On Holocaust Memorial Day, I gave a talk called Absolute Zero: sublimation, creative interactions and the family tree for the students of MA Contemporary Performance and MA Dance: Choreography and Professional Practices at the University of Salford.
I tried to show a link in the thinking and methods of three eminent Mendelssohns - a philosopher, a composer and a scientist. Is an interest in 'process' and an inclination for compromise shared by these three generations, spread across 300 years? I pointed toward the legacy of these notable family members in the work of their more obscure relatives - including Richard Talbot/Kurt Zarniko. I cooked meringues; I played the flute; I pumped up a rubber tube. In the steam from the meringues and the condensation in the flute I see a metaphor for the appearance and 'endings' of the individual 'lot' - your life story and its recurrence in the lives of others.
I think there is a show in this...