When I go into the editing process, I re-look at the original intuitive thoughts and then it becomes the written performance or text work. Because they look quite big there's this assumption that there isn't much editing, but that's a huge part of it.
Sue TompkinsFor me, there's the certain focus points that come out, which could reference a song or a pop disco, or something really abstract. It's not totally fulfilling or complete, but rather an ongoing incompleteness. I'm really interested in the audience's relationship with myself, and my relationship with them.
Sue TompkinsI started using Notes [on my iPhone] but I do a lot of hand written notes. It's a very slow, accumulative thing.
Sue TompkinsI've got a twin sister who's an artist and growing up I was always "the loud one." She's not actually quiet at all, but I would rather fill a gap with chatter and she would just let a gap be. So there was no inclination to actually perform.
Sue TompkinsThe way I perform or the setup is always same - just me and a microphone and the text - and they usually have some relation of how physical that stack becomes. When I'm editing it together, the density of the papers is an indicator to be like, "You need to stop."
Sue TompkinsI've thought about bands or performers who appear from nowhere: You come out of the greenroom in this secure little unit, then you do this thing and you're shielded from everybody. I'm thinking of brilliant people, like Mariah Carey, who have no interaction. They interact with the audience at the time of the live thing but there's no build up and there's no afterward.
Sue Tompkins