What does a Hula Hoop have to do with a crowded urban expressway? Much like the automobile, the hoop relies on the basic laws of physics administrated by the simple machine of the wheel, the greatest of human inventions. Notably, there are no macroscopic wheels to be found in animals or plants. It is a purely human construction. And yet the wheel has come to symbolize spiritual transcendence, reincarnation, yin and yang, Chakra, the wheel of life, the calendar, the seasons, astrology, and divinity. We are contained by the rotations of the planets and moons around the sun; we are all cosmically connected by vast circular motions in the solar system. Is it no wonder, then, that this geometric phenomenon has been appropriated both for the modern convenience of the automobile and for the amusement proffered by a plastic toy? [Sufjan Stevens (PDF)]

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens performed "BQE" @ BAM"