I have been a bit reluctant to post the Kristiansand lecture here. But Erik Honore asked me for it – kindly :) – he himself couldn’t make it cause he had to prepare his David Sylvian essay (the English translation) finishing his labour in the last seconds of my „showdown“.
Though it is true that I’m working with hypnosis and hypnotherapy (the Milton Erickson school) I’m not doing any conventional trance induction during speeches. What I do take from that field is the repertoire of handling language (change of tempo, emphasis, silences, all the things you don’t get reading sober words).
So, for example, I do use a hinterland dialect when reading the two short stories of Darren Hayman, I do use a bit of „Laurie Anderson voice mode“ when telling the woman’s dream at the end („the showdown“). And everything had to be carefully mixed with the music, so that the „sound man“ in the background will make a difference. Sometimes part of my talking has music playing underneath.
And there was a silent movie running (with good reasons) all along the lecture: „From The Sea To The Land Beyond“, 100 years of coastal history in Brittania. The room was quite dark, and fifteen minutes before the first words were spoken, an atmosphere had been established, with an album that of course was part of the story, Bo Hansson’s „Lord of the Rings“ (1970). Who says, time wouldn’t fade away?
To make a long thing short, this kind of lecture could be a model for music festivals and other cultural events with a vision, because it simply offers extension of knowledge, prepares the ground for other happenings, and supports any kind of thinking out of the box. Because readers (here) might know some of it, I put the lecture (it really was a lecture in the literal sense!) back on the day it has been performed. Just click h e r e – and you can read it, at least the sober words.