Devising in Leroy Street

Ok - so you all know how much I love technology... this has been a pain in the bum to upload. I can't figure out You Tube for the life of me so I'm sorry if this video is hard to see... but tough! haha

Anyway, this is an extract of what Harriet and I were testing out today in the space. We have been playing around with the projection being a ghosting of the live self. This is for the second section of the performance. We are beginning to look at process in performance  as performance here. 

There is much more for me to say and to come! I am changing my research proposal at the moment so am just getting a few things straight in my head before I blog it!

Brain Splat and a Request for Help!

Oh dear! She cried, as she once again hit the theory books!

If this makes any sense to anyone and they think that they can help me pick apart the issues here for my essay PLEASE help!

Considering my essay - I decided to deconstruct liveness and mediatization in theatre by placing them in binary opposition. I then wanted to deconstruct this binary to show that (as Auslander does say - in a way I am not always too fond of) there is no (or hardly any) ontological difference left between them! So... do I go about deconstructing and see where my merry little findings take me... or do I change my research question and ask;

"In the face of a decentred notion of liveness, where does this leave theatre? How can we define theatre? What even IS theatre?!?"

More importantly "What has Auslander done to theatre!?" 

Am I setting myself a really stupid challenge by trying to define theatre in light of its ontological displacement? Has it already been done and I am wasting my time - does somebody already have the answer for me? 

AAAHHHHHH!

Some Initial Thoughts On The Project

Harriet and I managed to get in the space this

 week to do some devising and thrash out some ideas for the project. Although it was freezing it was great fun to be finally in a space where we can devise practical work.

We are looking at doing the project

 in three parts

 in order to enable us b

oth to work in our research areas and try out ideas (although to be fair there are a lot of cr

oss overs in our chosen areas anyway). The first part is going to be an exchange based on the '(in)visible exchange' that Harriet did for the Nunnery (but obviously an expansion of it); and also to maybe try out creating some narratives. The second part is to try out some of the ideas that I have been having around the past and present and using projections. It is really good as I feel that trying out different ways of working in

 the same project is really helping me get lots of inspiration at the moment. 

Below are a few pictures that we took whilst trying out some ideas;

I really like the projections as I think that they work on a number of different levels (although these are not the projections that we will use they were good to have a play around with).

 I think that it is funny to project nice brand-spanking new furnishings and equipment into such a dilapidated space, especially since once-upon-a-time it was used in the way that we are referencing. The fact that they are disfunctional, and we are simultaneously in the space and are not - says a lot about the current occupation and usage of the space.

I kind of feel like the projections also reference how we ourselves project into a space and imagination working and I started making up narratives for what may have happened in there in the past, who might live there in the future, what it might have and still could look like. I project all this onto a derelict surface as does a projector.

Putting my live body next to a still, projected, image was interesting. The cracks and surfaces show though the projection and I like this layered scenery a lot. My live self felt more present as the projection had a ghostly feel and effect to it. I really felt as if it referenced a past much more effectively (if not a little literal) than my present self ever could using dialogue.

Seeing this working practically has really started me thinking about how my live self occupies a space and the history of creating a performance. Perhaps a next step for me (after this project) will be to film rehearsals and project them back on top of a live performance. Process in performance is as interesting to me as the finished product and my 'past rehearsing self' is as much as part of a performance as my 'present live self'... does that make sense or am I rambling??? 

I think the next step for this project is working out the specifics of the performance, its content, and playing around with some more ideas. Interacting with projections is a great stepping stone for me and having to exhibit it at a set date publicly is just the push I needed.

I feel much better working for this exhibition than I did when I was contemplating the Nunnery. Maybe it is that the context is different, or maybe I am just in a better place. The exhibition is framed as a work in progress to try out new ideas which makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

The-Space-In-Between Project

As Harriet has been writing about on her blog, there is an art project going on in an old factory, in Elephant and Castle, that is about to be converted into apartments. We heard about the project through the Crystal Palace Artists.

The project has been set up by Linda Duffy and she is keen for artist to be able to use the space to experiment with their own work whilst simultaneously responding to the site.

When I first went to the private view of Forensic (the first exhibition there) with Harriet I loved the site. It is the type of space that I love working with and that instantly captures your imagination; it has wallpaper peeling off to reveal grotesque 70's patterned wallpaper underneath, dusty floors, and forgotten corners. However, at the time I had no idea what I would do in the space were I to utilise it or how my practice would fit in to it.

After doing some practical work at the end of term (Practical Work Ahoy indeed!), and chatting to Harriet, I have decided to take the bull by the horns and put something out there; whether it is using part of the time that harriet has been given in the space to try something out on my own, or to collaborate with her.

It is a short sharp project with not much time to prepare (aka obsess, panic, and over think things), and it is for experimenting which I think is fantastic. It really is a great space and am looking forward to trying something out outside of college just for the sake of working.

Just a bit of a brainstorm about some of the things that have been springing to mind and have been chatting to Harry about:

* Using a projected backdrop of an office background. It is to create a ghosted effect, a trace of things that have (or may have) gone before, forever present in the history but intangible and constantly being broken and interfered with by the current activities.

* Creating a fake factory where photograms are the product. This could possibly further highlight the process of photography and relate to the history of the space.

* Using the picking apart of flowers performance, that I did for David Gale's workshop as a springboard; looking at subverting the factory process and deconstructing products.

* I love the idea (as always) of forgotten factory workers that have become stuck in the factory office repeating the same set of actions until they have lost all meaning.

* Once all of the activities/performances are over in the closet leaving it as an installation. A relic, an evidence of an action, that (like everything that has gone before it) has now become ingrained into the history of the site.

Adding a new history to a space-in-between is really exciting to me.

Quick Note

Just found this really good website whilst doing a bit of research; it's called The Presence Project. 

I am only about half way through looking at it but thought that it might also be useful to some of you (esp Harriet and Lena).

I found this quote on part of the website,

Steve Dixon

(...) Reduced to its essence, presence is about interest and command of attention, not space or liveness. (...) Let us consider a hypothetical live performer standing next to an exactly life-size, recorded, two-dimensional projection of herself (...). If both figures are still and neutral, one might agree that the live performer has more presence (by virtue her solidity, her liveness). But once either of the figures engages in activity (including concentrated thought) it will pull focus to it, gain attention, and assert its presence over the other. When both become active, the one we watch more (our attention will always flit between them), the one with the most presence, is the one engaged in what we find personally the more interesting or emotive activity. In this sense, presence in relation to audience engagement and attention is dependent on the compulsion of the audiovisual activity, not on liveness or corporeal three-dimensionality.' (Dixon, 2007: 132)

I think that this is especially applicable to my workshop as we were conversing with projections of ourselves; and as Doug pointed out during Lena's performance, we all watched the projection more than we did the live Lena. Why is this? Is it because we are now more practised in viewing a 2D image? It isn't as if we could argue that the quality of the image was entrancing. It was a poor quality image, that was faint because there was too much light in the room!?!

 I also find it interesting that Dixon separates presence and liveness. I can't separate the two at all in my head, but can really see what the quote is getting at.  Still leaves me begging the question of how to define liveness... made even more difficult if presence is taken out of the equation! 

Let me know any thoughts!

Practical Work Ahoy!

I have notes upon notes upon notes! For those of you who know me I'm sure you are not surprised! Haha!

Term has ended and wanted to take the chance to do a quick update as to what I'm thinking and where I'm at. 

The last couple of weeks before the end of term were hectic, but really great as I now feel set to organise myself over the break and hit the ground running next term... with more practical work and not so many notes! 

Starting with David Gale's workshops; it was fantastic to do some practical work, no matter how quickly put together. I realised that I had had enough of talking and thinking about my practice and am set on getting it off the ground ( about bloody time I hear my tutor and class cry!). 

With this notion in mind I set out on my practical workshop with my class. As I am investigating Liveness in Performance I have decided that I want to start working with projections of myself. Taking inspiration from Caroline Smith's Spank I want to investigate what happens when I converse with myself in the form of projections. What is this doing to time and space in performance? What is this doing to the live body on stage? Is the live aspect highlighted and made more explicit due to the fact my own mediated body is next to me creating a dialogue between me and myself? The latter question is really where my focus is at the moment. 

The workshop that I did with my class was fantastic as I not only learnt how to use and technology needed to achieve what I wanted, but saw and felt what it was like to have a dialogue with a projection of myself... which I have to say was strange. I am used to working with live actors and being able to bounce off each other - no such luck with a pre-recorded projection! I realised that the practicalities and techniques needed in order to make this a great show will be tough, but looking forward to learning them. 

So what now? Keep on the practical front! During the break Harriet will be helping me to redo one of my previous pieces of work that was a collaboration with Lucy Taylor. In the previous work there were two of us on stage swapping identities.  I am now going to see what happens when I play both of the parts, one live and one as a pre-recorded projection.  As it was a collaborative work I have no intention of using it publically, however, will post it on the blog so you can all help me to unpick some of the issues that I am thinking about.

Oh yeah - and I don't know whether any of you have guessed, but working with different projections of myself has brought back my love in identity politics! Whoop!

Looks like a research proposal and show to me!

It is all about "liveness".

Having spent the past two days (if not the last week) thinking about where I am going to permanently situate myself I have finally settled on a research question and have the beginning of a show/play... which will actually harness what I am looking at theoretically (I hope)! I thought that I was going to stray right away from my research proposal but as it turns out I haven't... isn't it funny how we have to come full circle just to carry on where we started in the first place!?!

I am researching (and committing to) the notion of liveness within theatre. As my research proposal touches on, I am addressing the fact that the notion of liveness within theatre is being challenged by the incursion of mediatization. I am taking a slightly different approach to this and not examining the technology that produces this affect (as I was beginning to), but looking at what the effect of this affect is.

 I want to look at liveness in terms of time, space, and the body; and excavate how we view, read, interpret, and understand theatre in terms of these concepts. 

My practice has always been firmly routed in the premise that it takes place with real bodies in real time and space. I am spending my time this year sticking to this premise, but allowing my notion of liveness (time, space, and the body) to warp, not disintegrate, and see what happens.

I love looking at how we read and creating different viewing positions but have come to realise that this is inherent in my practice as the audience is paramount. I will always want to leave my work open to interpretation, and ensure that people take away different experiences in order to encourage discussion amongst spectators. However, I don't feel like I could spend the rest of the year researching this. Having said that, I am fully aware that my research will lead to considering how we read as an integral grounding for the essay.

The play that I am beginning to work on is about a woman who's view of reality is distorted. Her memory, perceptions of time and self have long ago disintegrated and she is left living in a world that is nothing if not confusing. My research into disrupting the notions of liveness in terms of time, space and the body will help me portray my subject matter much more effectively. I am looking forward to investigating, through my subject matter, what happens when I am no longer restricted to "real" time and space as I am beginning to consider that the view I once had of them no longer exists. 

I have also decided not to take part in the interim show. Trying to fit my work into a gallery was really damaging. What I want to create is theatre so will be working towards perhaps producing something for the Centre for Drawing.

I am currently working on the linear time line of the lead character's life before I start to write the actual text- this is what I will start with in my forum on Friday... seems like as good a place as any I guess!