Well, that went alright...!

I'm very proud of us, I think we all learned so much from this experience, I have to admit I wasn't overly confident about it before hand, but i was hopeful and i was really pleased with the results. Kirstie's got some great photos on her blog, so I am just going to post some of the photos chris took along the journey (as part of his performance).



















































This collaborative project has really made me question what, specifically, it is that I love about theatre/performance. I find it interesting that as soon as the actors arrived I kind of backed out. Still not sure if that was lack of interest or lack of nerves...

I really enjoyed doing all the graphic stuff for the website etc, but i know that just doing that kind of thing is not enough for me. I felt a bit like that was all I could really offer on this project. Anyway, lots to think about.

So, thanks everyone, amazing costumes, acting, directing, projecting and seeing DJ Lushan doing her thing on the decks was a real treat!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

jingle bells jingle bells...
the performance is on friday
oh what fun it will be when its done
and we go home on holiday, hey!

feeling poetic today, it comes to me occasionally when i'm feeling pleased with myself - which i am because i just finished my soundtrack.

I thought it would be helpful if i outlined what is happening on my route on friday. Hope everyone else can blog theirs too, so we are all in the know.

1. Meeting point is black telephone box outside moorgate station, with chris inside it!
2. Performance begins when chris (tesman) receives a phonecall - we can assume from Brack - summoning him to the T-Bar
3. Chris leaves phone box in panic, tieing his tie over and over again as he can't get it right
4. As he goes through the route he takes photos on a digital camera, this idea came from chris' interpretation of tesman, he described him as desperate to achieve his 'potential', constantly working and trying to absorb/record information in order to finally become the genius he thinks is lurking inside himself somewhere, but never achieving this - in part because he is trying too hard.
5. At a point on the route where the commercial area abruptly ends and we find ourselves in the arty/crumbly area of shoreditch, chris finds the first page of lovborg's manuscript, unbuttons his jacket and hides it in an inside pocket then rebuttons his jacket. throughout the rest of the route, he keeps finding more pages and hiding them in his jacket, rebuttoning his jacket in a different way each time. The actions become more manic as he gets closer to his destination
6. On reaching the T-Bar he checks the manuscript is hidden, takes a deep breath and enters the bar

I am quite looking forward to friday now, the actors are all great and seem to be responding really well to the information we have given them.

I have got some books out for my independent project about internet art etc. I am so excited about this now, I really feel that using the internet as my 'site' is a perfect way of examining all the theoretical issues I have been looking at, to do with performativity and image consumption etc.

what day is it?

the weekend rather passed me by, i was in the theatre in richmond with kirstie, finishing off the costumes and neatening up the set (mostly my own mess from the last production). Yesterday afternoon, we went back to distribute costumes and watch a run-through of the first half to make sure everyone was wearing the right stuff, then, this morning, i went back again for the second half. The projections are working, although the projector seems to be making the images rather dark, so i may have to have fiddle with it when the technician is not looking. The costumes look great (thanks kirstie!), especially under the lights. I am in a pretty good mood now that it is all coming together, although i only managed 4 hours sleep again last night.

Am a bit confused about what we are supposed to have done in terms of our soundtrack for the collaborative project, but it can't hurt to keep working on it, especially since i have some time and a mac booked. Am really feeling the pain of working on p.c. at home. I actually dread turning it on, I'm just waiting for it to crash all the time! I was right at the end of putting together the images for the website (for the collaborative project) last night at about 1am, when the whole thing froze. I had to start two images from scratch. I know i should have saved them earlier, but still - the stupid machine shouldnt have died on me either!

I am really pleased with the character karen and amitesh have extracted from the text of hedda gabler for chris (the actor who is performing my route in the collaborative project). It suits the character of my soundtrack perfectly and has confirmed my choice of a song by ed's brother's band for inclusion the soundtrack. The song is called 'why so shy', i won't try to describe it because you can listen to it on their website: www.dakarrally.org I think it contains just the kind of balance of naivety and cynicism that my character will have. I am finding it increasingly strange that I am basically asking Chris to act in the role of himself - as interpreted by me.

my tasks for this evening are to read hedda gabler (have borrowed from karen), work on the business plan for this company i am setting up with my friend and put together the program for under milkwood... phew! better get on with it then...

yawn

hello all. i think that blogging when half asleep is probably not the best (or most interesting) way of doing things, but half-asleepness is a fairly constant state for me at the moment, so i am going to blog anyway!
i am so busy right now i have pretty much lost any objectivity about either rhe collaborative project or the one at richmond. I am just trying to get everything done now, but it all seems to be coming together so i not stressed about it, just tired. I feel bad that i can't devote myself to the collaborative project as much as everyone else, its that thing about buses and everything happening at once...

the richmond projection sequence is almost there, i am currently rendering some little animations for it and then i am going to put it all together in flash later. I am quite pleased with it, have done some rather fun images. Kirstie's costumes sound amazing, we will be finishing them off together on saturday. Dress rehearsal is on wednesday, so ed will photograph it all then and i will post some photos here.

collaborative project is kind of my second priority right now but i hope to be able to swap that around by the middle of next week. I have to finish richmond stuff by monday anyway, but there are bound to be a couple of last minute changes. I am going to put together and print the maps this evening, so we can put them up in the foyer tomorrow. Then I will read Hedda Gabler over the weekend (I promise!). I hope i am not holding anyone else up - i am trying to get stuff done if it affects other people.

ok, enough rambling...

de la warr

diana and i went down to bexhill-on-sea to see the performance stuff that was on this weekend - it was great. There was an exhibition as well as a series of live performances and the standard was so high, we were amazed that they had managed to produce such a quantity of really good things without having to be in london. some of it was site-specific, which was really intersting both for my own work and the collaborative project. Check out what was on: http://www.dlwp.com, the daria martin piece was beautiful, a film in the building itself, referencing the history of performance in the pavilion as well as seaside industry and looking at a mother/daughter relationship. it was focussed on a young girl who abseils inside the spiral staircase of the pavilion. I can't really describe it but it was wonderful. There was also a great performance created by Geraldine Pilgrim (who worked with the BA students at Wimbledon) with loads of little scenes around the building based on ghosts that supposedly haunt it (check out diana's blog for more details as i think she will have loads to say about this one). Geraldine Pilgrim is doing another performance piece in Soho in December which we should all check out. There was loads of other great stuff, but if need my dinner now so am going to move on to my thoughts on the collaborative project so i can wrap this up and get cooking...

I think we are really getting somewhere with the collaborative piece, i am quite excited about it now. I am reading the text (Hedda Gabler) and looking forward to see what karen is going to do with it. I am still quite interested in the gender roles within the text and the possibility of subverting these through careful casting. I am really glad that the routes to the main venue were interesting to everyone, I thing they all have great possibilities. I am also really excited about the main space at T-Bar, they are being so unbelievably accomodating - we are so lucky! I am going to work on creating this teaser image tomorrow to get people interested. I loved the woodgrain graphic of the boy on the bicycle with the chicken that they had at the bar and am thinking about how we could make some kind of visual (graphical) link. The stuff at De La Warr today has got me thinking hard about the spaces we are using, hopefully i will have lots to say on the matter when we next meet...

from richmond to shoreditch (via wales)

i am going to richmond tomorrow to watch a "stagger-through" of under milkwood, i have been putting together groups of images for the projections and am full of ideas of how to animate them, of course i am still no expert on the software i need to do this, but hey, we've got 2 1/2 weeks! i hope everyone will come and watch the play, it is a lot of fun. the acting we probably be fairly dire (i am dreading the welsh accents) since it's their first proper show this year, but the set and costumes will be amazing - naturally! It will be at the Studio Theatre on Parkshot in Richmond on 8th,9th and 10th December and will cost £5. Kirstie and I got going on the costumes at the weekend, it is great that she is so good at getting on with things, I am such a procrastinator (is that a word? it looks funny written down). I want to tell you all about the things we have been doing, but it wouldn't mean much without have the script in front of you, so its best if you just come and see!

on wednesday, I am going to head over to bethnal green and start checking out spaces for the collaborative project. I am thinking of asking in furniture shops if we can set up little rooms within rooms to stop off at en-route. I am also going to look for two-dimensional images that the actors can interact with in a 3-dimensional way (does that make sense? - i'll take my camera so i can explan better afterwards). Would love to have comments on this before i go.

I think we need a name - any ideas? We must start advertising it too...

part time post

so, as you know, i have made the switch from full-time to part-time mode. i feel like i need to justify this a little, because i don't want you (other vizlang bods) to feel like i'm letting you down at all. i still want to be really involved in the course and love the dynamic we have finally created within the group - I don't want that to change. I will still be coming in as much as i can, but i need to have more time to a) earn enough money to pay my rent and b) keep my career moving so that when i finish the course i still have options open to me. I also felt that, partly because of my other commitments, i have not been able to contribute to the course as fully as would like - or to get as much out of it. i was so excited to be coming onto this course and am thrilled by what we have achieved so far, but i need more me-time to be able to keep up that level of enthusiasm.

i feel so relieved to have lifted the lid on all the pressure that was building up, i feel like i can be much more pro-active now. having more than one thing on the go keeps my brain active too (i have the concentration span of a woodlouse).

so i hope you all understand, i will still be coming in all the time and my work schedule is pretty flexible so you can call or e-mail me any time and i will be all yours!

pcs vs. macs and other conflicts

i have finally found an advantage to having a PC - I can't seem to edit the font or colour of the text in my blog on a mac. i'm sure there is a way, but don't tell me, this is the first time i have actually been happy to have a PC since giving up the i-mac i had at work in august. i have been pining ever since.

the collaborative project finally seems to be moving, although I am still not sure where to exactly! I am concerned about time and feel like i have so much on my plate at the moment, but i can't afford to drop anything. i feel a bit like whilst i'm getting everything done, i am not giving myself time to enjoy it. why is london so expensive?!

i have to do some reading, theory is my thing, my strong point, and i haven't really got into it much so far. I have started reading the Merleaux Ponty text on phenomenology, which is really heavy, but it's good to feel those cogs whirring in my brain! when we get into our individual projects i think i need to really focus on applying this academic stuff to my work as i still feel like the two things are a bit detached. I love the way diana is working between the two and plan to follow her example!

monday morning

have just finished editing first draft of my soundscape for the collaborative project... whew... you know when you are working working working and then suddenly you realise you have reached the end? well that just happened, so i'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. it still needs some work, its not very smooth, but the structure is there.

had a pretty uneventful weekend, after making all kinds of plans, i ended up spending most of the weekend sleeping. still, i got some images and film clips together for the projections for 'under milkwood' and did some research into sites for my independent project. i'm still a bit stuck on that one, derelict buildings in london (at least ones that are likely to remain derelict for a while) are few and far between. Also - as was pointed out by the guy from www.derelictlondon.com - if i can get into them, then so can all the drug addicts, arsonists and other generally bad bad people, so its not very safe. the more i search, the more contrived it all feels, so i am planning on going for a few long walks to just see what stirs my imagination and maybe i will desert the derelict building idea altogether. of course, just as i make such a plan, the weather has turned and it's absolutely icey outside.

busy busy busy

was planning to go to spain to sort out my little brother's dissertation this weekend, but had to cancel in the end because i just have so much to do myself!

i went over to richmond drama school yesterday (where i work as a designer) to chat with the director, david whitworth, about the next production i will be working on - under milkwood by dylan thomas. I'm quite excited about this one, although i feel more and more how limiting it is working a) in traditional theatre and b) with students and a student-scale budget. Nevertheless there is still plenty of scope to explore some of my own interests through this set-up. I have asked Kirstie to work with me and we are looking at using projections and costumes made of paper (kirstie's speciality). We will be keeping it pretty simple - for my sake as well as theirs - but i think it could be pretty effective - especially as the costumes should pick up the projections nicely. its a beautiful text, it's really just 2 hours of poetry and creates this great dreamscape with ghosts and sleepwalking and cows! I almost feel like we shouldn't intervene too much. It was written as a radio play so it's all in the text. hmmm...

college work is going fine, am writing this as i capture my interviews for the collaborative project so i can edit the soundscape. I was a bit apprehensive when i first listened to them as i felt that the actor who was my interviewer had been a bit too subtle in his imitations of the subjects and i wasn't sure if anyone would be able to notice it. However, looking at it again, I think its really interesting how he responds to each subject differently before he even begins to imitate them. So i'm thinking of editing it so that these comparisons are clearer.

have to go and do my 'real' job tomorrow, just to bring me back down to earth - its about time for VAT receipts, whoopee doo.

aias workshop - mica

i don't know where to start, what an amazing week! I hope that some of the other workshop participants will be checking out my blog too, but for the sake of those who weren't there, here's a brief summary:
after a rather traumatic flight (well they are all traumatic for me!) I arrived just in time for the free food at the international students reception. There were students in the workshop from all over the world - America, Korea, Portugal, the Netherlands and England. We launched stright in the following morning when Annet, the workshop leader, took us over to the exhibition space in a converted station building. We spent the rest of the week creating work for an exhibition on the friday evening, on the theme of 'The Other'.
I was working mainly with Danielle Brans from AKI in the Netherlands and Abbi Jacobsen from MICA (the host school). We started out using some mapping diagrams that we had each done as a starting point for a series of performances. We mapped out various ideas in spatial terms using yellow string, filming as we went and experimenting with different view points and locations. By Thursday afternoon, we felt that whilst we'd explored some interesting ideas, something was missing to pull it all together, so we went out in search of something physical to ground the project. I had in mind a piece of furniture or something domestic, but instead we found this amazing box, perhaps a keyboard case, but slightly sinister. So, with renewed enthusiasm we began our adventure with the box. We tried to fit Danielle in it, we made a hole in the side and filmed out of it, we took it for coffee and finally it accompanied Danielle and I to a party. Our hosts, very obligingly, put on a great show - dancing in the box! Suddenly we had what we had been looking for, the film of the dance routine was projected into the arches above the exhibition space and the box had pride of place just inside the entrance and with a few minor additions (doug's ipod and some speakers) it became the source of music for the evening. Sadly ideas of a party in the dome (see photos) didn't quite materialise - maybe next time!
I have just re-read this post and it sounds rather formal and boring - that's just the effect of the english weather and the jetlag - in reality I am thrilled to have been part of the workshop, it was such an exciting week and I feel I have gained so much from it - I can't wait to get on with my own work again. I hope to stay in touch with all the other workshoppers, I would love it if we could find some way to work together again, as I thought everyone was fantastic!

flux 28.10.05

flux costumes

flux sucks

no it doesn't really, but wasn't sure sure if i'd get thrown off the site for publishing karen's version.

well... what can i say? I'm really glad we did it, I am even more glad its over. I have no idea how it went but to be honest, i don't think that really matters. I got a lot out of putting this thing together, I think it will make so much difference to our collaborative piece in december. had a brief chat with amitesh and karen, who are keen to do another small performance in november sometime. i think its a great idea, it will keep the ball rolling. I don't think i need to say that i won't be performing this time (my hands are still shaking as i type this) but i think i can contribute more by not being in it anyway.

the most valuable thing i am taking away from this is a better understanding of how everyone works and thinks individually and i hope we can find a better way to make that work together next time. Some of us seem to work better by just going in and doing it, whilst others (myself included) need time to take things away individually before bringing them back into a group environment. my cigarette breaks do serve a purpose - they give my brain time to catch up!

well thanks everyone, it was so worthwhile, I learnt something from everybody and feel i know you much better now.

frieze art fair etc.
I have recovered from my over-exposure to beautiful people at last. I was a bit scared to leave the house for the first couple of days, but a trip to Asda in Clapham (seriously lacking in beautiful people) was equivalent to a week in the Priory and I am now back to my old self again.
It was all a bit bewildering wasn't it? I have never seen art displayed (and consumed) in such a soulless way. I think that is probably how I would describe most of what I saw in there - soulless. I think that is why I was drawn to the pieces with some kind of narrative, in that environment I felt like they were easier to get lost in. This is first for me - the shiny, beautiful objects are normally the ones that draw me in, I usually hate anything home-made looking. Still haven't quite digested the experience fully, but the pieces that stand out for me are the storyboard piece called "Estate", which created a narrative about the lives of the people behind a series of closed curtains and a little sculpture about a piece of bone the artist had found by the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

My research topic is beginning to get clearer since following lengthy discussions with Doug, I am focussing on the domestic interior as a starting point and plan to try out a few ideas over the next couple of months, so watch this space...

I'm going to keep it short this time... well, shorter

I think today's trip to waterloo was really valuable and it has made me think quite hard about my research topic again. I went to a thing at BAC this evening called 'The Space between Us'. It was all pretty obvious stuff, i was a bit disappointed. You had to follow a route round clapham that was marked out with red ribbons and various (annoyingly non-speaking) actors in red shoes or hats came and did something random like tie string around your finger. It succeeded for me only because it made me the performer, which made me distinctly uncomfortable. Anyway, it also made me realise that perhaps my research topic is already really tired. I'm trying to attack exactly the same subject they were and it was just so... boring.

i hope someone reads this soon, starting to feel a little crazy, talking to myself

p.s. in reference to my previous post - I went with starting point 1 in the end

my first post
so we have to prepare a proposal for our research project, i am glad we are getting stuck in so soon, but it has thrown me into a bit of a quandry. i need to get on and write this thing, but i am stuck between two different starting points. One is pretty safe for me, as it is something I started to explore years ago and will involve developing on ideas that i have already started to formulate. the other is something that has really just cropped up for me in the last couple of weeks, but i think it has potential. on the other hand, they are both quite broad subjects and perhaps need narrowing down....
so let me elaborate:
starting point 1: performativity - how our social and physical environments dictate the way we act. in an effort to understand this for myself and put it in the context of "theatre", I am looking at a notion of 'acting' in three stages, the first is a base state, when we are at our most comfortable and are not put on any pretences; the second is the performance of everyday life, the show we put on for the people we pass in the street; the third is when we consciously create a performance - public speaking, acting in a play etc. obviously, there are loads of layers in between, but just for now i need to simplify.
i would begin by attempting to isolate that second stage and look at ways of shaping that subconscious performance, investigate the nature of the audience (after all we are always being watched aren't we?) and then see where it took me from there.
starting point 2: image - coming from a background of design, i am very conscious of image and graphic. i only really noticed this recently, but i think it almost verges on obsession! i buy books and cds because they have a nice front cover, i spent ages looking at all the different templates for this blog before i picked this one, i could go on.... i guess that really the significance of the image is something i have looked at in my work before without really doing so consciously, but i would like to take a more deliberate approach to it. what does it mean to think in images? is it like thinking in french? this is an image-driven society - how do we understand/interpret images?
i'm also interested in the reproduction and deconstruction of images and the relationship between the image and the written/spoken word. Can these things co-exist? hmmm

any thoughts?

cherry