before the snake

for the occasion, sigur rós also invented an instrument consisting of eight point shoes mounted on a base and fitted with microphones. occasionally, someone would bang this thing with sticks. the resulting sound was unremarkable, but it's the thought that counts. this is the sort of loopy idea that [john] cage might have had. he once miked a cactus and played it ... you can find dancing that is more poignant, or easier to watch, than [merce] cunningham's, but i don't think any choreographer in the world gives us a closer look at the truth. beauty without reasons, and without anxiety over the lack of reasons: that may be what life was like before we started making it up. sometimes, when i look at cunningham's stage, i think i'm seeing the world on the seventh day, with everything new and just itself—before the snake, and the tears, and the explanations.