Sappho (1972)

I began with sculpture and art history. Drawing was always part of my vocabulary. In relation to performance (first public 1968), I made diagrams of my pieces, patterns of movement, plans of spaces: the line and the circle, the beach. Later I included the act of drawing in the live action.

The use of video in performance (Organic Honey's Visual Telepathy, 1972), suggested many possibilities of drawing in relation to the medium—the monitor, the camera. I drew looking at the monitor. A small drawing could be seen projected. The camera tracked details of the performance for the monitor or the projector that were seen simultaneously with the live action. There were layers like the live and the taped.

I conjured series of images in sequence for the camera like a film rolling by. The work was partly about watching the process of image making. Watching someone draw can seem intimate while the closed circuit of the video distances the viewer. Drawings were on the list like beads on a string, combined in a montage with objects, gestures, actions, and sound. They related in a poetic or musical structure.

I drew a portrait of my dog, Sappho, who had one blue eye and one brown eye. The eyes in the drawing are doubled. This was made for a poster. The dog's head and "Organic Honey's Vertical Roll." This image became a sort of icon for the piece: woman/dog. Different dog drawings were made for other versions.

This particular portrait was then part of the set for the piece. It was central. The camera framed me standing in front of the dog's head in a floozie mask and feather headdress (Organic Honey) holding a mirror that reflected the image into the lens. The audience saw the gesture with the close-up.

The presence of the dog has to do with my references to mythology—the ideas and structures. In myth there is often the presence of the animal helper which represents the raw energy that enables one to survive obstacles. In my work I am involved with ancient and contemporary ritual and the roles women play. Women had their other, their companion. I have a performing dog. This portrait was the first in a series of ongoing dog portraits. In Organic Honey I also traced the outline of a dog's head around the rolling bar of the vertical roll. On paper the nose was at the top of the page, the ears at the bottom. The picture came together as the bar rolled. At the end of the performance I howled like a dog into a microphone—the sound reverberated and doubled.