Site and the City

Monday 4th April

After a period of two weeks off for Easter in which we were unable to do much in the space because the risks hadn’t been assessed etc. I was eager to return to work on our piece. During that period Steve spoke with module leader Conan so that he could give a second pair of eyes and ears. Fortunately there wasn’t much which needed to be changed, instead Conan made us aware of potential downfalls in our piece and asked if we had considered practical elements such as weather, speakers etc.

When listening through the audio track with Steve (the one Lucy had made over the Easter break) we soon realized that, whilst the track was good, the piece lacked visual stimulation and that the invited audience’s attention could easily waver. To combat this we used the rest of the session to create a more visually entertaining piece. We started by laying out chairs in studio X to recreate the layout of the site to help us visualize the space. After a few moments of discussing I suggested we look at logical actions for the sound effects in the track (for example doing the action of feeding the birds to the sound effect of birds tweeting/cooing), this created a surge of interest amongst our group with suggestions flying in for the other sound effects including engaging with the audience by handing them written text messages and doodling on the pavement for the child noises.

The next thing we discussed and ironed out in our minds was the difference between acting and performing. We eventually agreed that acting was being a character that is different from you and performing is yourself doing an action in a performative, over exaggerated way. In our piece we are not portraying fictional characters but merely portraying everyday life in a performative manner.

We have been unsure over the last few weeks about whether to speak with the track or mime alongside it. Today we made a final decision to speak with the track. We are going to divide the script into section and allocate a section of script and a movement section to each performer so that Steve is able to distinguish individual performances as well our performances as an ensemble.

Theorists have been constantly underlying our rehearsal and research process. This week the two that were of specific significance were Mark Auge’s concept of space and non space and Sue Palmer’s statement that people are needed to activate a space. Whilst the city high street has much potential to be a significant space, it is only when the people walking down the street engage with it that it becomes activated. On a practical level we are going to portray this concept by leaving the space empty for a minute or two at the start of the piece. We are then going to enter the space and literally ‘activate’ it by starting the track and, in turn, activate the piece. At the end of the piece we are going to exit the space, leaving remnants of us behind (breadcrumbs, dirt, colourings etc.) The theory behind this is that the piece shows evidence of people coming into a space, activating it and leaving remnants that space was significant for a period of time. That specific moment in time is gone and only glimpses of what went on can be seen.

We are contemplating the idea of creating moving sound throughout the piece. We intend to achieve this by having the tracks playing on mobile devices in people’s pockets so that when they move around the space the sound moves with them creating even more layers to the piece. We are not sure about the practicality of this idea as of yet but we are going to experiment with this over the next week or two.

On the Tuesday Emma went to Tesco to research and buy speakers. The woman in the store assured her that one speaker would be enough for the space. We then met up in the space and tested the speaker with our audio track. We were all surprised at the volume of the speaker and the ‘audience’ who were nearby all turned the heads to see where the source of this noise was. This bodes well for our performance because it will hold the audience’s attention and, when combined with visual stimulation, create a stimulating piece of performance art.

We also finished recording our script which means that by next week we can rehearse the speaking and physicality of the piece with the actual track that will be used for the performance.

Joe Turner

We have become very aware that our performance is exceedingly reliant on our audience. This is exceptionally risky as audience members may not be willing to give interesting interaction and therefore our performance will not be fully productive or of value. Because of this we began discussing ideas of how we can become more in control of the performance.

Some of these ideas involved collecting the conversations beforehand and taking these recordings and scripts to create an installation piece. We considered whether we wanted the performance to be passive or interactive, and what were to happen if we were to combine the two: by bringing installation art and conversations in real time together. We then asked questions about our piece, such as how confessional exchange fits into our site, and whether we can alter that aspect.

We were suggested to watch Curious – On The Scent. We loved how the artists controlled the situation and did most of the speaking, and audiences had to listen and watch. We got an eerie feeling from the set and artists actions/speeches, and wondered if we could explore making a domestic setting creepy.

We began analysing the motivations for our performance, seeing how we can adjust our performance. Immediately we identified the focus we have on binaries:

• place/non-place – the site fluctuates between place for the homeless, and non-place for passers by,
• safe/unsafe – safety can relate to the lights we aim to put in the space,
• comfortable/uncomfortable – which appears when we include a sofa and blankets, and friendly conversations,
• trapped/not trapped – passing place means no one considers being trapped,

All of these hold connections to the historical reference of the Stonebow arch where there was once a prison. We explored how a prison is a temporary and involuntary home, and therefore can again fluctuate between a place and non-place for prisoners. A prison also clearly relates to the feelings of being trapped, discomfort, and being unsafe. We began to wonder whether we could bring these binaries into our performance and play with them.

These binaries could be explored through how we perform. Our actions could make an audience member feel uncomfortable, and we could make them feel trapped by asking them to stay in a particular place and leaving them there (this can also relate to the idea of transit and non-place, will they just get up and walk away?).

We can fluctuate between these binaries by making them uncomfortable/trapped/unsafe through one action, and then doing another action that will make them feel comfortable/not trapped/safe again, therefore pushing the boundaries of the binaries.

Thinking about our idea of having a sign, we discussed what could be written on it. An idea we has was a ‘menu’, where we price our tea and biscuits according to what we want out of them. After discussing binaries and watching On The Scent, we decided that the prices could be something like: “1 biscuit = tell us a time when you felt trapped”.

We are going to rehearse ideas with the sofa and other props to discover what could be done with this new idea.

Weeks 9-11 sessions

This time period of three weeks consists of a two week vacation for Easter.

• During this period, as a group we had decided to meet once (on the last Friday of the vacation).
• In this meeting we managed to source and create the visual aids we needed for the final piece: Card – created by using folded card that we stood the stories of our couples inside of.
• Also finalising the measurements for our structure
• Having now completed the content for our final piece this allowed our group during week 11’s session to develop and ‘play’ with the dynamics and volume of each piece within the performance – We added movement to the callers within the piece to see if it gave them more of a presence in the piece – However we decided it wouldn’t be beneficial for our piece because callers were known for standing in one specific spot and preaching – They did not move so why would our callers need to move.
• One change we have made is to remove the exchange segment of our performance – the giving of a flower for information wasn’t engaging for a passing audience member. We only saw this as an advantage for our piece as it sticks to the minimalistic style we have developed.
• The plan for the next session is to take the structure into the space and conduct half an hours’ worth of rehearsal to alternate the carver between our group to see how it works, if we like it, if we don’t.

After walking around my site again today (a very busy Good Friday bank holiday), I decided to make a few but small changes to my piece.

First is where in my site I will perform, all if not majority of my performance, in the centre of the space, with a chair and two tables. By doing this I am creating myself a ‘performance space/stage’ similar to ones that the Suffragettes may have created, however the way in which I interact with my space and how my audience interacts with it, will (hopefully) be the complete opposite compared to the Suffragettes movement. I intend to start by handing out to drinks to people in as my normal self, then when I come to perform my scripted lines, I will sit down on the chair in a neutral manner and perform these lines, in a manner that is not myself, I really want to detach my own personality and self from these lines as the subject is a sensitive one and a subject which effects many people. Either side of me will be two tables, one with the drinks on and one with objects on that would either ‘help prevent rape’ or is the ’cause of rape’ according to victim blaming and our rape culture, for example date rape detecting nail polish, alcohol, clothing, ect. Also on this table will be a collage of posters created by authorities groups, such as the police or government to ‘tackle rape’ but actually blame the victims. These posters will remain untouched, where as on the other table the exact same collage will be present, but I intend to deface these posters, pointing out the wrongs with them, how they victim blame instead of teaching consent, ect. I decided to deface the posters on the table with the drinks, as these ‘anti-rape posters’ fail to mention consent yet I’m allowing my audience to decide whether they have a drink or not, choosing to give consent.

I’ve also decided to wear white for this performance and as I read out certain stats, facts, figures or victim blaming phrases I’m going to deface the dress by writing on it. For any stats, facts or figures, I’m going to right the percentage on my costume in red, as red is a colour often related to something of high alert and importance, then as I read the comments made that victim blame I’m going to write over it in black, once you write on something in a black permeant marker, you fix it, which relates to the victim blaming. As the media, “anti-rape” campaigns and society focus more on how the victim could have prevented their rape, instead of the alarming facts and figures, which in turn, can be seen to be destroying any hope victims may of being heard or helped. By blaming the victim instead of acknolging the facts and stats, then society and the local authorities are missing/ignoring the real causes of rape and how to approach it. This also ties into my site as has been a place of voice, empowerement and change for both men but espeically women since the first suffragette rallie took place there over a century ago. These women fought like wise for a change and to be heard, with an equally as topical subject to mine.

I’ve decided to edit my script a bit and add in a description/information about the speakers corner, from the speakers corner Website, adding it just before the end of my piece, as the Speakers Corner is a place for raising you’re voice and my performance is raising voices about the rape culture and victim blaming.

As I re-visted my site last week with Steve Fossey, it became clear that I hand’t gave that much thought as to where I would place my audience and how I would interact with them. As we walked around my space it became clear that this was also the case for the buildings and structures within my site. Currently my site has a lot of ‘alcoves’ and scaffolding which can be used within my performance, as Steve rightly said, I need to make sure I’m using my site to its greatest potential.

After much thought and through trial and error I have decided my audience should be free to walk about the site and watch my performance through their own choice. As my the themes and topic of my performance talks greatly about consent and by allowing my audience to decided where they stand and what they see, as their position will change their perspective, allows them to, metaphorically speaking, give consent.

I’ve been in my site times practically trialling out ideas and my script, however so far only a few things have worked. One idea which I am to keen with is the idea of Détournement. Détournemen is “an artistic practice conceived by the Situationists for transforming artworks by creatively disfiguring them” (Oxfordreference.com, 2016).
A massive part of today’s rape culture is the campaign material published by the police force and government. This campaign material is supposed to ‘fight rape’ but in fact blames women instead, telling them how they could ‘stop’ themselves from being attacked.

Like the Situationists, plan to ‘deface’ these posters, that suggest rape is a side effect of alcohol or that women are at fault for their friends being victims. This victim blaming is a regular occurrence in the campaign posters created by the police forces and government. I want to make it clear that instead of victim blaming and telling women what not to do, so that they don’t become a victim, we should be targeting the predators. I also think it’s important to note how these posters target women, though men can be and are also victims of sexual assault.

Another idea that I’ve tried practically, that i’m going to offer drinks or either water or juice to the audience. This touching upon the idea that if someone buys you a drink on a night out or offers you drinks at a party they expect sex or sexual favours in return. I’m planning to hand this out at the start of the performance and have the audience wonder why I’m giving them this drink as it wont be mentioned until further on. The when this point is raised I’m hoping the audience will realise how wrong this expectation is.

My next step forwards is to keep devising and trying out new ideas, as well as adding more theory to my performance in order to support it.