Documentation – Page 6 – ________-Safe House-_________

Liminal, Compact and Ignored Spaces

Faye Rose Mcdool / March 5, 2013May 13, 2013 / Documentation, Performance process

Compact Spaces

Exploring the work of Eve Dent and Willie Dorner, I explored the places in the house where we don’t normally place out bodies. My two favourite places were the bathroom and living room cupboards. One was compact and another was ignored due to the boiler being its main purpose. I wanted to mould and force my body into the spaces as much as possible to create a relationship within them.

With these images, I am going to experiment with chopping them up and replacing them into these spaces so it is as if I am embedded within the spaces. I have practiced with cropping and distorting one of the images. I may have to re take the images to present more skin to show there is a body there.

IMG-20130305-00643 — Photo Taken By Jozey Wade. Edited by Faye McDool

This distraught image was influenced by Pablo Picasso work. He distraught’s portraits and painting by splitting the images up into blocks. The most famous painting of his where this is exampled is ‘Seated Nude’ (1909-10).

Pablo Picasso, ‘Seated Nude’ 1909-10 — Seated Nude ((Pablo PicassoSeated Nude 1909-10 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/picasso-seated-nude-n05904))

Distinguishing the image, hopefully will make the audience see the surreal image of my body in the space.

“The reproduction of a painting or object, however perfect, is always, definitively, its betrayal. And that betrayal is the much greater when it invovles not objects or paintings but the whole space” ((Buren, D. 1973, Five Texts, London: John Weber Gallery and John Wendle Gallery p19)) .

I came across another artist work which fitted my photo collage creation. Sir Eduardo Paolozzi sculpture gave me the inspiration to place my cut up image back into the place, however to mould the image so it created a 3D image as it seemed to be embedded into the wall.

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, ‘Michelangelo's 'David'’ ?1987 — Sir Eduardo Paolozzi ((Sir Eduardo PaolozziMichelangelo’s ‘David’ ?1987 online: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/paolozzi-michelangelos-david-t06944))

However, when trying this, as the image was so dark, it was difficult to see the image when it was placed back into the site it was taken.

Continuing this idea, I shall retake the images, however showing more flesh, so the audience can see on the images that it is a human body in that space.

With this inside the space it was originally taken, I may challenge the audience to find me and to ‘join me’ within the space. This will also link with my work with the CCTV as I will be watching if they take up the challenge and having audience participation with my experience. ((Kaye, Nick 2000, Site Specific Art: Performance, Place and Documentation. Routledge))

Human Space? Heart Space?…..or rather OUR Space!

Samuel Davis / February 22, 2013April 8, 2013 / Documentation, Home, Research, Rooms, West Parade

“So we ask, what does homeliness mean and how is it created?” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press p.142.))

This is an interesting thought, how does one create homeliness? If we apply this notion to the house on West Parade, we can look at the aesthetic and objects of the house. Most room’s contain furniture to identify the use of each space (i.e. bed = bedroom, sofa = living room) however would these room’s still create that sense of homeliness without the furniture? In the living room we have experimented with the feel of the room, simply by moving the sofas into different positions has made us feel more relaxed and made the room more homely.

Keeping the doors shut moves onto another factor that adds to the feeling of homeliness, warmth. Feeling cold instantly changes the mood and feel of a room, I think this is perhaps why the ‘cot room’ creates the opposite feeling of homeliness as there is no radiator meaning it is always cold which makes people feel uneasy. ‘What does homeliness mean?’ – Personally, I think it is a dwelling in which you can feel comfortable, relax and be yourself. However, I think this is only possible if the environment can totally put the individual at ease. “Warmth, seclusion, size, security, stability, history and objects” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press p.144.)) are all factors that have the potential to make a space feel homely. It is these factors that we want to weaken to challenge the notion of home and make the audience distinctly aware that this space is not a home.

“One must also be able to see that the room has been lovingly cared for. But even though disorder and neglect have a disquieting effect, an excess of orderliness is also oppressive, because one is afraid of disturbing the order. The room must also show that it is lived in, and this means that certain signs of life – a book that has been laid aside, work that has been begun – should be recognizable in it.” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press p.144.))

This stimulus is at the very heart of what our group intend to create as we plan to play on the fact that a room should be lived in by placing stacks of empty pizza boxes and alcohol bottles all around the room.

The living room of the house on West Parade showing pizza boxes, beer bottles and other materials. Photograph by Sam Davis. (Please click on the picture to view the Living Room page to learn more about our performance ideas)

Using this as an extreme of a home that has been lived in, will subvert the audiences thinking of how a home should be presented and feel. The living rooms aesthetics already provide a contrast to the belief that a home should be cared for, the wallpaper is stained and peeling.

Creating surroundings that show they have been cared for and lived in will always be artificial in a performance. This is typified from the history and the use of West Parade house as it is set up to represent a certain dynamic. However our space can be changed and moulded to present a different home artifice. An artifice that says: “Everything looks okay on the surface, but is it ?”

Photograph from Human Space book cover. ((Bollnow, O. (2013) Human Space. [image online] Available at: http://www.mottodistribution.com/shop/publishers/hyphen-press/human-space.html [Accessed: 22nd February 2013].))

Teaser Trailer

Lauren Hughes / February 19, 2013May 12, 2013 / CCTV, Documentation

During one of our recent sessions we produced a teaser trailer for our piece involving placards, similar to the Surveillance Camera Players and shots revealing each room in the house within thirty seconds. We have decided to produce the snippets regularly to slowly reveal more information for our possible audience, for example the location.

((Surveillance Camera Players (2001) online: http://www.notbored.org/generic.jpg (accessed 20/02/2013)))

“The door is a crossing, a junction marking the divide between the realm of the public and the private” ((Heathcote, Edwin (2012) The Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln p.25)) We have 18 different perspectives of home within our group, most of them will be similar with personal differences. For these short trailers as we don’t have a concrete idea of what each room in the houses final performances will entail we thought about exposing all types of home for different people, what the divide between the public and private is for them. Home for a lot of people is a safe zone, where you feel most comfort and at ease, however this isn’t the case for everyone.

After brainstorming between us one of the performance ideas we had was to show the idea of entrapment, with maybe a couple of performers sitting watching the television and when getting up to go get a drink their hands are tied behind them.

In our last session session we watched some clips of performances. One that stood out to me was Oreet Ashery’s Say Cheese. Seeing this clip shocked me as to how comfortable the ‘audience member’ felt in this situation. When watching at first I assumed they were lifelong friends confiding in each other. While watching this clip it occurred to me we have been devising ideas on making our audience feel vulnerable or uncomfortable rather than at home and safe which is what a home is supposed to feel like. In one of our trailers or for a pre-recording for the piece it would be nice if we could bring a couple people to the house and sit them in the different rooms and ask them what they think of as home and how it makes them feel. There was something special about seeing two strangers really enjoying each other’s company within such a small amount of time, it would be an idea to try to make one of our audience members feel this.

Image: Online: http://www.notbored.org/the-scp.html (accessed 10th Feburary 2013).

Putting on a Front in your Front Room

Samuel Davis / February 15, 2013May 12, 2013 / Documentation, Home, Performance process, Research, Rooms

Tiffany Thompson

The living room normally where the family sits and socializes. This room was once was used for special occasions, this room was the best decorated. It also was used as a resting space for dead, the late family members would be laid in their coffin in the best room of the house, the living room.
However, times have changed “The modern era has seen the focus of the room shift from the coffin to the box” ((Heathcote, Edwin (2012) Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln. p.36.)), now the television is the center of the living room with all the furniture pointing to it with families staring into a void of reality TV.

Samuel Davis

With Heathcote’s quote in mind about the television as a focal point, we decided (Me, Tiffany and Lauren) to use the TV as a focal point in a performance. To start this process, we watched a series of films to gather research. Whilst doing this, we wanted to feel comfortable so we played around with the feel of the room by moving the furniture and creating a cosy feel. At the same time, we interacted with people moving in and out of the room (which frequently happened). The first film was The Moon and the Sledgehammer ((dir.Philip Trevelyan)) which followed a 1972 family who lived without running water, gas or mains electricity. The ideas that sprang from this was how the use of technology has killed any social interaction that once occurred in living rooms. Phrases now familiar in living rooms up and down the country feature ‘turn the TV up’ and ‘be quiet I can’t hear the tele’. Many ideas began circulating after the film and our first thought was too create a performance where audience members would encounter technology being used in the living room, slowly this would be taken away, until there was no electricity, TV, or anything technological.

However, we further developed our research by watching Hitchcock’s famous Rear Window film and realised that we could include as many normal activities that we do ourselves in our living rooms.

The 1954 film poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. ((Paramount (1954) “Rear Window,” Colour Poster 1954 Paramount. [image online] Available at: http://uk.imdb.com/media/rm1147639808/tt0047396?ref_=tt_ov_i [Accessed: Sunday 7th April 2013].))

Lauren will talk more about these activities later in this post, but it will happen live during the performance and create that notion of being in a living room. Looking back historically we learn that the living room was often ‘saved for best’ as it was used for deceased family members “The front room was preserved – like the cellophane-shrouded three-piece suite – for best” ((Heathcote, Edwin (2012) Meaning of Home, London: Frances Lincoln. p.35)) Following this, we wanted to create a juxtaposition of reserving the living room for best by playing on the natural design of the scruffy West Parade house. We will do this by changing the aesthetic of the living room by using certain objects to create an effect.

Photograph showing how we have moved the furniture to create a ‘homely’ feel. We also played with the idea of performing outside. Photograph and editing by Sam Davis.

I think the use of the television will be integral to our performance. One idea was to have a loop of different TV shows playing. I thought it would be interesting to keep these TV shows on a similar theme so that they all talk about the notion of home. For example, we are in the living room at East Lodge watching an episode of Eastenders where the characters are at home watching TV whilst talking about an aspect of home. Then the TV will flick channels to Rear Window ((dir. Alfred Hitchcock)) or The Moon and The Sledge Hammer ((dir.Philip Trevelyan)) showing their family home.

Lauren Walker

In our performance we want to incorporate the feelings that you would, (in your every day life) feel when sat in your living room. We also wanted to merge the different ‘rituals’ that happen when you are sat in your living room, this could be simply turning the television over. The living room in the house has a very ‘shabby’ look to it with its ripped wallpaper and old fashioned décor which in certain aspects makes it not very ‘homely’ so we have decided as a group to play on the setting of a mistreated living room.

We have decided we would like the room to be very untidy and neglected. With the use of props and objects like empty pizza boxes and bottles of alcohol, we will be doing the usual things you would do if you were to sit on a weekend and relax in your living room such as drinking alcohol, ordering a pizza, watching films etc. The alcohol we choose to drink is important in our performance because although we are not playing characters, we do not want it to seem in any way classy or civilised. We will also be interacting with the audience and talking to them about everyday things, also offering them a drink or a slice of pizza. There is a cupboard in the living room and one of our ideas was to fill it with unwanted objects. This means if someone was to open it, things would fall out and this would show how neglected the room is. The cupboard also symbolizes how we put on a front too the people who are coming into the living room. A lot of our discussion has been about the feeling when someone is in your living room and you tend to play up to it and ‘put a front on’ we explored how that made you feel when people were sat with you in your living room and how you feel that you cant fully relax “he word ‘gemutlich’ (comfortable) described in ‘human space’ as “conduct in which man abandons the exertion of his will and of active behaviour and allows himself to relax in peace and quiet” ((Bollnow, O.F (2011) “Human Space” London: Hyphen Press p.142-143.))

The brutally honest bathroom

Jozey Wade / February 11, 2013May 9, 2013 / Documentation, Performance process, Research, Rooms

Photo taken 01/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

Heathcote makes an interesting point in his book that the bathroom is “as brutally honest a reflection of our domestic concerns as the bathroom mirror (is) of our bodies” ((Heathcote, E (2012) The Meaning Of Home, London: Frances Lincoln)). He rightly suggests that the bathroom is the only room in which there is no pretense; when you walk in you see a bath, you see a sink and (although in a separate room in our house) you see a toilet. There are no questions about what these things are used for; as raw and maybe even slightly unpleasant as these usages may be (particularly with the toilet), they are right in our faces as we enter. He says the bathroom is “fundamentally modest and unpretentious” (2012, p. 83); it is there and it is what it is because we need it. We need to wash and we need to relieve ourselves. Perhaps even more interestingly he says the bathroom is a place with “nothing to hide and nowhere to hide it” (2012, p. 83). I found this particularly interesting when applying his ideas to the performance ideas I have been considering. This idea that we go in the bathroom and we lock the door and we take our clothes off. We are away from judgmental eyes, away from embarrassment. Alone. And naked. Not just without clothes but, as a woman, without make up, without hair gel or any of these things. In the bath we wash all the pretenses off and we are just our bare, honest self. What happens if we let an audience in to this raw, private environment? Don’t interact with them. Just let them watch. It breaks those boundaries we are so used to associating with a bathroom.

Here is where I go on to discuss my 3 ideas…

1. My first idea also relates to Heathcote’s chapter, where he talks about how “The Roman’s famously used the bathhouse as a space… of socialising” (2012, p. 81). The bathroom as part of the house and as a private place is quite a modern concept. In the not too far distant past, let alone the Roman times, baths were taken in the bedroom or downstairs beside the fire, in front of other people. Despite the fact that this wasn’t long a go, to our generation and even a couple of generations before us, the idea of this is utterly alien to us. The idea of bathing being a social activity… well, even to me, it is a concept that is extremely difficult to imagine. I like to be alone when I bathe, as I’m sure the rest of you do. In fact, if one of us was in a bath with someone else in this day and age, as an adult, it would almost definitely be to do with sex. So, my idea was to revert back to this concept of bathing being social. I intended to invite the audience in, almost as though it was the lounge, while I washed myself, even get fellow cast members to join me and chat with them and the audience. I thought it would be interesting to see what their reaction was, if they found it uncomfortable. As you can see in the picture below, I have begun to experiment with this (wearing swimwear at the moment).

Photo taken 08/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

2. My second idea was inspired by Lital Dotan’s Glasshouse. The idea that she uses her entire house as a performative “exhibition space” ((Ortiz, Jen (2013) ‘Life as a Glass House’, Narratively, 25 January, accessed 30 January 2013, http://narrative.ly/2013/01/life-as-a-glass-house/<a href="http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/london/E8831330082708/Romeo+and+Juliet+(Headlong+tour+%96+Guildford,+Yvonne+Arnaud+Theatre).html")) seems quite unimaginable in itself, as a home as a whole is quite a private place. But, the idea of using the bathroom specifically as an exhibition struck me, partly because of this idea of a bathroom being private and, as Heathcote said, "brutally honest" ((Heathcote, E (2012) The Meaning Of Home, London: Frances Lincoln)). So I began to think of ways to turn the bathroom into an exhibition.

Photo taken 08/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

The empty bath (as can be seen above), when I look at is, is almost asking to be filled. It is there to be filled. But what if it wasn’t filled with water but with memories? Memories of bathroom experiences… which of course are usually private, but for our performance, are put on exhibition. So, things like photographs of bath time memories (both “normal” and sinister), notes which contain snippets of bathroom memories, toys people play with in the bath (like rubber ducks, but maybe even adult toys) and more (I am trying to think of things all the time, and certainly open to suggestions). So the bath would be an exhibition of memories of a place that is usually so personal and private – full of them. I then thought about the idea of projecting something on the wall, perhaps snippets of video memories of the bath (which I am already in the process of filming – again both “normal” and sinister). Although, it might be interesting to project these videos onto the bath full of “junk” and see how it looks. I have decided, for now, that I will probably use this idea for two out of the four nights and the other two nights I will perform something live…

Here is an example of a “normal” and more sinister bathroom photograph I have been taking to build up a selection to fill the tub with:

Photo taken 08/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

Photo taken 08/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

3. My third idea is still a work in progress. It wasn’t particularly originally inspired by anything other than the time I have spent in the bathroom, but it has now been enforced by what Heathcote said in his chapter, which I discussed at the start of this blog. It is the idea I touched upon of letting the audience into the bathroom (actually shutting them in – trapping them I suppose), not interacting with them or even acknowledging them, just letting them watch whatever it is that I do. I have been playing with different ideas of what I might do. I initially liked exploring the idea of madness, and the fact that bathrooms are places were many people commit suicide. The image of someone having cut their wrists in the bath, and also bathroom cabinets – often where the pills are kept, and the lock on the door, of course, meaning no one can get to the person should anything happen.

Photo taken 08/02/2013 by Jozey Wade

As in the picture above, I tried out saying snippets of Ophelia’s song from Hamlet (where she has gone mad, just before she drowns herself) under the water and also just lying there in the bath, with the intention of gathering bits of text from other sources (films, plays, personal experiences) and creating a mash up of text which I would say/ enact whilst in the bath. That was one idea. Other ideas have included me lying in the bath fully clothed, maybe not even having it full of water, but something else, or even nothing… so completely subverting what a bath is used for and creating that confusion/ unease for the audience. Another idea I like is to use the projector and project video onto the water… I would still be there and the performance would include more than just that but it was just a thought I liked for part of the performance. If I projected a video of me in the bath onto the bath water, would it create a ghost like image? I liked the idea of that. Any suggestions are welcome and I will continue to read around for inspiration, but also use the Tim Etchells technique of being in the space and seeing what happens/ comes out.