6 Questions with Timothy White Eagle of THE INDIGO ROOM

Interview with Timothy White Eagle, the co-creator, lead performer, and production designer of The Indigo Room, an immersive ritualistic theater and installation work that moves from a vibrant chaotic carnival into the belly of the whale.

Interview by Allison Hsu and Rachel McCauley

Camera by Harsh Alurkar/Pundit
Edit by Theo Cote

Timothy White Eagle is a mixed race visual and performance artist trained in traditional ritual and embodiment practice. Mediums include photography, performance and installed space. Recipient of WAA/Advancing Indigenous Performance award in 2019, Seattle City Artist award in 2020 and 2022 Timothy toured as an artistic director with Taylor Mac on his Pulitzer Prize finalist “A 24 Decade History…”.

6 Questions for Crystal Cortez of THE INDIGO ROOM

Crystal Cortez is a sound, installation artist & programmer based out of Portland, Oregon. She is also a professor of Creative Coding & Sonic Arts at Portland Community College. Her work focuses on the empowerment of underserved populations gaining access and knowledge around technology. Under her performance moniker Crystal Quartez she transforms field recordings, uses synthesis, audio programming, data sonification, and 3D sound spatialization to produce complex sonic realms. She will be joining Timothy White Eagle and his team of collaborators for The Indigo Room, which will be performed in the Downstairs Theatre from November 11 – 21. Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased here. Follow @crystalquartez on Instagram and Twitter.

1. What role does sound play in The Indigo Room?

I’m the sound designer for The Indigo Room. I’ll be contributing to the atmosphere Timothy creates by punctuating his storytelling with sound, and helping to immerse participants in the multiple worlds he guides them through.

2. How would you describe your work as an artist?

My work is focused on using the medium of sound as a transportation device, whether that be in a large-scale interactive installation, through technology I build, or via music alone. I aim to create spaces that give permission for people (and myself) to explore something their daily life might not leave space for. In my sound creation, I build all of my own instruments with field recordings from my immediate world. I use this as a jumping off point, and morph the sounds to facilitate reflection inward or on external topics. Lately, I have been focused on the additions of multichannel sound spatialization and building wearable instruments, to create more immersive sonic environments and integrate the body in the exploration of them.

3. What made you begin your practice of producing sonic realms for reflection and release, and how has it evolved?

I’ve always had a deep interest in what the sounds around me mean; their context in the world, what emotions they elicit, what memories they trigger, how they feel in my body. It’s the sense that has been easiest for me to attach to since I was young. Creating these sonic realms began through performance art pieces where the sound I created allowed me to engage audience members in performance with me. It has evolved to creating spaces and technologies that allow people to engage with sound without my direction, through the interactive tech I build. My personal understanding of my physical and mental relationship to sound has also grown over the years through my practice, allowing me to get closer to my intentions with each soundscape I create.

4. Who or what has inspired you?

My biggest source of inspiration has been my DIY community of artists in Portland. I have been so lucky to begin my art career in a community so accepting of raw expression and experimentation. Larger artists who have influenced my work are Pauline Oliveros and her deep listening practice, and Nam June Paik’s ethos around technology and nature, among many others.

5. How did you come to collaborate with Timothy White Eagle?

Timothy and I were both chosen to be Creative Exchange Lab resident artists for the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art this year. The exchange lab was a multiple week experience, one of which was taking residents to live in the woods to rest and create together. Timothy and I ended up using the site’s chapel for spontaneous sound creation and bonded over exploring the resonance of that space. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Working at La MaMa is the perfect introduction to the theater world for me. I’m honored to be contributing to Timothy’s piece, which I so believe in. Beyond that I’m excited to be working in a space that has a rich history of prioritizing and supporting artists in exploration and experimentation. I also appreciate La MaMa’s focus on audience participation, which has always been a huge part of my work. I can’t wait to start!

La MaMa presents

The Indigo Room

By Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle

November 11 – 21, 2021

The Downstairs

66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 1pm

Tickets:
Pay What You Can: $10 – $60

6 Questions for Timothy White Eagle of THE INDIGO ROOM

Timothy White Eagle is a mixed race artist. His art practice rises from a decades long exploration of traditional ritual and embodiment practice. He crafts experiences and objects designed to heal both creator and audience. His preferred mediums include objects, photography, performance, and installed space. He is the lead artist of The Indigo Room, which will be performed in the Downstairs Theatre from November 11 – 21. Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased here. Follow @timothy.whiteeagle on Instagram.

1. What inspired you to write The Indigo Room? 

The feelings of being trapped and part of political, colonial, racist, toxic environments and military systems of which I did not approve and had no control over. The feeling of no escaping from current established norms. I started thinking about the old mythologies of being swallowed by a monster. I felt like I had been swallowed by a Monster.

2. What does the title mean?

The story of Indigo in America relates as metaphor. The slave labor forced to process Indigo, how the very early industrial growing and production of Indigo depleted the earth and made plantation owners rich. And how Slaves, trapped in the system used the dregs (i.e. garbage) of the Indigo process to make “haint blue” a protection paint. They made a kind of medicine while trapped from the unwanted remains of an industrial process, that story resonated with me.

3. What should audiences expect from the performance?

Every performance will be a bit different. We work generatively and enjoy performances being alive. As a story teller, I allow my stories to change and grow. We have a wide slate of material to draw from. I do have a solid template to draw within, but I do sometimes vary from what even I expect. The music created between myself and sound artist/composure Crystal Quartez will be unique each night, informed by each audience. There will be a carnival. There will be ritual space. There will be a monster and a whale. There will be things sacred and profane.

4. How would you describe your work as an artist?

All of my work is based in ritual which is reaching toward growth, evolution, and healing.

5. Who or what are your key influences?

In this project, specific intellectual influences include Joseph Campbell, Karl Jung, and Mircea Eliade. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

I have been holding a touch for La MaMa for many years. Back in the olden days in the early '90s, On the Boards, an arts organization based in Seattle, was bring folks like Spaulding Gray and John Kelly, among others, out to Seattle from La Mama. And seeing their expanded what I thought performance could be.

La MaMa presents

The Indigo Room

By Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle

November 11 – 21, 2021

The Downstairs
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 1pm

Tickets:
Pay What You Can: $10 – $60