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!