I created some interesting compositions while accidentally overlapping videos. I thought they might work nicely as stand alone loops which can play when I need a break or am not in the space. Something like that.
The first clip was created last week on a day when I had given my keys to my brother for the day and couldn't get to any cameras! I learned how to export directly from Isadora, which is a useful thing if I decide to use these interstitials.
I also learned that I can record audio in quicktime but I don't seem to be able to play them except in my iTunes. So! Hopefully I will sort this out soon and post them here.
Showing posts with label improvisation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label improvisation. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Goat Island: helping me begin.
On Sunday, 18 May, I took a day long workshop with Goat Island at Siobhan Davies Studios in Elephant & Castle. Their work has come up time and again in my research and there was enough said to peak my interest without really being able to put my finger on why. After this workshop, and seeing their performance of their new and "last" performance The Lastmaker this past Saturday, I have a better understanding of why.
Their work is intellectually deep, physically demanding, and pretty abstract. Yet I never lost sight of the 5 people on stage as being anything but "themselves" or, maybe in other words, of how human they were. When they were doing ensemble choreographies, they would often be doing the same movements, but in their own way. There was not a pinch of arrogance or aloofness in anything they did.
This is the pitch I would love to achieve with my work. Watching their performance made me want to run off and join their circus. But for now, obviously, I've got to do my own thing. And use a tool and material that they gave me to begin this final phase of developing a performance for September.
They say it better than I can about their technique:
This technique of "response" was also brought up in the last workshop I blogged about. I'm finding that I resonate with this way of producing material. I need to constantly "do" and review to understand what is going on with my work. I think this technique also lends itself to performing with my recorded image on video screens. Echoes, layers, sparks...many words to describe the effect. And most importantly, it helps answer that question
WHERE DO I BEGIN?!?!?!
A quote that we were given in the workshop before a 10 minute walk to the Imperial War Museum:
Right now, I'm working with echoes from the Goat Island workshop. As with a natural echo down a canyon, this one goes through phases, not just evenly getting quieter the further away it gets from me in time and space, but occasionally getting louder as it bounces off a particularly well curved canyon wall.
I loved this quote from Andre Lepecki, especially the part about the body absorbing shocks only to release them later. That's exactly what is going on with me as I continue to process that workshop. I decided to use this quote as a literal starting point for my rehearsal time last week. I did a couple of recordings that I'm digitizing and will continue to build off of tomorrow when I go back. I'm going to play with Isadora tomorrow too and see how that goes. Will post the results early next week. or rather, will post the process early next week.
Their work is intellectually deep, physically demanding, and pretty abstract. Yet I never lost sight of the 5 people on stage as being anything but "themselves" or, maybe in other words, of how human they were. When they were doing ensemble choreographies, they would often be doing the same movements, but in their own way. There was not a pinch of arrogance or aloofness in anything they did.
This is the pitch I would love to achieve with my work. Watching their performance made me want to run off and join their circus. But for now, obviously, I've got to do my own thing. And use a tool and material that they gave me to begin this final phase of developing a performance for September.
They say it better than I can about their technique:
Goat Island performance work is a series of responses: to the exercises we give ourselves, to our surroundings, to the events of the world, but mostly, to each other. We perform responses for each other back and forth. The conversation goes further than were we just talking. At the end of the conversation we have a piece in front of us and it's ready to show. These conversations take place over a long period of time. As in a chess match, each response is carefully considered. Time, and therefore, dreams and reverie are part of the conversation. These conversations can be two years long. This gives time for a history to grow and for us to interpret it, for distortions to take on their own meaning, their own demands.
(from their website)
This technique of "response" was also brought up in the last workshop I blogged about. I'm finding that I resonate with this way of producing material. I need to constantly "do" and review to understand what is going on with my work. I think this technique also lends itself to performing with my recorded image on video screens. Echoes, layers, sparks...many words to describe the effect. And most importantly, it helps answer that question
WHERE DO I BEGIN?!?!?!
A quote that we were given in the workshop before a 10 minute walk to the Imperial War Museum:
The intricate cooperation of muscle and nerve fibers produce the means by which an organism interacts with its surrounding environment. That cooperation has a name which is movement. When the environment itself enters into fibrillation, it is the whole system (organism/environment) that becomes convulsive. The body absorbs all the shocks only to release them later on, in another time space, as unforeseen motions, reorganizing as much as outlining the distribution of violence in the nervous system. - Andre Lepecki from his book Exhausting Dance
Right now, I'm working with echoes from the Goat Island workshop. As with a natural echo down a canyon, this one goes through phases, not just evenly getting quieter the further away it gets from me in time and space, but occasionally getting louder as it bounces off a particularly well curved canyon wall.
I loved this quote from Andre Lepecki, especially the part about the body absorbing shocks only to release them later. That's exactly what is going on with me as I continue to process that workshop. I decided to use this quote as a literal starting point for my rehearsal time last week. I did a couple of recordings that I'm digitizing and will continue to build off of tomorrow when I go back. I'm going to play with Isadora tomorrow too and see how that goes. Will post the results early next week. or rather, will post the process early next week.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Monday Night Improvisation.
Went to an improv class last night hosted by Independent Dance @ Siobhan Davies Studios in Elephant & Castle. Wow! Gorgeous space and I found the workshop incredibly useful and productive. I'm definitely going to make this a regular activity.
The class features a different instructor each week, so I will get exposed to different dancers/movers ideas for improvisational movement. Just what I need!!!! This week the instructor was Marie-Gabrielle Rotie. Her name has popped up a bunch when I was searching for Butoh classes in London, so I was curious to experience a workshop with her.
A little recap of what we did:
The idea was to create movement "scores" from existing visual material to get ideas flowing and a sense of poetry to give us some phrases to keep in mind as we moved.
- instructor passed out postcards of painting to each of us.
- we spent some time looking at them and then performed a 12-15 minute improvisation based on our observations, however abstract that ended up being.
- our partners then performed a 5-6 min improv based on what they observed from ours.
- we then spent about 5 minutes writing down what we saw to create a sort of score
- discussed our scores
- performed a duet based on scores, observations, and the original painting
Here are the scores we wrote for each painting
#1 - surreal painting with 2 girls (one with very weedlike hair standing straight up on end) standing on a landing in a house with a very large sunflower draped on a staircase sorry I didn't mark down the titles of the paintings...
Partner's score:
Reaching, reaching up
Spiral & sway
Pulled off centre
Pieces torn off
Still the impulse to rise
My Score:
1) A plant/human awakening
2) spiraling, the fluid gravity defying plant hair
3) feeling the energy source above as it gets warmer
4) the leaves stretch & spiral out towards the energy source into the space
5) spurts of energy from outside back in
6) always aware of the warmth above and your roots growing down, 2) and 3)
7) human/plant hybrid reveling in the warm silt that you're grown out of
8) pleasing across your leaves/skin as you wallow in it
9) ALWAYS RETURN TO 6) out, 2) and 3)
The Duet
- We ended up becoming this single entity that was growing and spiraling up, out, lots of swirly arm movements! We started with our backs to each other and I really loved how we were able to start moving together because I could feel his shoulder blades on my back as he started to raise his arms and do the spiral gestures with them. Was a great way to cue without having to look at each other. We also realized before the duet that we had had similar experiences of the painting, so it was quite easy to stay cohesive with our movements. Of course, there were times when we crashed into each other unpleasantly, but I felt like those were surprisingly few considering we had never met, let alone danced together before.
Painting #2: a nativity scene from the Uffizi gallery complete with angels, shepherds and the blinding light surrounding the wee baby Jesus & Mary (oh and Joseph too, I guess, kinda...) I walked away from this painting focussing on this tumbling S shape that the angels and shepherd's bodies made down the left side of the painting towards the baby. The all had fairly strong gestures with their left hands, but odd expressions on their faces. Including the baby! All of the characters had very "real" and not terribly "awestruck at the holiness" look on their faces.
My Score:
the angel floating
What am I doing here?
the man gazing down
What am I doing here?
the baby looking up
What are they doing here?
the left hand
surprised
covetous
caressing
blessing
My partner's score:
Changing perspectives
Changes of emotions
Movement between stillness
The Duet
Ended up being a serious of poses/tableau style with mostly gentle movement in between. Not always synchronous, sometimes building on the other person's pose. Facial expressions and hand gestures were the emphasis. As we moved to poses, our relationship to each other shifted. Sometimes we were 2 disconnected characters reacting in our own way to "the baby." Sometimes one of us was the baby and there were strong moments in these phases where the other person's hand was closing in on the baby, sometimes gentle, sometimes menacing. And there were times when we were a unit outside gazing at the baby. Some of these were funny even since there was one guy front and center who had this really amused, jovial "hey guys! check this kid out! Son of a gun!" kind of look on his fave.
Other notes, impressions
I was really skeptical of being able to come up with anything out of my painting because of all the loaded symbolism of the nativity scene, but we were both really satisfied with the final result. And of course, I enjoyed shifting from one character and perspective to another. :) Also useful and interesting to experiment with conveying multiple perspectives in a piece with just my body and my gestures/expressions.
I found it extremely useful to observe the other person's movement and then experience for myself what I had seen. For example, I noticed something I hadn't really considered in my partner: he had this really strong vertical focus to his movement, even when he was moving quite dramatically from side to side. I read in his movement a consciousness of an energy source above and feet/roots growing into the earth. And a spiraling movement. Was really cool to experience what it felt like to have that vertical focus even when moving sideways.
This technique seemed to produce some very workable results quickly. I was thinking of doing something similar with songs in sketches of my own seeing how it would get more abstract and more "my own" the further away from the song I got alternating between sound and movement phases. Now I will definitely play with that.
I loved the implied plant/human hybrid of the first piece since I've been thinking so much about the blurring of borders between machine & human as I related to my video camera in new ways. To play with another hybrid, cyborg idea was great fun and relevant.
While this class was only tangentially related to Butoh, I noticed a thread with the other specifically Butoh class I took: this notion of having an image in mind as you create movement (like the plant/hybrid with crazy weed hair.) It doesn't really matter if the specificity of it comes across, but it is a great way to give some purpose to the performer's movement and stay interested in what you're doing.
I have a crazy vivid imagination that will just go and go and go when I let it. I must must must remember this always when I'm performing!
The class features a different instructor each week, so I will get exposed to different dancers/movers ideas for improvisational movement. Just what I need!!!! This week the instructor was Marie-Gabrielle Rotie. Her name has popped up a bunch when I was searching for Butoh classes in London, so I was curious to experience a workshop with her.
A little recap of what we did:
The idea was to create movement "scores" from existing visual material to get ideas flowing and a sense of poetry to give us some phrases to keep in mind as we moved.
- instructor passed out postcards of painting to each of us.
- we spent some time looking at them and then performed a 12-15 minute improvisation based on our observations, however abstract that ended up being.
- our partners then performed a 5-6 min improv based on what they observed from ours.
- we then spent about 5 minutes writing down what we saw to create a sort of score
- discussed our scores
- performed a duet based on scores, observations, and the original painting
Here are the scores we wrote for each painting
#1 - surreal painting with 2 girls (one with very weedlike hair standing straight up on end) standing on a landing in a house with a very large sunflower draped on a staircase sorry I didn't mark down the titles of the paintings...
Partner's score:
Reaching, reaching up
Spiral & sway
Pulled off centre
Pieces torn off
Still the impulse to rise
My Score:
1) A plant/human awakening
2) spiraling, the fluid gravity defying plant hair
3) feeling the energy source above as it gets warmer
4) the leaves stretch & spiral out towards the energy source into the space
5) spurts of energy from outside back in
6) always aware of the warmth above and your roots growing down, 2) and 3)
7) human/plant hybrid reveling in the warm silt that you're grown out of
8) pleasing across your leaves/skin as you wallow in it
9) ALWAYS RETURN TO 6) out, 2) and 3)
The Duet
- We ended up becoming this single entity that was growing and spiraling up, out, lots of swirly arm movements! We started with our backs to each other and I really loved how we were able to start moving together because I could feel his shoulder blades on my back as he started to raise his arms and do the spiral gestures with them. Was a great way to cue without having to look at each other. We also realized before the duet that we had had similar experiences of the painting, so it was quite easy to stay cohesive with our movements. Of course, there were times when we crashed into each other unpleasantly, but I felt like those were surprisingly few considering we had never met, let alone danced together before.
Painting #2: a nativity scene from the Uffizi gallery complete with angels, shepherds and the blinding light surrounding the wee baby Jesus & Mary (oh and Joseph too, I guess, kinda...) I walked away from this painting focussing on this tumbling S shape that the angels and shepherd's bodies made down the left side of the painting towards the baby. The all had fairly strong gestures with their left hands, but odd expressions on their faces. Including the baby! All of the characters had very "real" and not terribly "awestruck at the holiness" look on their faces.
My Score:
the angel floating
What am I doing here?
the man gazing down
What am I doing here?
the baby looking up
What are they doing here?
the left hand
surprised
covetous
caressing
blessing
My partner's score:
Changing perspectives
Changes of emotions
Movement between stillness
The Duet
Ended up being a serious of poses/tableau style with mostly gentle movement in between. Not always synchronous, sometimes building on the other person's pose. Facial expressions and hand gestures were the emphasis. As we moved to poses, our relationship to each other shifted. Sometimes we were 2 disconnected characters reacting in our own way to "the baby." Sometimes one of us was the baby and there were strong moments in these phases where the other person's hand was closing in on the baby, sometimes gentle, sometimes menacing. And there were times when we were a unit outside gazing at the baby. Some of these were funny even since there was one guy front and center who had this really amused, jovial "hey guys! check this kid out! Son of a gun!" kind of look on his fave.
Other notes, impressions
I was really skeptical of being able to come up with anything out of my painting because of all the loaded symbolism of the nativity scene, but we were both really satisfied with the final result. And of course, I enjoyed shifting from one character and perspective to another. :) Also useful and interesting to experiment with conveying multiple perspectives in a piece with just my body and my gestures/expressions.
I found it extremely useful to observe the other person's movement and then experience for myself what I had seen. For example, I noticed something I hadn't really considered in my partner: he had this really strong vertical focus to his movement, even when he was moving quite dramatically from side to side. I read in his movement a consciousness of an energy source above and feet/roots growing into the earth. And a spiraling movement. Was really cool to experience what it felt like to have that vertical focus even when moving sideways.
This technique seemed to produce some very workable results quickly. I was thinking of doing something similar with songs in sketches of my own seeing how it would get more abstract and more "my own" the further away from the song I got alternating between sound and movement phases. Now I will definitely play with that.
I loved the implied plant/human hybrid of the first piece since I've been thinking so much about the blurring of borders between machine & human as I related to my video camera in new ways. To play with another hybrid, cyborg idea was great fun and relevant.
While this class was only tangentially related to Butoh, I noticed a thread with the other specifically Butoh class I took: this notion of having an image in mind as you create movement (like the plant/hybrid with crazy weed hair.) It doesn't really matter if the specificity of it comes across, but it is a great way to give some purpose to the performer's movement and stay interested in what you're doing.
I have a crazy vivid imagination that will just go and go and go when I let it. I must must must remember this always when I'm performing!
Monday, 14 January 2008
From the archives: First Research Synopsis
Current Research Synopsis 2007
MA Theatre – Visual Language of Performance
Primary research – The use of improvisation in interdisciplinary performance
I am conducting a critical analysis of the use of improvisation techniques in historical and contemporary interdisciplinary performances. I am interested in both how improvisation has been used to facilitate collaborations amongst artists and how it is used to devise final performances.
I am researching techniques of avant garde groups of the 1950s and 60s such as the Black Mountain College (Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg) and Fluxus event scores. This time period has had a strong influence on my collaborations to date and I would like to examine how these early performances have influenced contemporary performance groups. Contemporary groups that I would like to study further include Complicite, The Wooster Group, Forced Entertainment, and Filter.
Questions
- How are contemporary companies incorporating different types of media into their performances?
- How are they using improvisation techniques to devise a final performance?
- How have the early avant garde techniques influenced contemporary performance?
- Are there aspects of early performances not widely adopted today that could benefit contemporary practice?
- What techniques have groups such as the Wooster Group or Complicite preserved from their early work in their current practice?
- What criticism do the artists have of their own work and the direction it has taken (ie the impact of commercialization on what they feel they can produce?)
- How does my work further the tradition of improvisation in interdisciplinary performance?
Workshops
To complement my theoretical work, I am conducting workshops open to artists from all backgrounds to try out techniques that come out of my research. This term, I am working with simple exercises drawn from different creative disciplines designed to increase the vocabulary available to express their ideas and explore their discipline in a perfomative context. Moving forward, I plan to examine how the use of varying levels of pre-determined parameters or event scores affect interactions between performers and how different types of constraints can be used to create a dynamic final performance.
Secondary research – Solo artists with interdisciplinary practices
I would like to test out some of the theories I develop from my primary research as a solo performer. Since my primary creative discipline is performance-based video, I am revisiting the work of artists such as Bill Viola, Vito Acconci, and Nam June Paik. I’m also interested in researching Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk, and would like to locate some contemporary London-based solo artists who do interdisciplinary work.
Questions
- What are solo performers asking/demanding of/communicating to their audiences with the choice to present themselves alone on stage?
- What are ways of creating connections with an audience where they feel included in the performance? Through non-verbal communication? Through technology? Are there particular shapes, forms, or perspectives?
- Should issues of intimacy actually be the primary theme of my research?
Outcome
My longer term interest is to form my own interdisciplinary performance troupe–not only as an opportunity to develop my own work, but also to create a support structure and opportunity for other artists to work in this area.
Questions
- What are the implications of my research for my continued practice? As a solo artist? As a workshop leader? As artistic director of my own company?
MA Theatre – Visual Language of Performance
Primary research – The use of improvisation in interdisciplinary performance
I am conducting a critical analysis of the use of improvisation techniques in historical and contemporary interdisciplinary performances. I am interested in both how improvisation has been used to facilitate collaborations amongst artists and how it is used to devise final performances.
I am researching techniques of avant garde groups of the 1950s and 60s such as the Black Mountain College (Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg) and Fluxus event scores. This time period has had a strong influence on my collaborations to date and I would like to examine how these early performances have influenced contemporary performance groups. Contemporary groups that I would like to study further include Complicite, The Wooster Group, Forced Entertainment, and Filter.
Questions
- How are contemporary companies incorporating different types of media into their performances?
- How are they using improvisation techniques to devise a final performance?
- How have the early avant garde techniques influenced contemporary performance?
- Are there aspects of early performances not widely adopted today that could benefit contemporary practice?
- What techniques have groups such as the Wooster Group or Complicite preserved from their early work in their current practice?
- What criticism do the artists have of their own work and the direction it has taken (ie the impact of commercialization on what they feel they can produce?)
- How does my work further the tradition of improvisation in interdisciplinary performance?
Workshops
To complement my theoretical work, I am conducting workshops open to artists from all backgrounds to try out techniques that come out of my research. This term, I am working with simple exercises drawn from different creative disciplines designed to increase the vocabulary available to express their ideas and explore their discipline in a perfomative context. Moving forward, I plan to examine how the use of varying levels of pre-determined parameters or event scores affect interactions between performers and how different types of constraints can be used to create a dynamic final performance.
Secondary research – Solo artists with interdisciplinary practices
I would like to test out some of the theories I develop from my primary research as a solo performer. Since my primary creative discipline is performance-based video, I am revisiting the work of artists such as Bill Viola, Vito Acconci, and Nam June Paik. I’m also interested in researching Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk, and would like to locate some contemporary London-based solo artists who do interdisciplinary work.
Questions
- What are solo performers asking/demanding of/communicating to their audiences with the choice to present themselves alone on stage?
- What are ways of creating connections with an audience where they feel included in the performance? Through non-verbal communication? Through technology? Are there particular shapes, forms, or perspectives?
- Should issues of intimacy actually be the primary theme of my research?
Outcome
My longer term interest is to form my own interdisciplinary performance troupe–not only as an opportunity to develop my own work, but also to create a support structure and opportunity for other artists to work in this area.
Questions
- What are the implications of my research for my continued practice? As a solo artist? As a workshop leader? As artistic director of my own company?
From the archives: Learning Agreement
Before posting my Research Proposal, I thought I'd post the Learning Agreement and outline of research interests that J.M. asked us to submit to him before our first critical studies tutorial. Might as well let it all hang out, eh? I post these as is, without comment from the over-active peanut gallery in my head.
Aims (outline the purpose, scope, visions and ambition of your plan of work)
Research
1. Conduct a brief historical survey of avant garde performance
2. Select and begin analysis of 3-4 contemporary performance groups who work across disciplines, and who use improvisation to devise performances and/or incorporate improvisation into the final piece
3. Review the practices of a range of solo artists/performers who incorporate multiple disciplines into their work.
Practice
1. Explore an interdisciplinary solo performance practice
2. Begin to conduct improvisation-based workshops with artists from different backgrounds
2 Objectives (The expected objectives leading towards the learning outcomes of the unit)
Research
1. The historical survey will allow me to more clearly explain the lineage that my work is part of. I also hope to learn more specifics about techniques used throughout avant garde performance to give me a solid framework upon which to build new exercises that will translate well into a contemporary interdisciplinary performance.
2. Case studies of contemporary groups will give me some models currently in practice to help situate myself within contemporary practice, either aligning with or reacting against trends that come up. Focussing on a few groups instead of doing an overview survey will also give me insight into how companies present their work to the outside world and how it is critiqued.
3. Looking at solo performers will give me inspiration for exploring a solo performance practice that draws on my training in several disciplines, and ideas for engaging the audience when there is only one person to focus on.
Practice
1. Solo practice will give me another perspective on how the techniques I am developing for the workshops translate when applied to another performance mode. I will also be able to determine whether I would like to develop a solo performance practice in its own right or if it is simply a useful tool for a deeper understanding of exercises that I will be sharing with others.
2. The weekly workshops will give me experience in running workshops, explore modes of creative expression available in a performance context, test out exercises that come out of my research to see if they translate well to a group of artists from mixed backgrounds and/or are good at fostering a strong, collaborative group dynamic. At the end of this term, I would like to have a stronger sense of a good progression of exercises to use in workshops so that I can focus on devising a final performance with a group of artists who are serious about participating in this performance.
3 The Plan of Work describing the principal stages and timescale of the work
1) Historical survey 3-4 weeks
i. Determine initial bibliography and start reading (in progress)
ii. Locate any visual reference that could be useful in development of practice (ongoing)
iii. Develop outline highlighting key themes, moments, movements, artists that are particularly relevant to my practice (Dec)
2) Solo performance 6 weeks
i. Determine list of solo artists to explore further (in progress)
ii. Sketch ideas that spring from research, workshops & lectures (ongoing)
iii. Weekly dedicated practice time to try out ideas (ongoing)
iv. Outline themes and issues that have arisen from practice and research (Dec/Jan)
3) Group Workshops 7 weeks
i. Evaluate techniques from ongoing research (historical, contemporary & solo practice)
ii. Develop workshop plans for weekly workshops with an informal group of artists (weekly)
iii. Describe workshop plan and evaluate each workshop after its been conducted (weekly)
iv. Analyze themes in critique that has arisen from workshops at end of term (Dec/Jan)
4) Selection of contemporary practitioners for case studies 8 weeks
i. Review contemporary companies on VLP website (complete)
ii. Attend performances in London (ongoing)
iii. Select companies for deeper review (Dec)
• Access to information on group, documentation of performances
Aims (outline the purpose, scope, visions and ambition of your plan of work)
Research
1. Conduct a brief historical survey of avant garde performance
2. Select and begin analysis of 3-4 contemporary performance groups who work across disciplines, and who use improvisation to devise performances and/or incorporate improvisation into the final piece
3. Review the practices of a range of solo artists/performers who incorporate multiple disciplines into their work.
Practice
1. Explore an interdisciplinary solo performance practice
2. Begin to conduct improvisation-based workshops with artists from different backgrounds
2 Objectives (The expected objectives leading towards the learning outcomes of the unit)
Research
1. The historical survey will allow me to more clearly explain the lineage that my work is part of. I also hope to learn more specifics about techniques used throughout avant garde performance to give me a solid framework upon which to build new exercises that will translate well into a contemporary interdisciplinary performance.
2. Case studies of contemporary groups will give me some models currently in practice to help situate myself within contemporary practice, either aligning with or reacting against trends that come up. Focussing on a few groups instead of doing an overview survey will also give me insight into how companies present their work to the outside world and how it is critiqued.
3. Looking at solo performers will give me inspiration for exploring a solo performance practice that draws on my training in several disciplines, and ideas for engaging the audience when there is only one person to focus on.
Practice
1. Solo practice will give me another perspective on how the techniques I am developing for the workshops translate when applied to another performance mode. I will also be able to determine whether I would like to develop a solo performance practice in its own right or if it is simply a useful tool for a deeper understanding of exercises that I will be sharing with others.
2. The weekly workshops will give me experience in running workshops, explore modes of creative expression available in a performance context, test out exercises that come out of my research to see if they translate well to a group of artists from mixed backgrounds and/or are good at fostering a strong, collaborative group dynamic. At the end of this term, I would like to have a stronger sense of a good progression of exercises to use in workshops so that I can focus on devising a final performance with a group of artists who are serious about participating in this performance.
3 The Plan of Work describing the principal stages and timescale of the work
1) Historical survey 3-4 weeks
i. Determine initial bibliography and start reading (in progress)
ii. Locate any visual reference that could be useful in development of practice (ongoing)
iii. Develop outline highlighting key themes, moments, movements, artists that are particularly relevant to my practice (Dec)
2) Solo performance 6 weeks
i. Determine list of solo artists to explore further (in progress)
ii. Sketch ideas that spring from research, workshops & lectures (ongoing)
iii. Weekly dedicated practice time to try out ideas (ongoing)
iv. Outline themes and issues that have arisen from practice and research (Dec/Jan)
3) Group Workshops 7 weeks
i. Evaluate techniques from ongoing research (historical, contemporary & solo practice)
ii. Develop workshop plans for weekly workshops with an informal group of artists (weekly)
iii. Describe workshop plan and evaluate each workshop after its been conducted (weekly)
iv. Analyze themes in critique that has arisen from workshops at end of term (Dec/Jan)
4) Selection of contemporary practitioners for case studies 8 weeks
i. Review contemporary companies on VLP website (complete)
ii. Attend performances in London (ongoing)
iii. Select companies for deeper review (Dec)
• Access to information on group, documentation of performances
Monday, 12 November 2007
The Visual Language of a sound artist.
This was a weekend of experimental music. Started on Friday with a trip to the ICA for the first night of the "Atlantic Waves" festival which was being put on as part of the Wire's 25th anniversary. Full house for 3 sets that took solo artists and put them together for live improvisations. Two of the sets had video. The last video set wasn't bad, (I got to meet the artist at a gig on Sunday, but for some reason was confused and thought he had performed on Saturday...). This photo below is of one of the artists he performed with, but I don't think the visuals are his. The image is more to illustrate the vibe at these things...
I thought the best set was the second one without any visuals. There wasn't anything inherently more gripping about the stage presence of this group. What was effective was that they chose to perform in near darkness. There was a little bit of blue light, a dull glow off the video screen, and the light from some of the laptops. This cut a beautiful silhouette of their shapes, which was nice to look at when you felt like opening your eyes, but otherwise clearly instructed the audience members to listen. Paul commented afterwards that his mind had wandered in and out of listening to the music, but when it wandered it ended up thinking the most creative thoughts. The same thing had happened to me!
On Sunday, we went to a church in Islington and heard more experimental music. Most of the musicians at this gig were playing accoustic instruments or home-made electronics (as opposed to laptop). They also seemed to have more presence as performers overall. Joao (the video artist from Friday) was playing a bell for one set and at a point, he decided it would be a good idea to wander around the church with the bell creating a nice visual and aural effect. There was also a double bass player who was incredible to watch. His body was intensely engaged in his playing and he had a manner to his movement that almost made it look like a dance duet between the double bass and himself. Particularly effective because the double bass is about the same size as a person. Musicians like this are what I think of when I hear the word "embodiment". He and his instrument were one entity and playing it was like breathing to him. I could've watched him play for hours. And he seemed like he could have played for days.
Don't have his name with me at the moment. Will update this when I do. Please kick me for not introducing myself and getting his contact info.
I'm need to briefly rant about boring visuals and lack of stage presence at these types of events. I often sense that reclusive musicians might think that video will allow them to get lost in the visuals or distract the audience from looking at them when in fact, the video is making the audience watch more intently. I've worked with alot of shy musicians and we usually end up figuring out how they could "hide" better, including putting a dancer in front of the screen so the focus will be on them. Now, of course, I'd like to work with musicians who want to find more interesting ways to deal with being on stage and work towards a sense that everything happening between performers, instruments, technology, etc is a coherent whole. Maybe it's improvised, but there's an intention to communicate a total experience to the audience. (Golly, what do I mean by that? Gonna leave it in anyway.)
I thought the best set was the second one without any visuals. There wasn't anything inherently more gripping about the stage presence of this group. What was effective was that they chose to perform in near darkness. There was a little bit of blue light, a dull glow off the video screen, and the light from some of the laptops. This cut a beautiful silhouette of their shapes, which was nice to look at when you felt like opening your eyes, but otherwise clearly instructed the audience members to listen. Paul commented afterwards that his mind had wandered in and out of listening to the music, but when it wandered it ended up thinking the most creative thoughts. The same thing had happened to me!
On Sunday, we went to a church in Islington and heard more experimental music. Most of the musicians at this gig were playing accoustic instruments or home-made electronics (as opposed to laptop). They also seemed to have more presence as performers overall. Joao (the video artist from Friday) was playing a bell for one set and at a point, he decided it would be a good idea to wander around the church with the bell creating a nice visual and aural effect. There was also a double bass player who was incredible to watch. His body was intensely engaged in his playing and he had a manner to his movement that almost made it look like a dance duet between the double bass and himself. Particularly effective because the double bass is about the same size as a person. Musicians like this are what I think of when I hear the word "embodiment". He and his instrument were one entity and playing it was like breathing to him. I could've watched him play for hours. And he seemed like he could have played for days.
Don't have his name with me at the moment. Will update this when I do. Please kick me for not introducing myself and getting his contact info.
I'm need to briefly rant about boring visuals and lack of stage presence at these types of events. I often sense that reclusive musicians might think that video will allow them to get lost in the visuals or distract the audience from looking at them when in fact, the video is making the audience watch more intently. I've worked with alot of shy musicians and we usually end up figuring out how they could "hide" better, including putting a dancer in front of the screen so the focus will be on them. Now, of course, I'd like to work with musicians who want to find more interesting ways to deal with being on stage and work towards a sense that everything happening between performers, instruments, technology, etc is a coherent whole. Maybe it's improvised, but there's an intention to communicate a total experience to the audience. (Golly, what do I mean by that? Gonna leave it in anyway.)
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