The Matrix was released March 31, 1999. 

I am not a science fiction fan—or a fan of

disaster movies—these movies certainly

shaped the generations that have been

fed these Hollywood block busters—

the cool characters—fighting the big enemies 

with huge cache of guns—and weapons—

with scenes of crushing violence–and 

yes a love scene at the end to give

hope to the victor—these Matrix -like movies

are like corn-bread for the soul 

—these flicks flashed across

the screens of the world —Now all 

the guns of the world are hard pressed

to fight COVID-19.  We isolate and

hide from something we cannot see—

how bizarre is this ??-while we hunker-

down in our bunkers.  I have hope—

as we rise up and face these challenges

that are not made in movie studios but

in real time and real space.

Now as we sit alone in our cave I am

reminded of Plato and the CAVE theory— 

(illusion is the force that keeps us from

reality.) Edison gave us light-movies 

and a record player—Darwin

gave us the notion of the survival of

the fittest—so does the Matrix—Mr. Trump

and the neo-liberalists—but perhaps we need to

revisit these gun slinging concepts—

are we all about HIGH NOON— or

maybe we re-read Plato.

—I guess you are 

wondering what does this have to do

with the MATRIX—the red pill and

the blue pill and the choice between this

and that—perhaps there is a third

choice—the green pill—the one that

is the cure for what ails us!!!—okay

enough—I am in the cave with the

Cat J.J. we are working this all out

and trying to see the truth of the time

that we are now witnessing—

in the time of COVID-19

Time & Chance :

here we are now swept

up in the snare — this is an evil time

and the New Testament says it well:

check it.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

“The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor the bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of 

understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill:

But time and “chance

happen to them all.

9:12

For “man also does not  know

his time:

Like the fish taken in a cruel

net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are

snared in an evil time,

When it falls suddenly upon

them.”

Oedipus and now-.

I was thinking about Oedipus Rex —the play from the 

mind of Sophocles—and how he writes about the sick

state of Thebes.  The play opens:

Oedipus enters and says that he wants to hear from

the people himself—not though messengers—

what is their grief?—the Priest says in short:

“Thebes is tossed on a murdering sea

And can not lift her head from the death surge.

…The god of plague and pyre

raids like detestable lightning through the city,

and all the house of Kadmos is laid waste,

all emptied, and all darkened: Death alone

battens upon the misery of Thebes.”…

…Find us our safety, find us a remedy,…

…keep the state from going down in storm!..

No man questions your power to rule the land:

but rule over men, not over a dead city!!

Ships are only hulls, citadels are nothing,

When no life moves in the empty passageways.”

(translations by FITTS & FITZGERALD)

This is the opening of Oedipus Rex—a play that

I have thought about for many years—since reading

this play and seeing productions —now more

then ever I am being haunted by the text. 

Oedipus Rex has been tagged by Mr. Freud —

the Oedipus Complex has been the defining of a

great play which is more than about Oedipus having

made love to his mother—(unknowingly) It is a play

similar to Ibsen’s GHOSTS —a play is about 

a mother and a son—the son has contracted

a disease (unknowingly) that he has inherited

from his father—Oswald has come home to die

and the terrible reality of what he has inherited

is visited upon him and the truth of the past has

to be faced by the mother and the son.  

Both plays focus on the end as plays and narratives 

always do—BUT I would like to focus on the start

of these plays—the start of each play is about the

past—and the past is prologue 

in both Oedipus Rex & Ghosts—the past of

actions of the state and the father. 

Both —Oedipus and Oswald

are victims of things of the father’s actions—we are now

witness to a pandemic — we are victims of—

the illness of the state is the result of greed and 

an all consuming life where we have plundered

the planet by over producing and living in an 

unconscious manner—and now we are sleeping

unknowingly with our mother and now after blinding

ourselves after the realization– we can hope to see—

it is maybe one more

chance for us to correct the damage done

and let the planet have a chance to sustain

us once again—or do we live in isolation and fear

forever? Oswald’s last words of the play are:

“mother give me the sun”.

Comfort food for All.

Democracy in action. 

As of March 19th, 2020

TSL has provided food for the community—

this project is funded by generous people

and foundations as well as volunteers 

and our small and mighty staff here at 

TSL. As you may or may not know ever

since TSL has been a part of this Hudson

Valley community we have played many

roles as a resource for support of people

who love art/culture and those who have

limited access to the basics of life—we have

sent kids to camp—we have provided 

gardens—trips to events for young people-

provided music-art-and yes bench making

for the young people in our community— 

And we have been home to young people fresh

out of school providing a space to work and 

learn and practice the love of the theater–

we have been a place of refuge for many

here who have been left out cut out 

and simply put out—NOW in this time

of Pandemic Crisis we are providing

a space to make food to the community

—-this is lasagna—and the famous

pot pies —comfort food—the great

democratic food that we all love—

AND we are open to serve everyone—all

delivered or picked up—by the mighty

TSL Staff led by chef Tyler 

supported by Kevin, Jeff, Claudia,

Linda & More—anyone want to donate

or volunteer as delivery or want to

give donations of food reach out

via the TSL fyi@timeandspace.org

e-mail…We have great hope that

as a community we can work together

to conquer this harm that has visited

us all—we are forced into isolation 

and made to be fearful—but we can

rise above this by reaching out….be

it a phone call or a letter or an e-mail

or a shout or a wave —

we need to communicate now more

than ever…don’t give up.

March 22, 2020

We have to look at the moment.  Time is. Imagine that there is no answer. 

And if the answer is not now then it is all illusion.

Illusion is why we believe.  Without illusion we face the moment.

If the moment is longer than we could ever imagine then it is suspension.

We are now beyond existentialism—the favorite word of late—

We are now in the land of super-real—the super real is the 

über fact that we are witnessing a changing time in the 

life times of all of us—this is not a war or a bomb but a  

transformation of how we live in the extreme—no hoarding

can fix this problem. 

We can only devour our reflection and

get rid of narcissism. 

The individual now must go to sleep 

and the group emerge— 

if we are to change the picture.

My cat has 9 lives and I have one.

Risk is now at all of our tables.

What’s going on?

Right now here and now and now and here is what is going on in my little dash of the planet that we occupy.

TSL is closed to programming—however it is open to serve food

starting March 19th and continuing—offering comfort food at an affordable price—

no one is turned away—in addition our book store is open and we have some great books—

if you want to have a list of our selections you can give us a call or we can

order a book for you—and our dvd/cd store is open for shopping—it can be accessed by appointment–

or we can send you a list of our titles and make them available for you to be picked up or

sent/via mail.  The suppers are $5.00 and are right now offered on Thursdays and Fridays

the menu changes—-As for movies at TSL we are closed right now for an indefinite period

of time —however we are hoping to maintain a limited staff and keep TSL alive working

on being a space that is serving the community in which we live and work.

People are in a state of shock and this shock and isolation will create another after shock

as this virus spreads throughout the nation and the world.  We need to remember that

we must be strong and creative and share some empathy and understanding—how to

survive and rebuild is key—and this time a bail out must go to the bottom and the middle 

class first—no more trickledown non-sense—it failed in 2008 and it is now going to

fail again if we don’t rebuild the systems—put money in rail roads/public transportation, 

and  build a green economy—that is for starters. As for employing people —this is the

long haul—bottom line is we need to build robust communities and seek ways of

sustaining these circles.  The gig economy as we see has its limits….we need to be

more mindful of our social circles that can support one another.

March 20, 2020 the beginning of Spring.

The day that the earth stood still seems to be upon us.  Life has changed in an instant.

We now long for a normal—but normal has shifted out of our reach—were we not warned??

Yes–when the nation elected the president who imagined himself a leader with no vision we were on a path with no return—a man providing the  perfect solution that matched the glare of the television —a blinding bright illusion that blinded the voters —a faker who snookered the nation —now the Corona Virus has delivered us into a state of shock—Naomi Klein predicted these states of shock in her writings—she told us what happens to the nation when the shock passes resulting in a loss for the “people” (like the Patriot Act after 9/11)—but this time perhaps it is different—the shock will result in a change that we have not yet seen in my life time—a shock that will remind us that literature exists -generosity is —and human kindness is not bought at Amazon. We can imagine that the heart is more than a pump in our left breast but it too is empathetic and regrets war —YES the standing still and a pattern of hold is perhaps what we have in fact been waiting for ever since the world just simply got too fast—we are in the gaze of the corona—the fire and the light—right now it is blinding—but like Shakespeare’s Gloucester who gouges out his eyes because  seeing is blinding—we are now here in this stasis—we wait and we wait and we wait—Godot has left the stage and now we have to find out how to reimagine the world—perhaps we have one more chance to get it right?

We gaze into the crystal ball–it tells us little–we continue to be the time and space that remains. Holding the space and time open to a shared experience is key to our role as a community space here in Hudson, NY. We are a place to be counted on for answers and solutions to questions–but some questions don’t have quick and easy answers—-As Gertrude Stein asked Alice– “What is the answer?” Alice remained silent— and Stein continued… “in that case—what is the question?” The virus has made “precarious” an ongoing part of our lives–nothing is secure ever–AND now we are in even deeper waters of the unknown–However TSL remains open and offering a refuge– which is the defined by– the arts. We look forward to seeing you all at TSL and know that we are working to make a safe environment. Your contributions at this time to our place are ever more important. If you would like to make sure TSL continues you can contribute here at our site www.timeandspace.org

Max-what a great actor– he entertained us in our youth–watching a Bergman Movie was like religion for my generation of art-house movie goers–Max gave us such great and deep performances in Bergman’s cinema–the Lutheran Ministers–of my Indiana/Illinois childhood were reflected in many of these movies– Max expressed their angst in Winter Light, Through a Glass Darkly and The Silence and more–YES –the moody broody man—a kind of 20th century existential character which we came to see clearly thru the lens of Bergman—NO–nothing is forever–who knows what the next century will think of these performances— but his image is burned on the screens of our lives and our minds eye replays his performances. YES every time I go back to my childhood church in Illinois(in my mind only) where I was confirmed (as a black Lutheran)– I remember these spaces and these people — the dark broody Lutherans —those who dwelled in these cold dark spaces–it is my Bergman –my Max who take me on these shared journeys—AND every time I see a chess board I think of Max playing chess with the devil…..RIP MAX VON SYDOW March 10, 2020

Knick Knacks new project opening on April 1. 2020

Knick Knacks is project to be performed in the east gallery—it is written and constructed by Linda Mussmann.

I have invited performers to help with this project–led by my longtime collaborator Claudia Bruce to perform this project—the text appears on 42 cards. The cards will be assigned and the order will be random on each of the nights that we plan on presenting on the following dates after April 1st than April 2 and 3. (each performance will be different)

There will be 2 stages on each end of the space and a runway space down the middle of the space where the performers will travel and do recitation as well as movement.  The audience is positioned on each side of the run way and will be viewing performances at all points of performance.  There will be limited seating for each event. If you would like to book a seat now please let me know for which date and how many tickets you would like to purchase. Knick Knacks is dedicated to the shelves that held Knick Knacks in the many houses of my childhood—My mother had many shelves that were dedicated to Knick Knacks—as well as Aunt Lydia, Aunt Esther, Aunt Martha, Malinda, Aunt Minnie & more and all of the women in my mother and grandmother’s lives. There were shelves dedicated to the holding of objects —objects which were gifts from travels, souvenirs, special plates, salt and pepper shakers, etc etc.—Knick Knacks even appeared in the Glass Menagerie of Tennessee Williams where Laura collected little glass animals and these became a world where she imagined a life….Knick Knacks for Linda are a collection of texts that she has written over time—January to July 2019—they are pieces of thought written daily as fragments—the fragments have been placed on these 40 + cards and distributed to the 6 performers.  Join me on April fools day 2020 and see what we have cooked up. Random flares of fragments will emerge into the space at TSL. AND—We have nothing to say but we will say it anyway– as John Cage had suggested when he talked about his work —in the last century. We continue to do the “work” as John Cage recommended to us in the early 1980’s —doing the work continues to be our mantra–we go on— Yes—doing the work.