK CLOTHES SUNGLASSES. DURING THE PERFORMANCE CAN YOU AND RICARDO PROVIDE VERY VERY VERY LOW IMPACT RATTLE(EGG?) OR NICE BELL OR CHIME? YOU DESIGN A PROCESSION AT THE END ( AS YOU ENTER STAGE YOU INVITE ALL TO COME OUTSIDE AT END TO BURN THE LETTERS TO DEATH) YOU GO TO STEPHANIE, HELP HER GATHER THE LETTERS AND START THE PROCESSION FROM THERE ALONG WITH STEPHANIE.. YOU AND RICARDO BRING A METAL BOWL AND MATCHES...ALSO SOME PERFORMATIVE WAY TO LEAVE THE SPACE AND MARCH OUTSIDE ..I HAVE USED THE SONG I'LL FLY AWAY AND YOU CAN DO THE SAME IF YOU WISH????OR WHAT EVER YOU WISH. IF YOU WANT CAN INCLUDE BANNERS???? CAN SING ILL FLY AWAY????LOW AND SOFT??? ANGEL ACCOMPANIES YOU..

LISTENER: YOU AND VAN TRAN NGUYEN ARE THE 2 LISTENERS : YOU SIT ACROSS FROM AN EMPTY CHAIR. PEOPLE COME TO YOU TO TALK ABOUT DEATH …..PLEASE DONT FEEL OBLIGED TO GIVE ADVICE JUST LISTEN...AND BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU CAN ASK, DO YOU WISH ME TO SAY ANYTHING YOU CAN ASK, DO YOU WANT ME TO HOLD YOUR HAND?? ...OR SOME WAY OF CONNECTING.. I GUESS SAYING "I'M SO SORRY."..IS GOOD? LETS CHAT . CALL ME IF YOU WISH .WEAR ALL BLACK GREAT HAIR OR WIG, RED LIPS

VIDEO: E. PLEASE MAKE THE VIDEO PARTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT OF THE PERFORMANCE. HAVE A SIGN THAT SAYS PRESS...A REALLY NICE SIGN ON YOUR BODY OR ON YOUR FOREHEAD??? BE "OBVIOUS" MAKE IT A GAME OR FUN...ORRRRRR ETC.

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AGING AS ART NYC WITH NICOLAS D ESTEVEZ

AGING AS ART: NICOLAS D ESTEVEZ: NYC

AGING AS ART, NOV 3

REHEARSAL 1

BREATHE CONTINUOUSLY THE NOURISHING SOUND AAHHHHHH

I make art of my life: I'm getting old so am making aging art. Asking for help comes with aging; needing help to drive/pay bills/shop. So tonight is HELP NIGHT COLLABORATION with all of you and me. We are in this together. What do you get as a reward? You can list it on your resume, Collaborated with Linda M Montano, Nov 1 Aging as Art. Thank you

REHEARSAL 2

BREATHE CONTINUOUSLY THE NOURISHING SOUND OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I wish to thank my dear friend NICOLAS ESTEVEZ for inviting me and showing such grace and courtesy for these many months of planning. And I thank his support team MEGHANA KARNIK, DYLAN GAUTHIER and JP ANNE GIERA for all of their help. Please think of someone who has been kind and helpful to you recently. And remember also, Billy X Curmano is in the house.

REHEARSAL 3

BREATHE CONTINUOUSLY THE NOURISHING SOUND OF YUMMMMMM

I thank you all for coming via bus/subway/car/foot/bike/taxi/lyft/uber. You brought your entire body with you. (BODY CHANT)

REHEARSAL 4

My video Nurse Nurse playing here in the gallery, honors all CNA's who feed/change/toilet/medicate/talk with sometimes 45 nursing home residents a day, 8 hours a day . I want to be so kind to them if and when I go to a nursing home so my art now is to clean out my anger, my privledge, my fear of death, my entitlement to food and water when I want it. So I practice 2 kinds of ways to call the nurse NURSE NURSE and then the kind compassionate way NURSE NURSE. I will sing a few stanzas from the song NURSE NURSE. And as I sing, please collaborate by calling out the loud way and the soft way..NURSE NURSE, NURSE. Thank you.

PERFORMANCE

We will now play the tape My Mother Artist Teacher Friend. As the microphone please feel free to collaborate by calling out your mother's name and adding PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I FORGIVE YOU.

DANCE OF LIFE

PLEASE STAND. PLEASE STRETCH. PLEASE FEEL LIFE. AND IF YOU LIKE, SHARE A DANCE WITH LINDA AS BOB.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: MOST IMPORTAANT MEETING EVER

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: MOST IMPORTANT MEETING EVER

She-he-it-they came from probably the most important meeting of her-his-its-their life and even though
this sacrosanct and totally super sweetness song is the first sound she heard as she-he-it-they
came from the Rectory, she-he-it-they bowed to syncronicity as an Angel boy-her-him-millennial who she-it-he-they
stopped on the street responded as she asked..………."What is that music???" She-he-it -they knew it was about
Heaven because she-it-he-they was IN HEAVENYLY BLISS from the miracles that were in the aire.
The boy-angel-sweetness-innocent looking-millennial took out his I'm sure smelling like honey ear bud,
listened for 3 seconds and said to her-him-it-them:
"STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, LED ZEPPLIN. "

LINDA MARY MONTANO/NICOLAS DUMIT ESTEVEZ: ADDICTION INTERVIEW

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QUESTIONS FROM NICOLAS DUMIT ESTEVEZ TO LINDA MARY MONTANO 2018

1.NICOLAS: Dear Linda, I thank you for agreeing to do this Q&A. I just came across the Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous' (S.L.A.A.) book at Esalen Institute's free library, and I thought immediately about your 12 steps. Last year I was reading from the A.A.'s book Twenty Four Hours a Day. I was not surprised about you being ahead of the times, and so I am eager to ask about art and addiction before anyone else's does? Can one get addicted to art the same one can get addicted to sex, love, alcohol, gambling, shopping, cell phones...the list is endless.

LINDA: first I want to post the 12 STEPS right here, right now.

12 STEPS OF PERFORMANCE ARTISTS ANONYMOUS by LINDA MARY MONTANO

(All steps to be read in a whisper or slurred voice.)

1.   We admitted that we are powerless over Performance Art and that our lives had become unmanageable.

2.   We came to believe that an art greater than ours could restore us to sanity.

3.   We made a decision to turn our will and loves over to the care of the Higher Artist as we understood that artist.

4.   We made a searching and fearless inventory of our past performances.

5.   We admitted to the Higher Artist, ourselves and another person the exact nature of our past performances.

6.   We were ready to have the Higher Artist remove all of the defects of our art/life.

7.   We humbly asked the Higher Artist to remove our shortcomings.

8.   We made a list of audiences we had offended and critics we had outraged and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.   We made amends and apologies except when to do so would injure them or others.

10.   We continued to take personal inventory and when we had foolish performance ideas/concepts, we promptly admitted it and didn't do that performance.

11.   We sought through silence to improve our contact with the Higher Artist as we understood this Artist and asked to know this Artist's will. We also asked for the opportunity to do their Concept, not ours.

12.   We tried to tell other performance artists about these principles and practiced them in every aspect of our art/life.

NICOLAS:  Can one get addicted to art the same one can get addicted to sex, love, alcohol, gambling, shopping, cell phones...the list is endless.

LINDA: When art is not a call from the heart and soul to the hands and mind, it becomes a commodity and game of one up-woman-ship.And what follows is an addiction. What is an addiction? Let's see what Wikipedia says:
Addiction is a brain disorder characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli despite adverse consequences. Despite the involvement of a number of psychosocial factors, a biological process – one which is induced by repeated exposure to an addictive stimulus – is the core pathology that drives the development and maintenance of an addiction.The two properties that characterize all addictive stimuli are that they are reinforcing (i.e., they increase the likelihood that a person will seek repeated exposure to them) and intrinsically rewarding (i.e., they are perceived as being inherently positive, desirable, and pleasurable).

Addiction is a disorder of the brain's reward system which arises through transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms and occurs over time from chronically high levels of exposure to an addictive stimulus (e.g., eating food, the use of cocaine, engagement in sexual activity, participation in high-thrill cultural activities such as gambling, etc.).
And may I add, exposure to the 'high thrill cultural activity " of making PERFORMANCE ART??? High thrill events produce chemicals like dopamine and to tons of other good inner juices because the artist does and does and does these high thrill performances not for ART'S-SAKE but for the pleasure that comes from the dopamine and good-feeling other chemicals. So art becomes not a language via culture BUT A DRUG.

2.  NICOLAS: What was in your mind and heart at the moment of developing the 12 Steps of Performance Artist Anonymous?

LINDA: Why not? There is alcoholism in most families, mine included and I found this a transforming "way" to address the shame of that. Plus, I always loved the economy of the AA-12 Steps and how related they are to the 10 Commandments and the fact that the meetings are FREE and HIGHER POWER centered PLUS they have a very high success rate. I belong to a prayer group that meets in a 12 STEP meeting room and their rules and regs are 12 STEP based so that might be a reason? Not sure, but I do know that I was becoming a PERFORMANCE ARTAHOLIC and needed some self correction, some art commandments , some bridles on my art-greed and inclination to do more, perform more, publish more, Facebook my successes more, be liked by other artists more, be more and more art-brilliant on a daily/hourly basis.

3. NICOLAS: Can you talk about your use of the term Higher Artist in your steps? I know that A.A. and S.L.A.A. talk about a Higher Power, whom I understand as God.

LINDA: How totally self centered/conceited/filled with pride: how arrogant we can become as artists, as miniature GODDESS/GODS parading around Performance Art festivals and Documentas and Museums, having been sent pre-paid plane tickets and given hotel suites (not really suites) for a week or more!! How tempting it is to become self-satisfied and arrogantly privileged JUST because Performance Art is a language of the Divine and the/me artists sometimes think they/I am/ are Divine!!!! (We are, but that's a whole other theological chapbook, not meant for here.) So by talking about Higher Power in my 12 STEPS, I am reminding myself to be careful because Performance Art is SO, SO, SO hot and global and wanted and thirsted after and commodified and taught in Universities and Instaagrammed to ad nauseum...that it is easy to get into and under the spell of POWER AND HOW GREAT NOT THOU BUT HOW GREAT I ART!!! (AM)!!!!!

4. NICOLAS : When you talk about performance in your 12 steps, does this term refer to life, as in performing life itself or does this refer specifically to performance art?

LINDA: They spill over into each other. Right now staged performance art is the sought after must have. When life becomes enough, we will find a way to commodify and conquer "life." We are carnivores and conquerors of all we think, do say, dream, create. We muscle through. Plus we will find ways to make lots of $$$$$$$$ from it. From life, that is.

5.NICOLAS: From my own personal experience I can say that art can get out of hand. Evidence of this manifests in one's health or dis-ease, relationships or breakups, and state of mind and heart. Are your steps a reminder of the imbalance in which art can thrust us?

LINDA: Why not? Why not burn out? And worse, health wise? We performance artists deal with and "court" danger, self mutilation, stress, ritual, storytelling, social sculpture, art-life, endurance, androgyny, objectification, consciousness, body politics, exaggeration, fear, chance, the unpredictable, vulnerability, audience interaction, autobiographical disclosure, self harm, chaos, risk, subversion, shamanism, magic and beauty. Wouldn't that stress out the best of us?

6. NICOLAS: I am trying to close my eyes and see how humbleness and art can come together. There is so much emphasis on competition and might in the arts, at least in the art market, which is certainly a pyramid. Only a handful are meant to make it to the top. Can art and humbleness coexist?

LINDA: Even if we were to fly to a desert hut, a hidden cave, a private hovel, a solitary cellar, a storage container with the door locked we would still COMPETE! Only then it would be with ourselves. How many prayers did I do today? Oh SHIT!! I only meditated 18 hours, I guess I will have to stay up all night and I know that...……….(fill in the blank) has probably meditated (made more art) than me so I better up my game. Human nature. Art nature. And don't get me started on art magazines/grants/ money/exclusion-inclusion and performance art!!

7.NICOLAS:  Can you tell me about a performance that you did in the past for the College Art Association and for which you publicly apologize to another person?

LINDA: I'm going to be 77years old in January 2019 and for the love of God, I have NO IDEA what you are talking about Nicolas. Plus my website is untranslatable so I couldn't find that reference even if you paid me for doing this interview!!!!!!!!!!! ((Now that we are talking freely and transparently about $$$$$$$$. LOL)

8.NICOLAS: Sanity. After two decades of working in the arts, the word sanity sounds like a balm. Where do you find sanity? You have been working for more than four decades, so I can only imagine all of the experiences that you must have had, good and not so good ones.

LINDA: Age is a great healer. I have developed a NO BUTTON because I just don't have the energy or interest or ability to DO, DO and more DO. I say NO to lots of things and I do what I can, not what I think will bring me a stand up audience response! As a result, a new level of appreciation has set in. That is, I am soooooooo happy I can do the little that I can do that I am appreciating art-life MORE! It is now TANTRA -ART- TIME for me. That is I DO it slow, do it easy, am nurtured by it and ENJOY! It is NOT about the lime light or the power that comes with recognition or the applause from the world of art. Aging and art are a good combo. Plus once you really look old, people stop vibe-ing competition because they know I am going to die sooner than them so they are more respectful!!!!!

9. NICOLAS: Artists as creators. This is a concept that I am struggling with. If everything in the multiverse has been created, what is our role as artists? I keep thinking about the Higher Artist, the one from whom all has emerged or emanated. I have recently come to understand of my role as a mere conduit for this Higher Artist or Power. What are your thoughts about this?

LINDA: Maybe we will open that monastery some day???? Get us a grant, find the building????

10. NICOLAS: I want to return to the concept of art and addiction. Seriously. Sometimes I ponder about this and think about how art can be a cover up for some of the situations we have to face in life: illness, aging, older parents, financial issues, mental health, depression. Art, like work or alcohol, can become an escape to coming face to face with some of the challenges just mentioned. Can you please help me see through this question?

LINDA: Anything that keeps me focused on the PRESENT MOMENT and out of the prison of my totally messy/harmfully vile/dangerous/sad/toxic past, is a good thing. A good escape. That's why I love art. It does that. It provides a HERE-NOW focus. Just be careful so that the escape doesn't become a prison too. More of us should go and live in India and Japan where PRESENCE is honored. Where art and life are ONE. We are western trained into pushing and conquering!!!! There, there is not the same kind of PUSH. More of a non-muscled melting.

11.NICOLAS: I wonder what happens when we have a healthy relationship with art? How does this art look? How does it feel?

LINDA: It looks like when someone moves to a small town and isn't recognized for the ARTISTE that they are!!!!!! It is a hoot!

12. NICOLAS:I thank you so very much for your teachings, your love, your visions. You have been a source of inspiration for me as well as for generations of artists. You have taken so many risks and you continue to reinvent yourself over and over in ways that talk about healing. I was wondering if you can end this Q&A with an art prayer? Much love to you, Nicolás

LINDA:  "The main function of the shaman is to restore balance in their community. Shamans conduct blessings, rituals of protection, hunting magic, rain making divination. They also cure sicknesses that have spiritual causes. Shamans are also the caretakers of traditional culture, with their knowledge of ancient traditions. Their counsel has been sought throughout ages." AMEN.

From a source I forgot to note.

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LINDA MARY MONTANO

Saturday, November 24, 2018

LINDA AT FALES

IMAGES DAD ART CHICAGO

NICOLAS DUMIT ESTEVEZ: 2 WRITINGS: ONE OUR INTERVIEW OTHER SHOW IN NYC