Category: Documentation

Performance writing

Lauren Elizabeth Walker / / Documentation, Performance process, Research, Uncategorized

Previously in our performance in the living room, we decided to have a video with 5 minute sections of different films and bits of CCTV footage constantly playing as the audience sit in our space. As we watched tapes about home, and privacy such as ‘rear window’ and ‘life is sweet’ we instantly found ourselves asking the question ‘who is that actor?’. This gave us an idea about coming up with different characters and playing with the idea of “who’s that?” Each of us came up with characters of our own some real and some made up. An example of one of my characters is
Julie key – Elvis Presley’s secret daughter he had by having an affair with the presidents wife.
We then expanded this idea by incorporating the pizza boxes we have been using and writing on them asking questions to each other about our audience member, we tested this with an audience member and the reactions that we got were really interesting. They said that they felt like they were being talked about, which made them want to know what was being said about them. One idea that I have had since having an audience member, is to never show them the box so they will go away wondering what we have written about them, so they go away not knowing and will always wonder what was said. Or we could go a totally opposite way and show them what we have written about them, they won’t fully understand but there’s something interesting about the fact that they will never really understand what it means and will always wonder who the character is and why we related that character to them. Another idea is that each of the performers have a sign or a label on them, saying there name or a made up name. Or something personal about us, giving the audience member an insight into us as people. An example of this is in the picture below which I have taken from “Certain Fragments” written by Tim Etchells.

Michael living a lie.
“Tim Etchells” Certain Fragments Section 2 Performance text.

When reading the section on performance I had a lot of ideas for us to incorporate his work into ours. “Writing for performance doesn’t necessarily have to be a script it can be a range of different types of writing for example- a text of half remembered songs, a text for a megaphone, love letters, posters, emails or a text of nonsense”. ((Caroline moore. (2012). On performance writing. Available: http://worldtheatre2.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/on-performance-writing-tim-etchells/. Last accessed 17/03/2013.)) Text of nonsense really interested me, the idea that what we write on the pizza boxes or maybe even signs on the wall covered in made up words, no punctuation or even a made up language on them, or even in a different language all together. Maybe even shapes and pictures that don’t mean anything. We will know what we have said about them but the audience will never unless they look it up after the performance. This idea is carrying on from earlier, the idea that the performance carries on even after it has finished. We could even ask the audience to write something on the boxes, asking them to write their thoughts about home or even make their own character so we as performers take something away from each audience member. In the last section I experimented as we sat in the space by taking a pizza box and just writing the first things that came to my head by the end of the session I had covered the whole box. I would like to do more of this because the writing I wrote, even though it didnt really make any sense was really interesting and could be incorporated into our performance.

 

Over Exposure.

Lauren Bethany Elouise Watson / / Documentation, Research, Rooms

“Even to an entirely female audience, female performers who expose their
breasts will appear more “naked” than male performers who expose their bare chests” ((Toepfer, Karl (1996) ‘Nudity and Textuality in Postmodern Performance’, Performing Arts Journal, XVIII (3) September: pp. 76-91, p. 76.)).

Nudity in performance exploits the performers’ innate position of vulnerability, exposing everything, giving them nothing to hide and nothing to act behind. Leaving all inhibitions at the door, revealing and performing the most intimate parts of yourself to strangers. Although nudity is becoming more common place within the theatre, with the mantra “bums on seats and bums on stage” ((Masters, Tim (2012) ‘Actors reveal challenges of stage nudity’, BBC News, Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-2165403 (accessed 06 March 2013).)), often filling the auditorium and having a greater pull of an audience. Nudity no longer “throw[s] an uneasy frost across an auditorium” ((Masters, Tim (2012) ‘Actors reveal challenges of stage nudity’, BBC News, Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-2165403 (accessed 06 March 2013). )) when done with sensitivity and distance. However, what would happen if we brought this nudity closer the audience, and placed it in such a space in which they couldn’t escape?

Having a narrative played to an audience member, leading and coaxing their reactions, and encouraging them to interact with a naked performer changes the dynamics of a performance beyond recognition as the performance is no longer ‘safe’. Being ‘naked’ is accepted, but to be naked and chained. Or bound. Gagged? To have no voice or identity, and just to be a naked object. An object to be possessed and owned could be highly unnerving to the audience.

Carolee Schneemann, Up To and Including Her Limits. Photo: Courtesy Henrik Gaard
Carolee Schneemann (1996),’ Up To and Including Her Limits’ photo: Courtesy Henrik Gaard in Karl Toepfer  ‘Nudity and Textuality in Postmodern Performance’, Performing Arts Journal, XVIII (3) September: pp. 76-91, p. 81.

 “This potential of the nude performing body to shock, incite, frighten, disgust, or otherwise produce intense emotional turbulence” ((Toepfer, Karl (1996) ‘Nudity and Textuality in Postmodern Performance’, Performing Arts Journal, XVIII (3) September: pp. 76-91, p. 77. )) can be considered as pushing the boundaries of performance and what we call art. Showing a naked woman in a compromising position will shock any audience member who views the piece, making them question what they deem acceptable as ‘performance’. For the woman to show herself, and not a character, is a brave thing to do. No aesthetics of performance to hide behind, no fake identity, no alternate reality. 

Being naked, and exposed is a challenge.

To let others see you in such a demeaning position. Those who are your elders, superiors, friends, peers and strangers. Hiding behind nothing but handcuffs and a thin layer of baby oil.

I am not a professional performance artist, this isn’t my job. Although…for this performance, I guess I am. Trying to forget the pre-established relationships is the hardest block I have come across as “in the act of stripping, actor and character become indistinguishable: the flesh that is exposed  by the character is the actor’s flesh” ((Scolnicov, Hanna (2010) ‘Stripping as Gesture’, ASSAPH: Section C: Studies in the Theatre, XXIV, pp. 139-152, p. 139.)).

“Stripping is a radical and unique gesture because it collapses the gap between the actor and the character” ((Scolnicov, Hanna (2010) ‘Stripping as Gesture’, ASSAPH: Section C: Studies in the Theatre, XXIV, pp. 139-152, p. 150.))

The reactions.
Forcing the audience to share something intimate about themselves by them possibly showing their raw reactions . Personally, I find this thought comforting. Knowing that the audience members are also ‘stripping bare’ while we were literally stripped bare offers some sort of comfort – the audience is also being placed in a slightly compromising position, while at the same time,  witnessing us in, and simultaneously adding to our established comprised position.

“Detached from the desirability of bodies, mythic nudity invites the spectator to emulate without “anxiety,” the naked identity of the performer: all bodies become “the same,” since it is the condition of nakedness, not the condition of bodies” ((Toepfer, Karl (1996) ‘Nudity and Textuality in Postmodern Performance’, Performing Arts Journal, XVIII (3) September: pp. 76-91, p. 79.)).

Toepfer argues that “all bodies become “the same,”” ((Toepfer, Karl (1996) ‘Nudity and Textuality in Postmodern Performance’, Performing Arts Journal, XVIII (3) September: pp. 76-91, p. 79.)) due to the exposure, then our naked bodies might strike a chord with the audience members.

Getting naked in performance is not a new idea, or even so much a radical one for modern audiences. But for me, personally, it “is a radical and even violent theatrical gesture” ((Scolnicov, Hanna (2010) ‘Stripping as Gesture’, ASSAPH: Section C: Studies in the Theatre, XXIV, pp. 139-152, p. 141.)).  By doing this performance, and getting over personal reservations and boundaries has made me a stronger performer. And, arguably, person. To know I have the power to push past pre-set social and personal restraints is liberating. Personal reservations? Personal revelations is perhaps more fitting.

The Impossible Tasks

Elizabeth Soper / / Documentation, Home, Performance process, Research

“They are ‘outsiders’, but oddly appealing.” ((Williams, David and Carl Lavery (2011) Good Luck Everybody: Lone Twin: Journeys, Performances, Conversations, Wales: Cambrian Printers)).

IMG_5891

Photo taken: 21/03/2013 – ‘Library Student Card’

 

Lone Twin’s performances are durational and throughout the performance process ideas are formed, either from audience members or situations, and these are added into their work. One piece of work, called ‘Sledge Hammer Songs’, was one which consisted of them in the street in green plastic capes and hunting horns. They directly addressed the audience and started having conversations with them. Good Luck Everybody discusses this idea of them being outsiders and displaced which I find particularly evident in my ideas for performance. “..their outdoor outfits do not belong in any urban context, and their behaviour sets them apart from anyone else around.” ((Williams, David and Carl Lavery (2011) Good Luck Everybody: Lone Twin: Journeys, Performances, Conversations, Wales: Cambrian Printers)). They asked the audience to sit in a circle. Gary consistently danced around this circle while they told stories they had heard as they travelled and toured with the piece.

Thinking about their work I have decided to take on the task of writing as many things that would be impossible to achieve in a rabbit costume. I will trial them and make a film of them to document my progress and to see whether they are in fact impossible. These impossible tasks are in and out of the home, and range from everyday normal activities to random ideas. For example; opening a bag of crisps to getting into a nightclub while being dressed as a rabbit. Like Gregg and Gary I can use these stories I have collected on my travels as the white rabbit and tell them to my audience over a cup of tea in the kitchen. The idea of telling them stories, asking for their feedback and using their reactions will create another story for later audience members.

I have decided to decorate the kitchen with things that I own to make it more homely, creating a friendly atmosphere. During my adventures as a rabbit I have managed to get a student/library card made in which I have used in some of the videos. This will be hung up on the wall to help decorate the space, showing something I have collected along the way. There’s also something nice about having a student card reading ‘Libby the White Rabbit’ and giving this sense of identity to the role and sharing this with my audience.

 226810_10151486604430853_778313883_n IMG_3363

This makes me again reflect on Bobby Baker’s piece; The Kitchen Show. I like this idea of the absurdity mixed with the norm and the humorous contrast that it portrays. It is something I very much hope to achieve in my performance – holding a normal conversation and doing everyday things in the kitchen, yet they will be somewhat impossible to accomplish in a rabbit costume.

When does a performance become an experience?

Andrew Tinley / / Documentation, Music / Sound, Rooms

“Art does not provide answers or solutions, but is rather a questioning, which should be as clear as possible so that the listeners can look for answers themselves” ((Weiner, Lawerence et al (1998) other rooms other voices Switzerland: Memory cage editions))

I feel like constant questioning and engagement not only makes the audience feel a part of the performance but also provides them with an individual, potential performative experience which only they can be involved in. This experience can then be discussed and shared through dialogue or kept private depending on their approval during or after the performance. What would happen if the audience physically got involved in the communication of language through playing and experimenting with the sounds of a kitchen?

house projects 2 house projects 1
(Weileder, Wolfgang House Projects (2005), http://www.house-projects.com/ (accessed 13th April)

“The interface between space and time defines Wolfgang Weileder’s central field of artistic activity” ((Weileder , Wolfgang (2005) House-Projects Manchester: Cornerhouse publications)) Weileder worked with a range of architectural structures and sites to form a relationship and response to the art he provokes, starts or aids. In House he converses how he provokes discussion and interaction during the performance.  In traditional theatre performances audience follow the conventional rule of not talking, this is so the actors do not get distracted and therefore change their actions and words to make the performance different to how it should be, and so, change its overall intention.  Intentions of performances are quite limiting and I think the broader you are the more flexible and exciting the art can be to create and to experience. Making a piece different every night moves it from a performance to an experience.

What happens when audiences talk to each other?

The power of discussion will surely enhance the creation and therefore change the initial intention of the piece. The idea of an ephemeral, tangible piece of art is something which excites me as a performer – to know that your idea can change and be interpreted differently depending on the receiver makes the performance have more personalisation and potentially makes it more of an experience for each audience member. Using senses to trigger peoples’ emotions, especially in such a accustomed site would be quite an easy task to do, but putting an audience member in a familiar room with unfamiliar settings and control – this is where their memories may not link so logically. Which would make the experience much more individual, unique and different.

To use a pre-performance audience (due to our limited performance run) as a base to then work with, those memories and connotations could potentially be a path in which would locate and humanise what I am creating.  This link to peoples’ lives and own experiences, whether they be domestic or not, will hopefully aid me in my creations but more importantly understand what type of material is surfacing so I can have some creative control in the final performance.

(Mobile Art Production (2011) The role of the audience inside contemporary art and theatre online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v7bLdISHvE (accessed 1st March 2013)
The video above states the idea of “being inside an artwork”, she discusses an audio experience in which she felt included by someone talking to her through her headphones. The feeling of someone being that close to you in one way, depending on what they are saying, is quite unnerving but I do believe that you, as an audience member, will very rarely challenge their words if it’s an unknown voice, so whether it is realistic or not I strongly believe the element of control is with the sound inside the headphones. This excites me as a creator and potential performer because I feel as if I can pre-determine the outcome and experiment with fiction. Rational and logical thinking disappears when you can’t visually see who you are talking to meaning that the normal conventional conversation rules wouldn’t apply. To provoke an unnatural experience is quite exciting and so by doing this audience members will automatically, due to the context and surroundings be placed temporarily in to an unfamiliar state of mind.

I think it’s the responses which give the audience a chance to delve in to their own individual experience and not the literal performance itself.

Things that go bump in the dark.

Lizzy Hayes / / CCTV, Documentation, Performance process, Research, Rooms

For our final piece the CCTV group decided to create a piece of installation art using the fascinating piece of equipment at our disposal. Marita Sturken states that “An installation both defines and contains space, situating, if not controlling the viewer within it.” (( Erika Suderburg (2000) Space, Site, Intervention: situating installation art. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. P. 287 ))  The idea for our piece was that while in the CCTV room the audience would be able to experience every other room in the house, placing them in a position where they could understand the format and use of the space in a way that they had not experienced it in the rest of the performance. Seeing as all of the rooms were occupied during the performance we decided to see what it would be like for the rooms to be captured with very few signs of life, and once we realised the potential that this emptiness created we decided to stick with it.

Full screen night filming by Lizzy Hayes, Lauren Hughes, Faye Mcdool
Seeing the rooms from a different perspective reminded me of Bollnows Human Spaces (2011) and how different each of our safe house rooms were from the definitions and purposes he proposed. Bollnow states that the furnishings and furniture play a part in the aura of a room and that “bare, empty rooms have a chilling effect” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press, p. 144)) and that “disorder and neglect have a quieting effect” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press, p. 144)) and due to the empty and neglected state the house was in it was easy to agree with him.
The emptiness and neglected state of the house became emphasised in the dark state that we filmed in.

IMG-20130122-00470

Image by Jozey Wade 2013

The cot room (above) had a chilling, spooky quality to it that does not represent home, even in the day light. As many of the ‘residents’ have mentioned, we doubt that the room would feel that bad if it wasn’t for the presence of the cot itself. But I think it was key for us to remember when filming was that the room was made to feel so unsettling on purpose. The true nurturing purpose of a child’s nursery is lost in a sort of dark translation in the house due its requirements for training and we were able to use that to our advantage when filming, making the images we captured as uncomfortable as the actor being filmed felt.

Installation piece- Cot Room By Lizzy Hayes, Lauren Hughs, Faye Mcdool

Other spaces that in the day time might not be pleasant, but had never been scary, transformed beyond what I imagined they would. The kitchen became colder and harsher and the introduction of a spot light to the living room gave the opposite effect to the warmth that we expected.
Instead of just filming the bare rooms we had one of us walk through or occupy the space in a minimalistic manner. Bollnow suggested that  “the dwelling becomes an impression of the individual who dwells in it” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press, p. 145)) and I think that in capturing snippets of life in each room we were in effect stating that the people who were seen are not permanent residents, but are instead shadows passing through. These hints of movement acted as suggestions of life in an otherwise still setting. Without realising it I think we created something very much like Gary Hills installation piece, The Viewer, which I talked about in a previous post, in that the person seen in each image was not there to be interacted with or to portray a character, but were there to prove their existence.
The final result of this nights filming was nine separate one minute clips of footage, each representing one room and containing a different movement at a different time.