Category: Research

Pussy Riot

Lacey Cole / / Cultural Terrorists, Inspiration, Research

Whilst considering costume and props for our performance piece, we came to the realisation that in fact some elements of our piece could be likened to that of feminist collective, Pussy Riot. Having decided that balaclavas would be a great statement against 1920’s era flapper dresses for costume, it dawned on us that we had seen something similar on the news in relation to the Russian group. Pussy Riot is known for their provocative performances in public places, similar to those of Lone Twin, a collective from which we have taken great inspiration. More recently, however, Pussy Riot has been widely spoken about on the news, due to the arrest of some of their members. There is now an ongoing campaign to free the women, which is discussed in the below video.

 

Currently two of the members are in prison on charges of ‘hooliganism’, after a performance inside a church during which they condemned the re-election of President Putin in 2012 whilst wearing brightly coloured clothing and balaclavas. This idea of guerrilla-like terrorism is something that obviously has influenced our piece, however whilst Pussy Riot uses their statement clothing and music to portray a very political message, it is our hope that the construction we are creating will lead to something more of a personal realisation for those who view it. Instead of outward discussion of others, we want people to think about themselves and really connect to their roots in terms of their personal historical influences. In this way, whilst connecting to Lincoln as the root of piece, we also want to bring in our personal histories as it were, with the realisation of a building that is effectively the centre of the largest city in the United Kingdom.

pussy riot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pussy Riot band members

Author: Lacey Cole.

Lone Twin

Lacey Cole / / Cultural Terrorists, Inspiration, Research

Having settled upon an idea and concept for our piece, we thought we’d explain more about the group from whom we took inspiration, namely, Lone Twin. Whilst reading about Lone Twin and their works in Making a Performance, we were interested to read that many ‘artists may also clearly identify themselves as outsiders within a space’ (Govan, Nicholson and Normington 2007, p.125). Being that we ourselves are not ‘locals’ in the traditional sense of the word in Lincoln, it becomes interesting to consider our place instead as strangers, in the Gallery as well as the city itself and its history. Instead of just focusing on the history of the site, we have decided to combine our own histories and city (London) with that of Lincoln. By making our ‘otherness’ obvious, we hope the audience will also be compelled to think about their roots and history.

By effectively sneaking London into the Gallery via a sculpture, costume and a soundscape (fingers crossed), we hope to make the locals and tourists to the area consider their own histories differently. We are not locals to Lincoln, but neither are we complete strangers to the area, and Lone Twin seems to confront this idea head on, with the concept that the artist ‘is both from here and not from here’ (Govan 2007, p.125). While we live in Lincoln, it seems our time here is limited to the three years we will spend on our degrees. Thus, Big Ben and the chimes of the clock are doubly appropriate as it signals both us running out of time in Lincoln as well as the history of the Usher Gallery. We plan on incorporating the chimes of Big Ben into our soundscape along with background noise similar to that of a busy street in London.

Lone Twin have done numerous public pieces, including one entitled Walk With Me, Walk With Me, Will Somebody Please Walk With Me (2002). Throughout the piece, the group ‘remains sensitive to the stories that constitute that space’ (Govan 2007, p.126). This idea seemed central to the thesis of site specific, and also intertwined with our previous knowledge of Lone Twin as a group that moved from space to space whilst considering the ‘placelessness’ of the artist, which we felt related to us personally. As we have previously discussed, we want to include elements of modernity with the history of the space, in keeping with the site specific practice. Considering these elements, Lone Twin seemed perfect as a group to take inspiration from.

Street Dance

Lone Twin’s Street Dance

Author: Lacey Cole.

References : Govan, Emma, Helen Nicholson and Katie Normington (2007) Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices, Oxon: Routledge.

BREAKING NEWS: A Corpse is Found in a Gallery

Eloise Grace Henshaw / / Nova Inventa, Public Responses, Research, Space

5th feb

This was the week in which we decided to really try and focus on what our objectives were as a group in order to begin to build a foundation for our performance.

Here’s what our initial idea was:

Our aim is to take an interesting space created by architectural structure and explore the way in which we may turn it in to something passers-by will notice.  We want to look at the concealed areas around the museum and expose them. Our aim is to make places that would usually be passed by noticed by the public.

Aim: Make the Audience pay Attention to details!

 

THEMES FOR OUR PERFORMANCE

Consciousness

EXPOSURE

Make the audience KNOW what our aim is

Obscure view of the gallery itself

METHODS IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE CLEAR OVERVIEW:

TALK TO STAFF

Everyday staff, ask for their view

FIND MORE SPACES

OUTCOME:

We managed to use our time asking the members of staff around the collection

–        Did your perception of the building change as you began to see it on a daily basis?

‘Yes, everyday when you come in you notice something slightly different with the space around you as there are frequent changes in the art found in the gallery. I guess that has a lot to do with some ones perception as each piece of art can be seen as changing the space in which it inhabits.’

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–        What is the most interesting space in the building

‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed the way in which the cathedral is framed in the entrance hall. It is almost breath taking, although I do worry sometimes it goes to waste as people walk past and don’t seem to look up and notice it. In my opinion, the window itself is a work of art.’

–        Which piece of art draws the most attention?

‘Generally, the more contemporary art, for example the stuffed tights and the gnome made out of cigarettes seem to attract the most attention as people see its obscurity and are forced to ask the question, is this art?’

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–        What is the most drastic reaction someone has had to a work of art?

‘On a day to day basis, there aren’t usually any reactions that are out of the ordinary as it is always interesting to hear people’s views, but recently we have had an installation put in place in the usher gallery which depicts the body of an artist as a dead man, lying face down on the gallery floor. Last week some time, a visitor came across the installation and fainted due to its incredible life-like features.’

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^ Not for the faint-hearted!

 I found it helpful to talk to the staff as it was useful to have an insight in to the way in which becoming familiar with a space may alter someone’s perception.

 

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See you soon!

Author: Ellie Henshaw

Word Count: 447

Pearson Site Specific Visitation

Jade Nicholls / / Cultural Terrorists, Development, Experimentation, Research, Space

Pearson wrote a book on Site Specific on how to get into the frame of mind as an actor working on a completely different site from a theatre. It entails going to many different places and asking yourself the same questions at each place, for example, ‘Who am I and what am I doing?’, ‘What are the conditions of my access’. On our very first site specific lesson we went around Lincoln and asked ourselves these numerous questions, this was relatively easy as we went to places we had been many times before. However when we first went up to the Usher gallery and done the same thing it became a lot more interesting as we were challenged with the questions and it made us explore the site we were about to spend many weeks rehearsing and finally performing in in a lot of detail. Pearson also states you should become different types of people or characters, for example when walking around a certain site turn yourself into a Tourist, someone who is new to the place. Another example is to turn yourself into a Runner; these tasks and activities really helped us explore the environment we were working in and made us notice a lot of things we previously would not have. It also meant when we chose where our performance was going to be we were definite and had done enough research and wondering around the gallery before making our final decision.

The Effects of Time

Stephanie Jackson / / Possessed Time, Research, Video Research

Museums are all about preserving artefacts, and within Gallery 3 we noticed the two plastic pineapples amongst the crockery on display. This led us to explore the idea of decomposition and how time affects living organisms, as our piece focuses on the concept of time in many forms.

Whilst researching we discovered a video of a rabbit decomposing, and we found the concept of the video interesting due to the time lapse. 

 

From this we researched fruit decomposition and how we could incorporate it into our piece and our space. It links well because of the pineapple on display and the notion of time in the room. We found a video of a strawberry decomposing which also involved a clock in the process, reinforcing the concept of the effect of time.

 

Our research has inspired us to create our own video of a pineapple decomposing and then projecting it onto the gallery wall. We think that this will be effective as it reminds the audience of the effects of time in a visual way adding an interesting dimension to our piece on time.

 

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