Public Responses – Page 3 – 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

The Instagram Approach…

Samantha Mckenzie / February 13, 2013April 20, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Development, Public Responses

On initial viewing of the Painting- ‘The Brayford Pool and Lincoln Cathedral’ (1858) hanging in The Usher Gallery, my group and I saw great beauty, artistic flare and appreciated the feeling of going back in time and visiting what Lincoln once was. We intended to create our performance based on these differences and the culture change in Lincoln. After some further discussion we realised we needed some outside perspective and during our time spent in the Usher Gallery in class we asked various different people their opinions of the painting. We recieved a lot of positive responses about how beautiful it was, and how well the cathedral is captured as well as the busyness portrayed in the painting and how precise the detail is. However we then questioned one gentleman who gave us much more negative feedback. He spoke about how flat the painting was, saying it was lifeless and unrealistic. We took these comments in our stride but still feeling positive about our views and ideas. We then had an interesting discussion with a woman who had a varied view. She mentioned the busyness in the painting, how well the light was captured and questioned whether the cathedral was to be the focul point because it comes accross very poignant. She then began to question the honesty of the painting, saying it looks like a photograph, the swans all seem perfectly placed, everyone is well dressed and the boats are in good condition. ‘Surely it woudln’t be this perfect’ she said. We then realised we hadn’t read in full the small sign next to the painting on which the full title and description of the painting is written. It states clearly that the painting was an idealised image and the swans and fishermen were painted in for this reason. This turned our whole view of the painting on its head and twisted our vision. We then began to consider our performance being an unveiling of what the painting should look like and also a presentation of our opinions of the dishonesty of the painting and the era in which it was painted. It’s interesting to link this to todays society and when you really think about it, do we ever actually see the ‘real’ thing? Or is it a photoshopped version? Is it something people want us to see? Even when we take photographs of ourselves or of somehting which is already beautiful we edit, we crop and we criticise. Much like the well known iphone app called Instagram; the place where everything looks better than it actually is and a plate of beans on toast is made to look like a masterpiece. We have the option to filter a photograph and edit out any imperfections that might make it unique, so we do it, and then it looks like any other Instagram post; all the same.

This photograph is one I have taken of two swans spontaneously posing in a heart shaped position, taken on the Brayford pool. The background isn’t the most beautiful and the water isn’t the cleanest but the image of the swans is still beautiful.

This is the same photograph after I have edited it on Instagram and instantly it is more attractive and inviting. Anything ugly about the picture has been dismissed, the reflection in the water is clear and the image is a much more beatiful one. But it isn’t real, it has been altered just so it is more pleasing to the eye. Without anything in the photgraph but the swans, it could have been taken anywhere as long as this image was captured.

So when you really think about it, it’s as if the artist of ‘The Brayford Pool and Lincoln Cathedral’ has instagramed the painting to make something that was probably quite average in to a master piece, and something people really want to see.

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.