“Even if we try to cut out the butterfly, again and again, we still find her in the image because she’s encoded in every part–and the whole is encoded in her.” -Nikos Patedakis
(see podcast link at end of post to hear more on holograms & nature)
Holographic Butterfly is my latest original aerial silks sequence (access the tutorial via Aerial Silks Online). As with all my original sequences, the disclaimer is that I don’t know for sure that it’s not out there already, I only know that I found it on my own and my guess is that it is unusual enough that likelihood of it existing is reasonably small.
Every sequence has a creation story behind it. In this case, it all started when a friend had challenged me to get into straddle x with no hands. I couldn’t figure it out (though my attempts were amusing), but while I was on footlocks I decided I wanted to see what could happen if I crossed an x in front of me. From there I realized I needed one of my footlocks to be lower to have enhanced freedom of movement, so I lowered the left one and then followed what opportunities presented themselves. I enjoyed the tension work and noticed potential for shapes, so I came down to start videoing. From there I managed to find the primary Holographic Butterfly shape.
A couple weeks later I was playing around on silk and wanted to revisit the sequence. This is where the sequence magic came in. The music had me feeling good and I went into a state of continuous movement in which I was not thinking or planning what I would do next. That proved highly effective for developing the sequence (this is how most of my sequences evolve). It led to the discovery of two more beautiful shapes that I doubt I would have found if trying to “think it through.”
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I felt that the sequence was still not complete. I was tempted by alternate possibilities, but was feeling good about its overall structure and decided to bring the discovery process to a close. As I reviewed and reached the natural end of the sequence, I noticed room for one more shape, the fourth shape in the sequence. I suspect there are more possibilities that could be added in, but I knew that if I didn’t create an ending the project would remain open forever.
So what I ended up with was a really nice 4-shape sequence with some transitions that feel really good.
The primary shape, the Holographic Butterfly, is somewhat kaleidoscopic. The term “Holographic Butterfly” actually came to mind after I named my Silk Moth sequence. So I was happy to find another butterfly shape that could receive this name.
I didn’t know what is special about a hologram until very recently. In a hologram, every aspect of the image is contained in every section of the negative. Perhaps that is an analogy for our cosmos, wherein each particular moment or thing implies everything else that there ever was, has been, and maybe even will be. As an example, my first ever silks class was present in the discovery process of this sequence. Essentially, a hologram is suggestive of the integration of all things.
Although my sequence is a series of 4 unique shapes, there is continuity and connection from beginning to end. Each shape has a relationship to each other shape–the Holographic Butterfly is implied in every step of the way (yes, this is true in every sequence, not unique to this one).
For some mind-blowing discussion on holograms, patterns, parts, and interwovenness, listen to this podcast by a former professor of mine.
“She is everywhere in the whole scene, and the whole scene is everywhere in her.”
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