This week our group met at the cafe and discussed and experimented with some ideas developing from our main aim of putting on an exhibition outside the cafe. One of our ideas was to portray the quotes we have heard from the visitors of the cafe on the steps outside the cafe with chalk. However, from trying this out we realised it didn’t look as clear or effective as we imagined and as a result, developed this idea of using the text on a cafe menu whilst Jennie and Gabriel recite the quotes they have heard which contrasts the subtle with the obvious.
Another idea was for me to stand or sit in a glass box drinking tea to symbolise the people in the cafe are shut off from everyone else and unobservant of the other people in the cafe. It would also make the visitors of our exhibition observe the visitor in the cafe just as we have been doing on a weekly basis. However, we were unable to get permission to use one of the glass cases which the Collection gallery owns as they are too expensive and are already used for displaying artefacts in the museum. Therefore we decided to use a black wooded platform instead and represent the staff in the cafe as the staff are just as important as the customers in the observation of the cafe. As a result, it made me think whilst we were occupied observing and focusing on the customers we didn’t pay attention to the staff and therefore having me dressed as a staff member on a platform quoting things we’ve heard them saying, it makes the visitors of our exhibition notice them too.
As we are exhibiting things from the cafe, such as a cake stand holding cupcakes and a tea set in a glass plinth, we also tried to think of other things we could represent from the cafe. The main one we realised was the menu which is written on massive chalkboard inside the cafe. Therefore we have created our own chalkboard to write our own specials on for our performance. For example, it may read ‘Today’s specials are: Gabriel talking to himself as the reader, Jennie talking to herself as the working man, Francesca stood on a platform’. This therefore uses the same device of the cafe but has our own twist on it.
Another initial idea we had was to put lettering on the windows of the cafe and the education room to show ‘the observation’ and ‘the mimic’. As materials for this were hard to find for example plastic window lettering, we decided to make our own out of A4 coloured card and laminate it to make it look professional. The coloured card reflects the colours of the education room and makes the words stand out from the tinted windows, especially as the actions in the education window will need to be made aware of and obvious to the visitors who may not notice Shellie and Holly otherwise. The bright, large colours will also contrast with the subtle actions from me Gabriel and Jennie.
Throughout our rehearsals and planning process, trying to access ladders to put up string to connect the cafe and education room buildings to mirror the image in the painting, ‘Bound By Love’ had proved difficult. Unfortunately, even though the painting was one of our first inspirations for our piece, we decided it would be too much of a risk to attempt to do it on the day of our performance without any trial runs and we actually realised the string would not be necessary anymore as it no longer connected with the rest of our piece.