Category: Research

Distorting the face of reality

Andrew Tinley / / Music / Sound, Performance process, Research

How far can you change something to make it a distant reality?

Changing the impression of a room can be difficult because it relies heavily on audience interpretation and so their own individual associations. This is quite stimulating because it enables you as a performer to set up a base foundation for the audience to explore and almost create their own performance.

At what point does a performance become personal?

Sound is a powerful tool for engagement and as a performer, through experimentation, I found that certain sounds placed together in different ways evoked contrasting feelings and emotions. The time in the performance when feelings and individual thoughts and memories come to the forefront of your mind is the main focus of my work and so the other sections of the environment only supports this.

“DoMA/at Home is a meta-theatrical performance project which explores everyday living spaces using a combination of theatre, performance, fine art and movement, along with a strong emphasis on games and involvement of the audience in the process”. ((Lotker, Howard (2006) Divadlo HoME online: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_67088_1%26url%3D (accessed March 2013.) )).

DoMA at home 2 DoMA at home
(Home, DoMA/at home sourced: http://www.divadlohome.net/shows/doma_gallery.html (accessed 13th April 2013))

Throughout this performance the audience are going to be aware that they are watching or being involved in a performance, especially with the specific cliental that this site specific work interests, however, it’s the ability to get the audience so lost in their own world through distraction and distortion that makes the performance truthful.  Involvement of the audience in a main theme in my work and so I intend to not only involve them physically using headphones but also in their own performance of their thoughts and ideas will be individual, giving them a strong connection with the piece and therefore hopefully leaving my space feeling confused and not in control of their ideas.

“There are constant surprises and interesting questions raised about: borders, cultures, what is art (and how is it different or the same as real life), and about what home means to us” ((Lotker, Howard (2006) Divadlo HoME online: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_67088_1%26url%3D (accessed March 2013.) )).

Questioning of the art is also a critical engagement tool in my work and so I want my audience to be constantly questioning themselves and question what they are doing and so hopefully the art is reinforced and justified by individual opinions and ideas. Below is a review of the DoMA performance in which audience maintained the feelings after the performance had ended.

“They explored the apartments and improvised in unconventional ways. The evening is at an end, but afterwards you go away imbued with this intoxicating atmosphere which penetrates you, and for a long time afterwards you will carry with you the gratifying and unrepeatable feeling of this performance” ((Gráfová, Tifka (2005) An Evening of Voyeurism and Sweet Intoxication online: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_67088_1%26url%3D (accessed 18th March 2013.) )).

Collaborative soundscape experimentation…

Experimenting with sound and the notion of manipulation sets an instant confusion and disassociation. They ask themselves….What am I listening to? Why am I listening? But as the sound plays certain sounds become more obvious and due to the environment some links begin to appear, but having said that, some sounds remain unknown. The unknown sounds are what may make the audience think and question the sources. All the sounds are recorded on site and are kitchen sounds but the level of editing and manipulation on certain noises may start to create different sounds by use of experimentation. The tester above is one of my first ideas solely as experimentation. As you can hear some sounds are obvious, some not so obvious and the tense and unsettling notion that something is that close to your head I feel puts you on edge.

(Tinley, Andrew (2013) Soundscape Tester 1 online: https://soundcloud.com/andrewtinley2012-1/tester-sound-scape-1-mp3/s-5w3fx  (accessed 18th March 2013).

I decided to use headphones during this section so that the audience are unable to escape from the performance. This, due to the fact there are only two audience members with two separate headphones on, raises the question – Are they listening to the same soundscape? This question makes the space much more dynamic and creates a notion of isolation inside your head. This is a positive feeling in terms of my performance because I want each audience member to receive a different individual experience.

The kitchen as a space is quite familiar to use all so completely turning that notion on its head and making audience members enter a completely transformed space with subtle kitchen links may put them at unease. This feeling of tension and potential unknowing helps the space deliver its own characteristics because initially the audience may start thinking with the kitchen in the mind but as the performance goes on I do believe that those opinions and thoughts may get transformed and battled against due to their own personal associations and ideas.

Are you a Hoarder?

Tiffany Abatilda Thompson / / Home, Performance process, Research

Over time we accumulate things and memories from our past and present such as; letters, photos, birthday cards, invitations etc. We then become stuck in a rut with not being able to throw them away because the sentimental value they have. In my own room at university I’ve filled it with photos, teddies and pointless objects that remind me of home, by doing this it has cluttered my room but I can’t seem to take thing’s back home to un-clutter it. Without these things in my room I’m reminded that I’m not at home just a room 50 miles from home.

photo 923acf15-3a41-461d-8709-6d33a85b70ce.jpg
My Photo Wall: 155 West Parade
Reading Rodinsky’s Room and finding out what was left in his place after he disappeared in the 1960’s then reopened 20 years later we see the life he had by the objects he collected over the years. When the room was finally opened “Every space overflowed with books on subjects ranging from the Talmud to the study of Hieroglyphics”  (( Lichtenstein, Rachel (1999) Rodinsky’s Room, London: Grantab Books. p. 11 )).Rodinsky was an intelligent man that taught himself language’s that isn’t known now.

With our performance we thought of filling the space to show the audience that the space has been lived in, in such a dead room. Similarly, with us being still in a room covered and filled with memories and documents gives away clues to what sort of people we are. We want the audience to feel like they haven’t seen everything when they think they have.

The Veiled Woman

Lauren Simpson / / Home, Performance process, Research

veiledlady

(http://www.robincamille.com/2009-03-22-veiled-lady-femme-voilee/) accessed: 12/03/13

“Men do not think of themselves as cases to be opened up” ((Showalter, Elaine (1992) Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle London: Virago Press. page 134)) in a sexual context. They want to carry out the act of opening to get the feeling of power and domination. They can choose a time and a place for this act to be carried out which takes away any power from the woman.

“They gain control over an elusive and threatening femininity by turning the woman into a “case” to be opened or shut.” ((Showalter, Elaine (1992) Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle London: Virago Press. page 134))

With reference to our performance, the cupboard represents the metaphorical case. It is opened by another performer but will invoke different audience reactions depending on the gender of the performer. If a male opened the cupboard to reveal a naked, bound and gagged female, it would come across as much more sinister than if it was the other way around.

A female is generally considered to be the more vulnerable. For instance, when walking in the street at night, a lone female would be considered to be more at risk. So what would happen if we were to reverse that? How would a man feel if his power was stripped away and suddenly he became dominated by the same woman he was once in control of? How would he react? Would he then actively take on the role of the submissive?

If a text is being read to them by a female through their headphones while they are looking at the same female tied, gagged and blindfolded, they will sympathise with her. They will feel a sense of guilt if the text makes out that it is their fault that this character is in such a vulnerable position. If that text suddenly subverts into an accusatory text aimed directly at them, their role is instantaneously reversed. Their gaze becomes entirely different to what it was before. It becomes “both self-empowering and self-endangering.” ((Showalter, Elaine (1992) Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle London: Virago Press. page 146))

To accompany the shift in text, the ‘sub’ female in the cupboard will remove her blindfold and make constant eye contact with the voyeur. This in itself will be an unnerving experience, without the added pressure of the instructions on the recording. Lifting the blindfold is a powerful image “for what lies behind the veil is the spectre of female sexuality, a silent but terrible mouth that may wound or devour the male spectator.” ((Showalter, Elaine (1992) Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle London: Virago Press. page 146)) The idea of the veil was linked with femininity and was used in a ritual context. The blindfold could be considered to be the modern day veil for rituals like BDSM.

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)).

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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.

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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.