The title of this project stems from a fable: As a philosopher lay on his deathbed, one of his students asked, “Is there anything more you can leave us with before you go?” He answered: “The best thing I can leave you with is the pattern of my ways.” This is a powerful idea: that action trumps wisdom; tacit trumps explicit; that what you know viscerally trumps what you know intellectually. Deep learning and understanding comes not through what can be told, but through observation and experience.

"The Pattern of Your Ways" is based on both the past and present of a farm in North Dakota that has supported my family for generations. Through performance and working directly with the land, I began to familiarize myself with the agricultural livelihood of my Czech great-grandparents, and in turn, begin to build a relationship with them through learning from how they chose to live.