Our performance was on Saturday 4th May 2013 at 3:30pm, overall it went extremely well and we had many positive comments afterwards. I believe the use of us using our own car to speed up to the gallery and speed away from the gallery really startled the audience who were gathered outside and I overheard one audience member say ‘oh wow its started’, this really highlighted we were smuggling something into the gallery and it needed to happen quickly. The audience then followed us into the gallery which worked really well as it drew the attention from many members of the public who seemed to be extremely confused and worried about what was going on. The music was already playing when we went into the room which had already meant there were some members of the public waiting to see what was going to happen. The construction of ‘The Big Ben’ went incredibly smoothly and all of our practicing has really paid off. Once the Big Ben started to chime on our soundscape we took of our balaclavas and began acting completely differently like sophisticated ladies from the 1920s and walking around the clock as if we had no idea how it had got there. I believe this would have brought comedic elements to the audience members who were there the whole time, but for the audience members who had not seen how the sculpture had got there it may have led to confusion which is what we wanted to happen. Once we had given away our balaclavas to get ‘rid of any evidence’ we then left the gallery slowly and as if we had done nothing wrong. We left the ‘Big Ben’ standing and did not return until the gallery had closed to create more of an impact. This was our aim to let members of the audience and public have a proper look at the ‘Big Ben’ we had created and to leave them wondering if anything else was going to happen. Furthermore our costumes looked shocking as the outfit was a huge contrast, we had flapper like dresses on which women wore during the 1920s, with big work boots and balaclavas. It worked really well as it again added to the ‘shock’ factor of what was going on and once we had taken of our balaclavas we were able to play completely different characters. Overall as a group we were really happy with our piece and the reviews we received after, the idea worked very well and the ‘Big Ben’ looked remarkable once it all came together. Below are some photos from the performance and rehearsals.
Jade, Lacey and Fotini next to the completed Big Ben
During rehearsals, practicing putting up the Big Ben was a struggle at times when we did not have very high ceilings.
One of the four clock faces
