ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO -- Against a background of response tapes from FDNY on 9/11 and quotes concerning the nature of War, the short performance film, "the Rest of the World", will bring goosebumps to your skin as artist Cassandra Tribe challenges viewers to change the story that will be told of our lives.
Using a mix of music, spoken word and effects, "The Rest of the World" sees Tribe's characters and ideas fully developed and presented. The video opens with a quote from Barbara Bush backed by the response tapes from FDNY on 9/11 that can only lead to a new definition of evil. Tribe then moves into a performance of "Quiet My Soul", a depiction of the God of War, that displays her formidable stage presence. On the last word from War, a simple "please", the video rises into the harsh, trance backed performance of the title piece "the Rest of the World".
While the music and the performance drives the piece, the last series of quotes - seen in silence against a black screen -will take your breath away. Tribe has quickly learned the video medium and found the missing link to her art. Her performance in "world" is so seamless as to make it difficult to remember it is only one person on screen, elevating her use of character and voices out of the "odd" and into a necessary presence.
This video marks the eighth year in a career that has produced two cd's, "the garden of lost things" (castledeep 2001) and "the House of Weddings" (castledeep 2006), several videos and an extensive print presence of poetry and essays. With a blog that reaches over 10,000 readers a month and the recent addition of French and Spanish versions of her website (loveandwords.com), Tribe's audience is expanding beyond Europe and into the Americas.
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cassandra Tribe has further begun to explore live performances, bringing an "unplugged" version of her poetry to audiences and combining her talents with Dianivy (www.dianivy.com) to host New Mexico's only women's open mic. In a recent interview, Tribe described the experience as "definitely one of the odder in my life, New Mexico is known as the land of enchantment and that enchantment can serve to either weave magic into your life or cloud you with distractions. Fortunately, I seem to have been blessed with the former."
Filmed and produced in Albuquerque, "the Rest of the World" joins an increasingly long list of projects coming out of New Mexico. Independent filmmakers and established studios are finding the eclectic geography and resources of the state ideal. Shot in digital format and produced in black and white and color, "world" brings together her unique visual concepts with her established use of effects to bring different voices to her words. The result is a short film that fulfills the promise of her two earlier releases, "Ugly Diamonds" and "the cradle, the lamb".
On May 24, 2008 the full length version can be found on loveandwords.com with two part releases available on youtube, myspace, the smalls and various other internet distibution sites. July 1st will see the additional availability of versions subtitled in French and Spanish.
Contact Info:
Cassandra Tribe
http://loveandwords.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Tribe
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