Most of my work is taking place at Eiko and Koma’s Manhattan apartment, where much of their archival material is stored. Today, however, I took the bus down the Eastern Seaboard to the University of Maryland, where Eiko & Koma are premiering a new piece, Fragile, with the Kronos Quartet. Performed at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Fragile is the result of the choreographers experimenting with their durational installation format to see how live music, Delicious Movement, and a set can work together with an audience that may come and go as it pleases to generate the space of the performance. This is an extension of Naked, which employed ambient sound.

While I am here, I am also creating an inventory of the sets and costumes on display all semester as part of the Residue exhibition at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. Residue was first displayed in 2011 at the New York Public Library Performing Arts Division. My goal is to photograph and record the type of items (costumes, sets), the number of items, their sizes, composition, and history. While Patsy and I will be going with Koma to see the other sets and costumes in storage next week, we suspect that this display comprises the bulk of Eiko & Koma’s archivable sets and costumes.

-Rosemary Candelario

Read  an article by Rosemary about Fragile residency at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center