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From YouTube: Artist Interview: Amanda Berg Wilson
Description
The message of sorrow and loss found in the poem “Atlantis–A Lost Sonnet by Eavan Boland resonated with Amanda’s current experience and inspired her to develop a project to facilitate a collective expression of grief. Provided with seed paper and a link to the poem, neighbors are encouraged to give name to their sorrows related to COVID-19 by writing them down and then planting the seed paper, “drowning” their sorrow in water and dirt. Creative Neighborhoods: COVID-19 Work Projects was launched by the Office of Arts + Culture and Create Boulder: https://boulderarts.org/public-art/creative-neighborhoods/covid-19-work-projects/
A
B
First
and
foremost,
I
was
set
this
summer
to
be
the
assistant
director
and
one
of
the
cast
members
in
the
world
premiere
of
theater
of
the
mind,
which
was
an
immersive.
The
is
an
immersive
theater
piece,
that's
being
created
by
malaga
and
former
talking
heads
front
man
and
rock
and
roll
hall
of
famer
david
byrne.
B
So
theater
of
the
mind
was
about
the
biggest
not
about
it
was
most
definitely
the
biggest
sort
of
moment
of
my
career,
getting
to
work
on
this
incredibly
innovative
piece
of
theater
with
one
of
the
most,
I
think,
brilliant
contemporary
artists
on
the
planet
and
as
a
result
of
covid.
That
project
has
been
postponed
until
hopefully
next
summer,
but
its
postponement
date
has
not
been
announced.
B
So
I
had
been
working
on
that
piece
for
a
year,
almost
in
workshops
in
development
meetings
and
design
meetings
and
in
fact,
but
one
of
the
last
people
I
was
in
a
normal
work
situation
was.
Was
I
spent
four
days
in
a
script
development
workshop
with
david
byrne
and
three
other
artists
who
were
working
on
the
project?
B
What
how
kobet
has
affected
my
career
and
my
practice
since
then
is
just
having
to
reinvent
everything.
So
my
company,
the
catamounts
we
have
a
unique
and
original
performance
event
called
feed.
That
is
a
food
and
performance
event
in
which
it's
a
multi-course
dinner,
in
which
every
course
is
a
dish,
a
drink
and
a
piece
of
performance,
and
we
had
one
of
those
scheduled
for
the
weekend
of
april
24th
and
we
ended
up
completely
reinventing
that
event.
B
So
I
had
to
reinvent
that
I'm
reinventing
a
whole
season
of
theater.
This
was
supposed
to
be
the
amounts
or
it
is
it
is.
It
still
is
the
catamounts
10th
anniversary
season,
but
we
have
completely
pivoted
all
of
our
programming,
so
instead
of
doing
shows
at
the
derry
art
center
inside
with
a
live
audience.
B
So
you
know
so
from
just
an
artistic
standpoint.
It's
just
every
day
is,
is
rethinking
essentially
how
I've
worked
for
25
years.
Fortunately,
the
catamounts
are
very
inventive
company
and
we've
done
a
lot
of
outdoor
performance.
So
on
some
level
this
is
kind
of
a
moment
in
which
we
can
rise
to,
but
as
a
freelance
artist,
it's
a
real
big
bummer,
because
half
of
my
income
is
from
my
position
as
an
artistic
director,
but
half
of
my
income
annually
for
the
last
five
years
has
been
as
a
as
a
freelancer,
and
I
have.
C
B
A
B
There
was
such
an
a
necessity
in
those
early
days
to
really
kind
of
just
you
know.
I
have
a
child
and
I
have
a
company-
and
I
I
just
had
things
that
I
I
couldn't
take
the
time
to
grieve
around
what
was
happening,
because
I
had
pardoned
my
language,
but
I
had
to
do
you
know
I
had.
I
had
bigger
issues
than
my
own
personal
grief
anyway.
I
so
I'm
gonna
cry
when
I
say
this,
so
I
read
the
poem
and
the
poem
that
the
friend
posted
was.
It's
called
atlant.
It's
called
an
atlantis.
B
A
lost
sonnet
and
the
the
sort
of
the
gist
of
the
poem
is
that
when
we
when,
when
when
we
realize
that
something
that
is
gone
is
gone
forever,
that
we
don't
always
know
how
to
name
that
that
we
don't
always
know
how
to
process
that,
and
I-
and
I
think
that
you
know
my
whole
life
has
been
dedicated
to
an
art
form
that
will
emerge
because
it's
lasted.
You
know,
as
long
as
humans
have
lasted
they've,
been
in
rituals,
singing
songs
and
telling
stories.
B
B
B
B
So
there
was
just
something
about
that
poem
that
I
was
like.
Oh
it
just
unleashed
something
in
me.
I
just
finally
felt
this
permission
to
to
mourn,
to
mourn
to
just
to
just
say
it's,
it's
okay,
to
feel
grief
around
this
moment.
Yes,
I'm
healthy!
Yes,
my
kid
is
healthy.
Yes,
I
live
in
this
beautiful
part
of
the
earth
where
I
have
the
mountains
outside
my
door
and
I
can
still
get
out
and
breathe
fresh,
not
in
air.
B
So
I
started
thinking
about
like
how
could
I,
when
this
opportunity
for
this
grant
came
about,
I
was
like
what
is
it
that
I?
What
is
it
that
I
want
to
sort
of
share
with
with
my
neighborhood
and
I
realized
I
wanted
to
share
this
poem
and
something
connected
to
this
poem.
You
know,
and
I
started
to
think
about
what
is
a
ritual
in
which
we
can
give
our
sorrow,
a
name
and
then
drown
it.
C
B
There's
something
that's
so
kind
of
fierce
and
warrior-like
to
think
about.
Like
yes,
we
are
gonna,
we
are
gonna,
put
a
stake
in
that
grief
and
then
we're
gonna
and
then
we're
gonna
drown
it
and
then
we're
gonna
be
be
done
with
it.
You
know
we're
gonna
process,
it
we're
gonna,
we're
gonna,
do
something
with
it
and
I
was
like
okay.
How
do
you
name
sorrow
and
drown
it?
How
do
you
name
sauron
drown
it?
B
I
just
kept
sort
of
going
back
and
forth
on
that,
and
I
had
heard
of
this
thing
before
called
seed
paper,
and
I
was
like
I
wonder
if
there's
something
to
like
being
able
to
write
the
sorrows
down
and
then
do
something
with
that
paper,
and
I
thought
if
we
used.
If
I,
if
I
gave
seed
paper
to
people,
they
could
write
their
sorrows
down.
B
B
Because
I
had
been
told
that
seed
paper
doesn't
always
work,
so
I
did
some
research
and
I
had
a
friend
of
mine,
a
local
friend
of
mine,
say
there's
actually
a
local
company
here
in
boulder
called
blumen
seeds
and
they
make
this
seed
paper
that
is
really
awesome
and
they're
b
corp
and
they're
a
great
company,
so
one
cheap.
I
used.
B
I
use
a
decent
chunk
of
my
my
grant
just
to
buy
the
c
paper,
but
but
I
will
tell
you
it
is
blooming
and
then
some
so
from
this
idea
of
giving
sorrow
a
name
from
the
poem
I
I
created
these
little
packages
of
the
poem
and
seed
paper,
and
I
I
distributed
it
to
two
communities,
one
my
community
here
in
south
boulder.
So
I
live.
B
I
live
west
of
broadway
and
south
of
table
mesa
kind
of
near
fairview,
high
school
and
it's
funny
because,
as
a
theater
artist
and
especially
freelance
one
like
I've,
traveled
all
over
the
state
doing
theater,
I
spend
a
lot
of
time
in
denver.
I
actually
don't
spend
a
lot
of
time
in
my
neighborhood
pre-covered,
so
there
was
something
about
getting
to
know
my
neighborhood,
because
I
do
so
much
walking
to
process
kind
of
like
just
my
cabin
fever,
and
I
was
like.
Oh
you
know.
B
I
have
this
sweet
neighborhood
and
I
started
to
see
my
neighbors
more
and
I
started
to
learn
their
names.
So
I
delivered
these
little
packages
of
seed
paper
in
the
poem
and
and
a
description
of
the
ritual
in
which
to
engage
to
to
my
neighborhood
and
then
I
also,
I
also
did
it
as
part
of
the
virtual
feed
event
that
we
had.
I
contributed
towards
that.
B
I
think
that's
a
really
beautiful
way
of
describing
it.
Sarah
I
mean,
I
think,
poetry
is
its
best
like
yeah
it
it
like.
It
takes
something
out
of
us,
that's
sort
of
shifting
and
and
is
nameless
and
then
just
like
kind
of
puts
a
stake
in
it
and
it's
and
it's
and
it's
really
healing
I
mean
it-
was
really
for
me
like
I
needed
to
have
that
moment
of
grief
like
I
needed
to
have
it,
because
also,
I
think
for
me
what
happened
is
I
was
then
able
to
be
like
okay,
that
is
gone.
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
You
know
that
if
we,
if
we,
if
we
plant
that
sorrow
correctly
or
not
correctly,
that's
that's
too
exacting
of
a
word,
but
if
we,
if
we
do
something
with
it
rather
than
let
it
become
toxic
and
eat
away
at
us,
like
you
know,
I
mean
now
that
hummingbird
is
going
to
pop.
You
know
pollinate
more
flowers.
C
B
So
it's
a
little
bit
hard
right
now,
because
I
cannot
put
bodies
in
space.
I
can't
do
it,
you
know
I
I
can
now
I'm
figuring
out
how
to
do
it
outside
and
distanced.
But
when
I
conceived
of
this
project
I
was
like
I
don't
have.
I
don't
like
the
very
tool
of
my
art
has
been
has
been
shut
down.
I
can't
do
it.
I
cannot
put
actors
in
space,
I
cannot
put
audience
in
space,
so
it
got
me
thinking
differently.
B
Like
you
know,
this
is
this
was
like
sort
of
an
art
project
sort
of
a
ritual
sort
of
a
like.
I
you
know
it
it.
It
really
allowed
me
an
opportunity
to
think
about
to
distill
kind
of
what
I
want
audiences
experience
to
be,
and
that
is
to
just
comment
at
the
theater
and
to
get
to
process
something
to
get
to
to
dig
into
themselves.
B
You
know
through
what
they're
seeing
and
to
come
out
on
the
other
side
and
changed.
You
know,
that's
a
that's
a
lofty
goal.
I
don't
know
that
I
always
achieve
it,
but
certainly
that
is
the
goal
in
every
single
production
that
I
stage.
I
want
you
to
come
out
on
the
other
side
of
it
having
unearthed
something
inside
of
you
and
and
processed
it.
B
I
I
created
a
video
with
my
company
of
us,
essentially
like
it's
a
music
video
to
the
song
atlantis
and
it
accompanies
the
ritual
and
it
talks
about
drowning
your
seed
paper,
so
that
ended
up
just
being
a
hoot
because
it
it's
sort
of
like
it's
one
of
those
songs.
That's
like
very
of
its
time
like
there's
this
whole
opening
spoken
section,
that's
very
like
sort
of
epic
and
about
the
past
kings
and
queens
of
atlantis
and
but
anyway,
I'll
share
it
with
you,
because
that
also
ended
up
being
this.