Though each component was developed mostly independently by different duos, they are held together by a shared foundation: four conceptual ‘bubbles’ – poetic guidelines distilled by Fallon Mayanja from Julius Eastman’s music and vision. These principles provided the spiritual and conceptual ground for the entire process, shaping a common field of intention from which each chapter emerged.
Live to the fullest
Eastman declared the desire to be ‘Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest.’ He aspired to live as close to himself as possible – and invited others in his communities to do the same. What does it mean to be oneself to the fullest? What pressure of exemplarity is placed on those at the margins? Is fullness a kind of freedom?
Grow through repetition
Eastman’s concept of ‘organic music’ was based on repetition, accumulation, and gradual transformation. Each part of a composition carries the memory of what came before, allowing new forms to emerge. Repetition becomes a method of becoming – of learning from the past while opening towards a more complex, open future.
Errantry = a force
Errantry is a form of wandering – a state often perceived as purposeless or undefined. But Eastman turned this condition into a force. He navigated between genres, scenes, and identities without conforming to the codes of belonging. At times this meant living without a home, ‘in the world’, as he said. His errantry was not escape – it was survival. It was freedom.
When they question you, speak boldly
In ‘The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc’, Eastman recalls the saints telling Joan to ‘speak boldly when questioned’. He knew that anyone working towards transformation would face interrogation. His answer: speak. From your reality, from a place of non-conformity, in connection with something deeper – speak boldly.
The JOY BOY Team
