Helen Thorington/Building A Universe, Part 1

Building A Universe, Part 1

About back	Building a Universe, Part 1 (1986) is an experimental drama that focuses on contemporary technologies such as cloning, crossbreeding, and the ability to exchange body parts. Commissioned by New Music America, Houston, Texas, 1986. Distributed by New American Radio, 1990.

	Young woman's voice sings innocently.
Announcer:	(over singing voice, very close and intimate) You are listening to the voice of Andrea Emmanuel. Early this morning Andrea suffered an attack of irritable bowel syndrome. This condition of the large intestine, marked by diarrhea, cramps, distension and sharp pain, was Andrea's gut reaction to worry, depression, frustration, nervousness, fear and fatigue. Within minutes of the initial attack, Andrea contacted Miss Sophie, chief co-
	Voice and announcer are cut off abruptly. There is a short fading electronic sound. Pause.
Announcer:	(in his own voice as an actor) I wanta go again. Ready?...This condition of the large intestine, marked by diarrhea, cramps, distension and sharp pain, was Andrea's gut reaction to worry, depression, frustration, nervousness, fear and fatigue.
	Hard cut to "Left-over Music."
Announcer 2:	And now this message:
Message Deliverer:	(close, soft voice) Human life starts deep within the female body. There, shrouded in mystery, male sperm fertilize the female ovum. The miraculous result: a single cell that divides and differentiates, yielding nine months later, a fully developed fetus nestled in the shelter of the womb.
Voice:	A baby.
Voices:	A baby, ooo, a baby.
Voice:	(over the voices) Oh, a baby.
Voice:	(over the voices) Au-ooh.
Voice:	laughs.
	Clicks on channel one, cutting off first voices. On channel two, a short pause, and then voices repeat.
Voice:	laughs.
	Click on channel two, cutting laughter off. Hard cut to "Left-over Music" and the singing voice of Andrea Emmanuel, who whistles, calls out, and sings a short piece, her voice very much alone in the universe created by the "Left-over Music."
Dr. Laparascope:	(hums "Here we go gathering nuts in May") ...Laparoscope, Nurse. .. (continues humming) Aha, aha (quietly).. .and in you go...(slowly and with a little effort) in you go...(pause) yes, yes, 1 can see inside her ovary now, and there are oho, one little, two little, three little darlings (sings it to the tune of "Ten Little Indians") four, five little...ah, good! Good! Five in all. Nurse, the needle, please...(Hums again, then with enthusiasm) Gotcha! (quiet laughter) Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha (laughter). And now the petri dish. Nurse, the petri dish...Aha, aha. And so my dears, one day in a dish with all those yummy nutrients and a drop or two of sperm, and then... home, home again, rig-ajig-jig. Aha, aha! And so, our egg harvest is complete.
	Dr.'s humming begins on channel four.
Male voice:	You're pregnant, darling.
Woman's voice:	Mmmmm.
	Dr.'s humming begins on channel two.
Male voice:	You're pregnant, darling.
Woman's voice:	Oh (questioning). Oh (excited).
	Dr.'s humming begins on channel three. There is the sound of rewinding tape on channels one and two. Voice from channel three:
Male voice:	You're pregnant, darling.
Woman's voice:	Really? (laughs).
	Original announcer from channel one:
Announcer:	This condition of the large intestine, marked by diarrhea, cramps distension and sharp pain...
	Click cuts the announcer off. There are clicks off heard across the entire sound spectrum.
Announcer:	And now this:
Voices:	(sing the "Improve Yourself" song) Whoo, ah, whoo, ah, whoo saa Smoothe it out Haul it in Hoist it up Make it trim Improve yourself
Announcer:	This message was brought to you by your favorite certified aesthetic surgeon.
	"Left-over Music" begins. 18 to 20 secs. into it, voices are heard hawking replacement parts for the body.
Hawker 1:	The best buy in town, would I lie to you? Top quality. Low, low prices. Every limb, every organ here. Check 'em out. Top quality only. Kidneys here, lungs here. Hearts and livers here. All fresh, all functional. Check 'em out. Best buys here. Fingers here, eyes here. Real or artificial. Don't leave town without one. Check 'em out, check 'em out...
	Hawker's voice fades back into music. Second hawker speaks quietly, intimately out of the music.
Hawker 2:	Wanta brain, lady? Three pounds of soft jelly...the best there is.
	Music continues for a few seconds, then comes to an end.
Scientist:	(southern accent; flippant attitude) An artificial womb? Ha! Well, let s think about it this way. A typical day for a fetus Ml might go something like this: the mother gets up; the mother lies down; the mother takes a bath; the mother talks, sings a song, eats a hamburger, drinks a glass of milk. Now, if all this stimulation—gustatory, auditory, visual, olfactory— prompted by the mother's activity, plays a role in fetal development, then that artificial womb has to be one real walkin, talkin, eatin, drinkin son-of-a-gun, doesn't he? Oh, we'll do it...
Voice:	(channel three) Oh, we'll do it.
Voice:	(channel four) Oh, we'll do it.
Voice:	(channel two) Oh, we'll do it.
Voice:	(channel four) Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it etc.
	Hard cut from repeated "do it..." to original voice in channel one.
Scientist:	...but by 2000, no.
	Hard cut to "Left-over Music" through which runs the repeated voice "do it..."
Scientist/Scholar 1:	Only technology—and perhaps some moral difficulties—prevent a brain from being divided in two, one hemisphere being transplanted to a new skull, the other to another. In such a case our usual criteria of personal identity—bodily and psychological continuity—would break down.
	Scientist/Scholar 1 (channel one) stops. Scientist/ Scholar 2 begins (channel two), his voice is duplicated in channel three, but volume levels are at first held down so that it is only vaguely heard. Midway through they are raised.
Scientist/Scholar 2:	Suppose that Brown's brain is put into Robinson's head, with the result that Brownson, the fellow with Brown's brain in the rest of Robinson's body, remembers Brown's experience, identifies Brown's body as "his", expresses Brown's tastes and preferences...Who is who? Who goes home to which wife? Who goes a to jail when a crime is committed? Or suppose that Robinson limps painfully, won't Brown's passion for dancing the flamenco be effected?
Scientist/Scholar 1:	Now that's an interesting question. That's an interesting question.
	Brief Flamenco music.
Voice:	Here are some facts.
	A cello composition accompanies the de1ivery of the facts. It begins immediately after the preceding voice.
Voice:	Fact one:
Fact one Voice:	A quarter horse dame named Kelly, Grew a Zebra inside of her belly And brought it to term Without recourse to sperm From an embryo nourished in jelly.
Voice:	Fact two:
Fact two Voice:	(military voice) The following recipe for young spring lamb is brought to you courtesy of the National Society for Cloning Ewe....Take a trophoblast of goat. Drain and rinse. Place in a dish of plain jelly. The trophoblast may be prepared one day in advance and kept covered and chilled til ready for use. Prepare a moist, ripe zygote of ewe —EWE, ewe—in jelly flavored with a sprig of mint. When ready (one to two days), suction zygote out of the gelatinous mixture with a glass tube or straw, being careful not to ingest it. Remove to the prepared trophoblast. Toss together with 1 sprig of mint, 2 ounces of freshly squeezed lemon, and one clove of garlic, pressed. Cover and incubate in a pre-heated uterus. Fatten and serve. Feeds 8.
Voice:	Fact three:
Fact three Voice:	(hoarse voice with southern accent) In the world of cattle breeding, transfering embryos from one female to another is a million dollar business.
	Cello composition concludes. On its final note, the voice of Embryo. Hawker 1 begins. Four seconds into his text, a second embryo hawker is heard in the distance. Seven seconds later, a third hawker begins. All are delivering the same text, somewhat altered.
Embryo Hawkers:	Embryos, embryos, genuine human embryos. It's a grab bag here. Plant 'em in a womb and see what you get. Embryos, embryos. Keep 'em in the deep freeze; plant 'em in a womb. Embryos, embryos, get your embryos here!
	As the hawkers conclude, Dr. Laparascope can he heard humming "Here we go gathering nuts in May" in channel one.
Announcer's Voice:	And now this message:
Male voice:	You're pregnant, darling.
Woman's voice:	I feel as if I'm not here at all.
	A loud click follows on channels one and two; a second loud click; and then the sound of the tape being quickly rewound in ail four channels.
Male voice:	You're pregnant, darling.
Woman's Voice:	(with great pleasure) Mmmmmmmmm.
Brain Salesman:	Are you experiencing structural constraints? Having trouble adapting to the demands of today's world? Do it the easy way. Buy an artificial programmable brain. Create symbolic structures to guide your future behavior.
	Young woman's voice sings the same riff as that which opened the program, but in an electronically altered version.
Voice:	(whispers) Psst. Wanta brain?
Street Hawker 1:	Check it out, check it out. No biological constraints here, folks. Always functional. Always flexible. An artificial programmable brain. Create symbolic structures to guide your future behavior. Check it out, check it out. For guaranteed performance this one can't be beat. Check it out, check it out. No biological constraints here.
	Beginning midway through, a second street hawker:
Street Hawker 2:	Buy your Einstein here. Does binary, octal and hexidecimal calculations and conversions. Lets you calculate with the speed of light. Get your Einstein here! Wanta brain?
	"Left-over Music" begins as the last voice is speaking and continues for a little over a minute.
Voice:	We interrupt this program to bring you the following message:
	What follows is a four-channel succession of voices. Each voice is separated from the next by a click. The succession begins on channel three.
Voice (3):	Dr. Ample is my name. Well-built breasts are my game.
	Click.
Voice (4):	Improve yourself, improve yourself, whoo, ah, whoo, ah, whoo.
	Click.
Voice (1):	Oh, we'll do it.
	Click.
Voice (2):	Oh, we'll do it.
	Click.
Voice (3):	In jelly flavored with a sprig of mint.
	Click. Sound. Click.
Voice (1):	Every limb, every organ.
	Click.
Voice (2):	...talks, sings a song.
	Click.
Voice (3):	Ah! Honestly?
	Click. Electronic sound.
Voice (4):	And now this message:
	Click.
Voice (1):	There...
	Deep sound.
Voice (1):	...shrouded in mystery...
	Click.
Voice (2):	Yes, I can see.
	Click.
Voice (3):	...three pounds of
	Click. Electronic sound.
Voice (4):	Interesting, interesting, interesting.
	Click. Electronic sound.
Voice (I):	(screeches) Gotcha! (laughs).
	Click.
Voice (2):	...cloning you...
	Click.
Voice (3):	...with a glass tube or straw...
	Click. Electronic sound.
Voice (4):	It's you!
	Click.
Voice (1):	Okay.
	Click.
Voice (2):	For cash of course.
	Click.
Voice (3):	And one clove of garlic, pressed.
	Click. Electronic sound. Click. Deep Sound.
Voice (1):	Do it the easy way...
	Click.
Voice (2):	Toss together...
	Click.
Voice (3):	...one hemisphere...
	Click. Deep sound.
Voice (4):	Two...
	Deep sound.
Voice (1):	the miraculous result...
	Click.
Voice (2):	Human life.
	Deep sound. Click.
Voice (3):	...is a million dollar business.
	Click.
Voice (3):	...is a million dollar business.
	Click. "Left-over Music." Just as music comes to an end, the street hawking begins again.
Street Hawker 1:	The best buy in town, would I lie to you? Top quality. Low, low prices. Every limb, every organ here. Check 'em out. Top quality only. Kidneys here, lungs here. Hearts and livers here. All fresh, all functional. Check 'em out. Best buys here. Fingers here. Eyes here. Real or artificial. Don't leave town without one. Check 'em out, check 'em out...
Street Hawker 2:	(at the same time, channel three) Embryos, embryos, genuine human embryos. It's a grab bag here. Plant 'em in a womb and see what you get! Embryos, embryos. Keep 'em in the deep freeze; plant 'em in a womb. Embryos, embryos, get your embryos here!
Street Hawker 3:	Check it out, check it out! No biological constraints here, folks. Always functional. Always flexible. An artificial programmable brain. Create symbolic structures to guide your future behavior. Check it out, check it out! For guaranteed performance this one can't be beat. Check it out, check it out! No biological constraints here.
Street Hawker 4:	Check it out, check it out. Self-renewing, self-replicating. It assembles itself. It's skin. Skin! Vehicle of touch and sensation. Organ of definition and delight. Check it out. It knows top from bottom, in from out. It moves in one direction only and it is as easy to install as a new piece of rubber on a punctured tire. Check it out! Comes in twenty different colors. Mix or match, it's up to you. Pink is your color, dear. You like green better? It's up to you. Check it out. Check it out! Skin. A whole living space. Skin!...
	Young woman's voice sings the same riff as that which opened the program, but electronically altered. Begins under "...You like green better?..."and continues under announcer.
Announcer:	(close, intimate) You are listening to the voice of Andrea Emmanuel. Andrea, who earlier this morning suffered an attack of irritable bowel syndrome, has just purchased a whole new living space of skin...
	Click. Andrea continues to sing, her voice completely electronified; then her opening riff is heard as a faint echo.
Announcer 1:	And now this message:
Announcer 2:	And now this word:
Announcer 3:	And now:
	Silence.
Announcer:	Building A Universe was created and produced by Helen Thorington. It is available in the following languages: English, Spanish, and computer, and may be purchased for home use. It comes with UPC or EAN bar codes and human readable information. Building A Universe was made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. [Listen] (TOP)