Possessed Time – Page 6 – The Collection Of…

Public Responses to our Explorations of Gallery 3

Stephanie Jackson / February 21, 2013May 12, 2013 / Possessed Time, Public Responses

During the development of our performance work, we explored our space through practical activities. This involved walking around Gallery 3, in different ways; firstly at our own paces naturalistically, then moving more mechanically to the sound of the gallery’s clocks, each time passing a small ball subtly between us only when our paths crossed.

Whilst carrying out this work, many members of the public came into our space as they visited the gallery. It was interesting to see how they reacted to what we were doing, as the gallery is a small space so everything in it is brought to an audiences attention. The members of the public not only became spectators of our work, but also became part of our work, as they walked amongst us. It raises the question of ‘who is the performer?’ as we were doing the same basic action of walking around a space, that the public were doing- albeit in a more structured way. This reminded me of the company Lone Twin and their work ‘Walk with Me’, in which their journeys were accompanied by local people who walked with them to various places. Obviously our work was confined to a much smaller and confined space.An interesting article I found during research states the following:

“It is a general term that the audience is co-present in a performance. The performer shares the same space, the same time and the same air with the present members of the audience. In a theatre piece these facts are similar but normally the actors have their “stage” or their character which they incorporate to distant themselves from the viewer. In performance art there is no distance: The performer is the subject and object of his or her own piece of art and also involves the audience into this multi-layered relationship.”

(Helge Meyer, Audience as Participant in Performance Art, 2009)

This demonstrates the difference between an audience in a more conventional theatrical experience to a performance art like site specific. With our work taking place in the Usher Gallery, our audience will be members of the public, some of whom will not be expecting us in the space. Some of the questions our group need to address include things like:

What kind of audience might there be on a Saturday in the Gallery? (more children? more families?) -This will change the reaction to our piece. Also if it becomes busier, then the space will become smaller for us to work with, which might pose a difficulty for us.
How will the audience enter our space? – two doors into the Gallery. But close one off to make it even more claustrophobic?
Will the audience be able to interact with our work? – are we manipulating the way they move around the space?

During our practical activity, some members of the public adopted a typical British approach of not acknowledging us at all. They accepted our movements in the space as ‘normal’, and focused their attentions solely on the gallerys display cabinets. Whereas others paused to observe us before entering the gallery, perhaps hesitant on whether they were allowed in, and intrigued by our silent exploration of the space.

It was interesting to observe how one lady, when stepping out of the gallery, raised her arms above her head, as if the gallery had contained her and she was now back in a space where she felt much more freedom. I asked several members of the public, how they felt when entering the gallery. Two ladies stated how they felt immediate discomfort because of the darkness of the room, and the low ceiling, that is so different to the rest of the Usher Gallery. However, they told me their attitude to the room soon changed with the longer they were in there. They accepted us into the space as though we were part of the display itself. What surprised me most about their response was how they didn’t notice the sound of the clocks, until I mentioned it and made them listen.

I learnt from these public responses, how each person has a different perception of a space and the things in it. Also duration seems to be an important part of the experience in that space, as the longer you are in there, then the more accustomed you come to its presence. As we add more performance elements to our piece and explore our ideas, I think we will begin to notice things in the space that initially we might have missed. Audience is vital and the sooner we identify how we want the audience to react or participate in our piece, then I think our work will become a lot more effective.

These are aspects which we can explore and develop as our research continues.

Works Cited

http://www.performance-art-research.de/texts/audience-as-participant_helge-meyer.pdf

Like Clockwork

George Creighton / February 14, 2013February 26, 2013 / Possessed Time, Public Responses, Research, Space, Video Research

“In order to help us focus our copious amounts of ideas, we needed to find a way to get the project on its feet. Correlating with our fascination with the clock in gallery 3, it had to be an exercise that would involve everyone constantly, and producing a mechanical like performance. I decided that although it was a small space and we had spent several hours in it, we needed to look at it in a more performance base way. This was the reasoning behind each person walking around freely, although with the intention of covering as much ground as possible. As well as this we passed a ball around linking our separate entities together. Furthermore reflecting back to the mechanism of a clock, bringing seperate things together and making them work effortlessly, which we intended each transfer to be.

Each time we did the exercise we added a different discpline, whether it be the way we move or the way we passed the ball.

The exercise took 6 minutes to do. Our performance is intending to be six hours long so in theory it could be a microcosm of the final performance.

Can you keep up with the ball?”

Author: Shane Humberstone

For our first attempt, this was a more natural movement, exploring the space with the only artificial element being passing the ball between us. This was used to help us engage with the space and interact with each other. We felt that this was useful as it showed us what it was like to work as part of a unit whilst still moving naturally, much like the mechanics of a clocks interior.

We then experimented with the concept of bio-mechanics whic included moving our bodies in time with the monotonous rhythm of a ticking clock. This made us consider the possibility of a more regulated piece, dominated by time and having time dictate our movements to us. The videos also show the reactions of an audience surprised by an experience they were not expecting. Several individuals were hesitant in entering the room, whilst others did not do so at all.

The final endeavour was one which was completely at odds with the first, in so far that it was mechanical, utterly devoid of natural movement and totally regulated. We found this to be useful as it challenged our previous conceptions of the space, forcing us to move differently and observe aspects of the room and displays we had hitherto ignored.

After our excercise, we interviewed members of the public who had briefly observed our performance. It was intriguing to hear their response to how the use of sound in the room did not distract from our visual display but was still recognised. They also said how the darkness of the room helped to channel their attention on to the performance. One individual compared our use of the concept of time with their own performance of an Ibsen text, also correlating with time. He explained how his exploration of the text included a coordination between human movement and the ticking of a clock.

Authors: Chloe Doherty, George Creighton, James Barker, Tabitha Hilton-Berry, Stephanie Jackson

‘Something Wonderful..’

Chloe Doherty / February 12, 2013May 13, 2013 / Possessed Time, Research

When entering ‘Gallery 3′ of The Usher Gallery, although it may go unnoticed, a faint ticking sound plays as the public view the art behind the glass casing. The sound is played from a small stereo hidden above James Ushers’ personalised pocket watch collection, which instinctively draws you towards the clockwork display.

The sound being part of Liverpool based duo Jonathan Raisin and Elizabeth Willow’s Something Wonderful event. As part of this event, Raisin and Willow intended to “include overlooked or forgotten places and objects” (Fish, E, 2012) into their work. By adding a soundtrack to a room which can be overlooked so easily draws much more attention to it, causing the public to focus in on things that they may not have noticed before. The duo were inspired by “things lost and found, second-hand objects, overheard conversations and snatches of sound, fragments, glimpses and everyday normality as well as strangeness” (Lincolnshireonereviews, 2012). The particular ‘snatch’ of sound which they placed in The Usher Gallery is attached:

Raisin and Willow – Something Wonderful

Due to the circumstantial playing of the stereo in The Usher Gallery, it is easy to mistake the rooms ‘soundtrack’ to be the sound of the pocket watches ticking away from behind their cabinets, as the sound coupled with the aesthetics of the room causes our minds to jump to that conclusion. So, what I would really like to know are your thoughts on Raisin and Willow’s Something Wonderful?, how does it make you feel when it’s separated from the imagery of a clock?

Author: Chloe Doherty

Work Cited:– Fish, E (2012) Something Wonderful, Online: http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/11/artists-give-their-views-on-lincolnshires-best-bits/ (accessed 12 February 2013)
– Lincolnshireonereviews (1012) Raisin and Willow’s Something Wonderful, Online: http://lincolnshireonevenues.com/commissioning-projects/raisin-willows-something-wonderful/ (accessed 12 February 2013)

Gallery 3

Tabitha Hilton-Berry / February 12, 2013May 6, 2013 / Possessed Time, Public Responses, Research, Space

On first visit to The Usher Gallery, we felt gallery 3 had the most potential as a performance space due to its contrast to the other rooms in the building. All the other rooms in The Usher are light, airy and traditionally decorated, whereas gallery 3 is dark, enclosed and contemporary.

We found that there are many fascinating aspects about this particular room, one of which being that the items on display are withheld from their intended purpose because they are in glass cases. The items here are practical but with artistic value, as opposed to other features in the gallery such as the oil paintings and sculptures.

Left: Tea set collection in Gallery 3

The Usher Gallery as a whole displays many items from James Usher’s personal clock collection, most of which appear in gallery 3. As you enter the room, the first thing you see is the Grandfather clock and the pocket watch collection, this is such a dominant feature in the room that it influenced our ideas for a performance focusing on time, in this space.

IMG-20130212-WA0004 Left: Grandfather clock Left: Pocket watch collection

The lack of natural light means the only perception of time in the room is from the clocks, this makes it ideal for a performance on time as we can manipulate how time is perceived.

The room is midnight blue colour and has a very low ceiling creating an enclosed and compact space to work in. The fact it is a room built within a room makes it feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable, which is an aspect we would like the audience to experience whilst watching our piece. The contemporary style of the room is unusual to be in a Georgian building, this intrigued us and was our inspiration to perform here.

Initial Response to ‘The Collection’ and ‘The Usher Gallery’

Chloe Doherty / January 25, 2013March 5, 2013 / Possessed Time, Research, Space

After finding out our chosen site, we decided to visit The Collection as a member of the public to gain a firsthand understanding of the space. Whilst there, we explored the current ‘Past to Present’ exhibition and this inspired the beginnings of our ideas for possibly creating a piece focusing around the progression of time. A stand-out feature of this exhibition was the ‘Languages from the Past’ audio talk, which elaborated on different readings from Lincolnshire’s past. The use of headphones was a departure from the traditional museum experience. This ingenuity reminds us of the work of Janet Cardiff and inspired us towards the idea of incorporating audio and other sensory stimulants, moving our piece away from a purely visual field.

When exiting the exhibition, we noticed a faint whispering, only later to discover speakers integrated within the walls. We found this to be an interesting device to capture visitor’s attention without overpowering the rest of the exhibition.

The museum, however, was only half of our designated site so we ventured across to The Usher Gallery. This was an inspiring place with a number of contrasting exhibits; ranging from the classical statues of antiquity to a modern photographic interpretation of an African-American ‘Last Supper’.

‘The Last Supper’ by Faisal Abdu’Allah 2003

Incorporated in between these era’s, were representations of British arts featuring pastoral scenes. One particularly intriguing feature was the 1795 ‘Pineapple Dish’. The fact that something we consider as common and everyday as the pineapple was seen as exotic and important enough to have its own item of specific crockery, highlights how perspective can change over the passage of time.

L: ‘Pineapple Dish’ by William ‘Quaker’ Pegg 1795

The idea of time is something which was highlighted as the one constant throughout the Usher Gallery; almost every room featured some form of clock or timepiece. This triggered the idea of time as an abstract concept as opposed to something which we can attempt to define on the face of a clock. This led us to using the notion of time as a stimulus for our piece, focusing on the various perceptions of time such as: a historical epoch, something quantified by the use of watches and clocks, the aesthetics of both the inner and outer workings, and the way in which time can be used as a healer but equally recognized as a force of decay.

Authors: Chloe Doherty, James Barker, Shane Humberstone, Tabitha Hilton-Berry