After our module meeting tonight, I thought I’d take the plunge and do one of the few posts here (that’s assuming that loads of people haven’t posted in the time I’m writing this, then I’ll look like a right wally!)
Conan talking to us about the concept of home really got me thinking about where I truly identify with as ‘home’. I’ve moved around a fair bit and I’ve never really felt anchored to a particular physical place – I feel national pride, for my country, I definitely think of myself (and am proud of) as being British but I’ve never really felt a sense of local pride and loyalty.
Home for me isn’t necessarily where you’re from – I was born in London and in a way consider myself being from there, even though I lived there for a grand total of 3 months. I grew up in a small town in Hampshire but my memories of that place are so hazy that I can’t truly say that I identify that place as having been home. At 8 I moved to Portsmouth, which is where I’ve lived the longest, but I’ve never identified myself as being ‘from’ there – the city doesn’t seem home to me. It’s familiar, yes, but not ‘Home’. Coming to Lincoln then, since Portsmouth wasn’t a home environment to me, hasn’t seemed too much of a displacement – I’ve never felt a gut-wrenching desire to go back to Portsmouth, like some other people have (not to Portsmouth, to their own homes).
I’m rambling here, as I haven’t properly set out my thoughts and this is just becoming a garbled stream of consciousness, so, dear reader, please forgive me.
What I’m trying to say, I suppose, is that the idea and sensation of ‘home’ has never been physical for me. Home, to me, is a metaphysical state – or, to use the common aphorism, ‘Home is where the heart is’. To be surrounded by the warmth and love of family or friends, THAT is what makes a place home. Thus, for me, home is everywhere and nowhere and I really hope that that feeling can be conveyed somehow on West Parade.
The other thing I wanted to talk about was one of the pieces of reading that we were given at some point in the holidays. One cold Winter evening (much like this one) I had a read of a piece on Blackboard called ’25 instructions for performances in cities’ by Carl Lavery, which I heartily recommend you all have a read of as well (don’t worry, it’s only a couple of pages and is very interesting, I promise. If you’re interested it’s in the ‘texts’ folder under learning materials).
Basically, it’s what I would call a ‘Ronseal Deal’ if I were a Conservative Prime Minister – it does exactly what it says on a tin. It’s a quite compelling list of 25 activities (that’s unfortunately the best word I could think of to describe them, it’s a tad inadequate) that performers who want to do a site-specific performance in a city may want to try out so that they can engage with what it means to be in a city on some level. Some are very simple, like number 4, which suggests setting up a camera and filming a section of city for a couple of hours and editing the footage together. Some ask quite a lot of the performers, like 9, which says to make the public private, i.e.: live outside for a day doing everything you would do in your own home – sleeping, eating, brushing your teeth, etc. A few still are entirely conceptual and very vague in how one might approach the task, for example: ’17. Create a forest in the city’.
The reason I bring up this article (other than not really having any other outlet to really talk about it in) is that I’m curious. Do any of you, dear readers, find any of these instructions interesting? Are there even some of you who want to give them a go – I certainly want to and it would be great if some people in this group would like to experiment with the idea presented here.
So, please, contribute your thoughts, I’m really interested to know what you all think!
References:
Lavery, C., 2005, Teaching Performance Studies: 25 instructions for performance in cities [e-journal] 25(3) pp.286-289. Available through: The University of Lincoln Blackboard website <blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk> [Accessed 14 January 2013]
I have to agreee with all of you when thinking that home is more connected to your loved ones then it is to an actual building. However, I too have moved around a lot since I was a child, due to my dad being in the army, and I have to say that when I think about the places that I have lived there is still a small part of me, probably the nostalgic part, that thinks of them as home. It isn’t the building that made it home to me, but through the times that I have been living in these places I have created memories there, spent hours of my time there crying and laughing, screaming and whispering (well I think you get the point). So whilst my home will always be with my loved ones, the places that I have lived will, also always be my home, because of the memories that I have when I think about my time there, or that come flooding back when I visit my old friends. These places aren’t where I live anymore, but they will always be, in some small part, my home.
I’m not sure if that makes any sense at all , i’ll be much better talking this out face to face :’) but I thought I would comment and share and if anyone can make sense of my ramblings I take my hat off to you :’)
So I came onto the blog to do a test and I found your post very interesting Sam! It got me thinking about my home life and where I consider home to be, of course moving to a different city and living with strangers was a big step! But the notion of home has got me thinking and I also agree that rather than thinking of a physical place where home is, I too connect my place of home with where my family is.
Thanks for the reading suggestion, I too read it and found it very interesting.
I heartily agree with this notion of home being the people (and perhaps things) you love – corny as it sounds; sometimes corny is certainly true.
Until recently I have actually been someone who becomes attached to places. I had lived in the same town since I could remember and even when we moved house, it was only round the corner. I adored my house, not just because of what it was physically like but because of it’s sentimental value to me. I did feel like the house itself was, in a way, a “being” in my life. So, I suppose this is sort of looking at the idea of home in, the literal, house or place sense. However, recently, I have not only moved away to University where I have lived in two different places already, I have also moved from this long time family home, to somewhere miles and miles away. My dad, who lives apart from us, also moved from his long term home, to another house. So, suddenly, all at once, all of the places I have been attached to as a “home” are no longer in my life. I won’t lie… it has been difficult to wrap my head around at times, which I suppose shows how a place really can be part of what home is to a person too. However, how quickly we have managed to settle in our new family home – despite it’s distance from everything I know – has proven to me that your point, Sam, about home being more about people and love is certainly true. The notion of home has been something I have thought a great deal about in the past year so I am eager and thoroughly interested in what we can explore in relation to it and performance.
Also, regarding the article you mentioned… yes! I found it very interesting too and I loved the idea that any two groups could take that same set of, quite detailed, instructions and come up with something completely different. I think it would be interesting if we could use this set of instructions as inspiration to maybe invent our own set of instructions more geared towards performance within a domestic environment – obviously like the house. Perhaps then we could send small groups away into various parts of the house with the same instructions and see what different things they create.
I have rambled on a lot more than I intended to. Apologies.
References:
Lavery, C., 2005, Teaching Performance Studies: 25 instructions for performance in cities [e-journal] 25(3) pp.286-289. Available through: The University of Lincoln Blackboard website [Accessed 14 January 2013]
So, ‘home’ can be defined as a feeling? I like this! When I go home home from Uni I no longer feel all that attached it to it; I almost take it for granted that I still have that 2nd home. Somewhere else to go. As far as I’m concerned it’ll always be there as its where my mum and three brothers live.
But…how about those who don’t have a home? The homeless. If you were homeless could you still have a sense of domesticity? Creating a home by a few special items – a photograph? a toy/teddy? a book? This way you can carry your sense of home around with you. Maybe?
On a side note…this site looks boring guys! Wes’ is putting ours to shame! Can’t wait until it can be changed 🙂