{"id":223,"date":"2015-10-08T15:45:59","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=223"},"modified":"2015-10-08T15:48:31","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:48:31","slug":"made-herself-a-bath-shange-evoking-and-transforming-the-mundane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=223","title":{"rendered":"& made herself a bath — Shange evoking and transforming the mundane"},"content":{"rendered":"

What continuously strikes me about Shange’s work\u00a0is her ability to invoke a world of magic composed of whispers, rituals, dances, objects and practices of the everyday. In for colored girls <\/em>elements\u00a0of the everyday take on a new life in what they come to represent.<\/p>\n

One’s plant is one’s relationship–\u00a0tended to, watered, and cared for until burdensome:<\/p>\n

“this note is attached to a plant
\ni’ve been watering since the day i met you
\nyou may water it
\nyr damn self” (14)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the\u00a0wee hours of the morning a woman can soak and soak in a bath until she is transformed:<\/p>\n

“at 4:30 AM
\nshe rose
\nmovin the arms & legs that trapped her
\nshe sighed affirmin the sculptured man
\n& made herself a bath
\nof dark musk oil egyptian crystals
\n& florida water to remove his smell
\nto wash away the glitter
\nto watch the butterflies melt into
\nsuds & the rhinestones fall beneath
\nher buttocks like smooth pebbles
\nin a missouri creek
\nlayin in water
\nshe became herself
\nordinary
\nbrown braided woman
\nwith big legs & full lips
\nreglar” (34)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A woman’s stockings, the glare from street lights, or the last bit of whiskey in the glass are ritual and transformative\u00a0experiences– yes, coded with Shange’s specific meaning of a time, place, or feeling but mundane enough to evoke entirely different perceptions in those who read her words. In my own work as an artist and photographer, I am inspired by the mundane– my current interest is in the realm of domesticity and the tensions that exist in one’s home space as a place of contrived vulnerability. I return to the above passages over and over again. I’m reminded that the items that are carefully placed on one’s dresser, bathroom sink, or bedside table can be ingredients to a kind of potions or spell. Pictures, lotions, plants, pieces of cloth, stacks of magazines, and tubes of lipstick that induce sleep, soothe an anxious heart, remind you of Spring, and allow you to transform before your own eyes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

photos taken by Kiani Ned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What continuously strikes me about Shange’s work\u00a0is her ability to invoke a world of magic composed of whispers, rituals, dances, objects and practices of the everyday. In for colored girls elements\u00a0of the everyday take on a new life in what they come to represent. One’s plant is one’s relationship–\u00a0tended to, watered, and cared for until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[85,88,82,86,87,83,84],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogposts","category-uncategorized","tag-cloth","tag-everyday","tag-evoking-the-mundane","tag-items","tag-potions","tag-ritual","tag-transformative"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}