a note from the editor 04
by Ishan Benegal, Editor-in-Chief
Volume 4
zero | play | practice
A note from the editor
“Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.”
– Haruki Murakami
Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Step 4. And repeat.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Performance.
And repeat.
The notion of performance, presentation, exhibition, opening, or match day always comes with the subconscious parallel to perfection. We’ve come to this collective conclusion because of the public nature of these final days. Your performance is now open to the public; your presentation is to a group of people; your exhibition is finally on show; your restaurant is open to customers and critics; you’re playing in front of thousands of fans. You are subject to these public thoughts, responses, interpretations, and opinions.
Our inherent focus is on these days of performance. But what is crucial and non-negotiable for such a day to exist is the commitment to practice, until the very last moment.
For the person making work, the feedback loop between practice and performance is outweighed by practice. Whereas for the person viewing the work, it is outweighed by performance. This creates a constant struggle to determine which balance works in favor of those striving to make work.
For each hundredth day of performance, there are ninety nine of practice that precede it. It is during our practice that we are able to experiment –play, pause, wonder, and then to start from scratch and reset. These are the quiet comforts of our practice, that center us and we return to regularly. The euphoria of performance is wonderful, but fleeting.
Practice makes not perfect, but practice makes work and through our work, we tinker, test, recalibrate, learn, and strive towards progress.
We ground our focus in these thoughts for this volume and know you will resonate with the work that comes from it.
Welcome to Volume 4.
