CRAIG’S STROKE Lee Noyes – no-input mixer Lance Austin Olsen – voice & objects catalogue IN025 48:34 minutes One day, my friend Craig had a stroke; he was in his mid 40’s. I wrote in my book – Craig’s stroke – there it was, everything I knew, all jumbled together, just like Craig’s mind. I never saw Craig again, but I continued my notations, and always felt that this was now a document of Craig’s difficult and unplanned journey. A few years ago I attempted to translate the concept into a triptych, or three movement work. I placed all kinds of marks and notations on three sheets of paper. Eventually, more and more, these marks were painted out as I became acutely aware of the loss of reasoning because of the trauma to the brain. I painted everything black and, except for the few marks and notations that remained, nothing could be seen inside the blackness, everything was still there in the work, but it could no longer be seen or reached. I sent the work to Lee Noyes, and what he returned to me was perfect, but it needed a physical presence, how was I to do that? I spent a few nights sitting in my creaky studio chair trying not to move or say anything, wearing headphones, and recording my unconscious reactions to Lee’s realization of the score. Finally, there it was, the presence. Lance Austin Olsen, 2014 purchase: http://infrequency.org/?p=643