Video Research – The Collection Of…

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Chloe Doherty / May 13, 2013May 13, 2013 / Inspiration, Possessed Time, Research, Video Research

“All rooted in an interest to make work that brings together theatre and the visual arts in a single unified vision” (Station House Opera, 2013).

Station House Opera are a site specific orientated theatre company based in the United Kingdom. When looking over their archived work, the thing which I found the most intriguing was their extensive use of multi-media, as it was something which we experimented within our piece. The pieces of work which I found particularly fascinating when comparing them to ours were that of their Ultramundane, Snakes and Ladders and Backwards.

Ultramudane (1983).

Ultramundane’s intention was to present the public with an “inversion of the world” (Station House Opera, 1983) which they know so well. They intended for their performers to be “physically together yet dramatically separate, for they belonged to different parts of the landscape” (1983). This is something which we experimented with within our site specific performance. Although we were all close in proximity, we were apart in terms of aesthetical ease. The costumes we used represented a specific part of the day, so each ‘character’ would make sense at one point during the day, whilst the remaining five would continue to look out of place until they had found their specific ‘setting’. This parallels Station House Opera’s idea of characters belonging to different parts of the landscape.

Snakes and Ladders (1998).

Their use of multimedia appears to be most present in their 1998 production Snakes and Ladders. Snakes and Ladders “traced the external signs of an invisible dialogue between mind and matter” (Station House Opera, 1998). The performers on stage were accompanied by doubles of themselves presented in a video projection format. This is similar to the fact that we used ourselves to create our human clock projection, as we are essentially removing the ‘characters’ from world, into another. By mixing the virtual world with the actual you see two different interpretations of a person. In the recreated image you see a person who can not experience emotion or danger, but in the actual world you see the aftermath, the effects on the performers.

Backwards (2010).

One of their more recent works Backwards (2010) explores the notion of time, with a particularly strong focus on the notion of the distorted. “Do we believe in progress? Do we have evidence that humans improve? Evolution may operate in time, but our sensibilities do not. We must no longer see the world as one damn thing after another” (Station House Opera, 2010). We explored a similar issue within our performance, hoping that watching us would cause the audience to ask themselves similar questions to those seen above. Backwards starts at the end of a day and reverses back to the start whereas in our piece, we start at the beginning of a day but speed it up, condensing it into 6 hours opposed to 24.

Another piece of work which I found to be inspiring is Christian Marclay’s The Clock. “A 24-hour montage of thousands of film and television clips with glimpses of clocks, watches, and snatches of people saying what time it is” (Bradshaw, 2011). The interesting thing about this installation is that whenever the time is shown on screen, it is in fact accurate.

“When I first arrived, I found myself giving a little amused laugh at each appearance of the time. Then the novelty wore off and I became silent” (Bradshaw, 2011). A similar process happened with our installation piece, at first it may have seemed vaguely amusing as the audience had not yet grasped the concept of what we were creating. But, after a short time in the space, much like what Bradshaw has stated, you become mesmerised by the notion and do indeed fall to silence. Throughout Marclay’s The Clock, the image of a clock was not always blindingly present all of the time, sometimes it appeared as a background shot or even an afterthought. This is comparable to the use of the human clock and decomposing pineapple in our performance. Although it is the visuals that draw you in initially, they become a part of the background as the action develops. Another interesting point which Bradshaw makes is that the longer he spent in the space the more fictional the clock became, “I stopped noticing that they were telling me exactly what the time actually was” (2011). Having spoken to audience members about our piece post-production, our use of the concept of time appeared to have a very similar effect. Once you accept that you are embarking on a journey with the actors, much as they do, you lose your grasp on both time and reality.

Author: Chloe Doherty

Work Cited:
– Station House Opera (2012) Station House Opera (online) Available at: http://www.stationhouseopera.com/ (Accessed on 12 May 2013).
– Bradshaw, P (2011) Christian Marclay’s The Clock: a masterpiece of our times (online) Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/apr/07/christian-marclay-the-clock (Accessed 12 May 2013).

Post-Performance Reflection

Chloe Doherty / May 5, 2013May 13, 2013 / Development, Possessed Time, Public Responses, Video Research

Having completed our durational piece of theatre at The Usher Gallery yesterday, it can be said that our project, for the most part, was successful. Here’s a snippet of our finished product:

The movements within the secion you see above are both relatable and inspired by dance practioner Yvonne Rainer. Rainer was known for the way in which she “threw herself into a kind of anti-dance which favoured banal movements, non-expression, randomness and disconnectedness”(Roy, 2010). She focussed on the mundane movements of everyday life, much like the concepts which we experimented with throughout our piece.

As we intended, each audience member had a different experience from one another depending on what time in the day they visited Gallery 3. Our performance ran for 6 hours, after every hour slot the mechanical movement which the actors ‘performed’ would change, whilst two projections ran consistently.

These were that of a pineapple on a constant cycle of decomposition and rebirth and the countdown of a 24 hour human clock:

Pineapple projection in Gallery 3

Initially we decided to project a pineapple due to the fact that our gallery of choice already had two very quaint, porcelain pineapple dishes on show. As we developed this idea it became apparent that the fast paced decomposition of the pineapple made a beautiful contrast to that of the slower paced human clock. Although the image of the pineapple appeared somewhat distorted projected onto the back wall of the gallery, it helped to represent how our piece shows how misconstrued the nature of time itself can be when presented as an abstract concept. Looking back how effective our use of decomposition, while we felt that the image worked effectively, we still could have made much more this. If we were to create a projection similar to this again, I would like to decompose the pineapple over a longer period of time to show a clearer definition between the decomposition and the rebirth. It would also be interesting to see how the projection would have been percieved with the use of a fade opposed to that of a flash between images.

Projection of Human Clock on the doors of Gallery 3

The Human Clock projection was set to countdown by one minute every 15 seconds. In order to fit 24 hours into a 6 hour day, the time period which it is set in must be warped. The white clothing used in the filming of the human clock showed up incredibly well in comparison to the midnight blue door that it was being projected onto, making the image all the more powerful. With both of our projections in mind, we effectively managed to create a multi media installation; some entered the room to look directly at the images, whilst some merely stood by the door watching from a far. (See previous blog posts ‘The Pineapple Experiment’ and ‘Human Clock’ for more details on our projection concepts).

Throughout our performance, I managed to capture snippets of audience members reactions and opinions:

“You see, that’s the thing about time, you can’t always see it” – Middle aged man, whilst showing his two daughters the projection of the human clock.

“It feels like another world, it’s alien, like a matrix” – Group of audience members regarding the atmospheric ticking of a clock had created as they debated whether to enter.

“Can you guess what they’re doing?” – A mother to her son, during the mechanic movements representing the ‘dinner’ section of our piece.

The fact that the mother tried getting her child to work out what we were doing shows us that we presented a clear enough image for her to have already worked out the message that we were trying to communicate with the audience through the use of our bodies. We adopted mechanical movements to represent everyday activities that may usually go unnoticed, the repetition of the action emphasises this. We decided to include ‘eating’ sections due to the vast amount of ceremonial crockery displayed in Gallery 3. All of the objects on show were designed to be of practical use, yet are locked away without the chance of fulfilling what they were created to do. We repeated the same gesture in hope that the audience would understand that we were presenting what the objects in the galleries casing should have been used for.

In terms of the atmosphere which we created, some people embraced it and some shied away. Once we had ‘woken up’ from the first sequence of our sleeping freeze frame, it was a real pleasure to see that some members of the audience had engaged with our piece so much that they were sitting down, waiting for the next sequence to begin. This also occurred when we started to create the clock puzzle at the climactic moment of our performance. People sat and watched, engaged by the fact that they did not know how long it would take us to complete. During a two hour period in rehearsals we would repeat the piecing together of the clock puzzle twice, but with the adrenaline of a performance and a live audience we repeated this three times, due to the speed in which we were working at. During the section where we walked across the room to the beat of the clock, audience members did enter the room, but stayed much closer to the door than we would have liked in fear of getting in the way or perhaps interrupting or concentration.

The puzzle clock fully formed

In retrospect, the clock puzzle was the most powerful part of our piece, because it was the most real. Rather than performing, we were doing. If we were to experiment further with the concept touched on in our performance I would like to develop this particluar section of our piece. This would enable us to experiment with durational theatre in the traditional sense of the word. If we were to spend the 6 hours putting together a much more complex puzzle, it may have been more engaging for the audience, which would perhaps encourage the audience to interact with our performance much more than they felt comfortable doing in our previous performance.

Overall, I am happy with the experimental product which we created. If we were to perform again, I would like to create a soundscape of alarm clocks, set to go off at particular moments throughout the day, as during our performance the physical alarm clock which we were using as a prop did not go off or work as effectively as we would have hoped. Looking back at it now, I would say that we created more of an installation piece rather than a traditional ‘show’. That being said, it does not make what we presented any less of a performance. After all, can you ever really define art?

Author: Chloe Doherty

Work Cited:
– Roy, S (2010) Step-by-step guide to dance: Yvonne Rainer (Online) Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/24/step-by-step-yvonne-rainer (Accessed on May 13).

“The world of Film…”

Tom Baines / May 2, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Development, Research, Video Research

Multimedia or video is being more widely used as an art form. As Lori Zippay says in Artists’ Video, “Video may be the emblematic art – making form for the late twentieth century” (1991 p3). And now in the early twenty-first century a media form that is still greatly used if not more. You need only to step from the room our performance is in, to see two video art pieces. Hopefully our video, along with our ‘Instagram’ pictures, and now our Instagram pictures of the Venus de Milo, will hopefully make this connection and enlighten the public. Would this add to the culture of Lincoln? Zippay states that the result of a video in an artistic context is “a singularly dynamic engagement with issues of subjectivity, culture and image making” (Zippay 1991 p3). This is exactly what we hope to achieve by having this video on-going through our performance.

Usually video is associated with contemporary art but would it make a difference having a video in a less contemporary environment highlighting some core art values?

All art is idealised. It is painted or drawn to make a ‘copy’ of the original, sometimes or rather more likely with artistic merit. With the Brayford painting the information by the side of the painting said that it had been idealised. So, no, the swans weren’t swimming exactly there and they may well have not been a lovely artistic mist consuming the cathedral in the distance. It may not have even been a bright day. Therefore, the reason behind the video is to transform form this image:

To this:

This will hopefully make our audience think, or make them aware of this idealistic approach to art.

However as we said before, this very painting was removed and the gallery where the performance will be based has been changed. However the replacement paintings as stated before couldn’t be more relevant. They are copies or ‘idealised drawings’ of the Venus de Milo by a local Lincolnshire artist born at around the same time as the Brayford Pool and Cathedral painting was produced.

Hopefully this collaboration between our live art and the video can enlighten the audience.

“museums are invested in challenging those heretofore unexamined principles of organization, shifting from display to experience and inviting a more collaborative process with visitors.” (Bennett p4, 2013). And indeed galleries. Especially the Usher. This point here by Bennett really grounds where our inspiration comes from. Why sit back and just enjoy art? Let’s make everyone think about what they are looking at and what it means. There is even another provocation as to what people would think by having that picture back in the gallery when it has been removed for so long.

Works cited

Bennett, Susan (2013) Theatre and Museums, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Zippay, Lori et al. (1991) Artists’ Video: An international guide, New York: Abbeville Press, Inc.

A Micro Day

Tabitha Hilton-Berry / March 5, 2013May 6, 2013 / Development, Experimentation, Possessed Time, Video Research

We have decided to condense a 24-hour working day into a 6-hour performance that incorporates a typical everyday routine. We aim to highlight how time can be both an abstract and physical concept by which we are controlled. On the other hand, we cannot help but manipulate time in this piece as measurements of time are a human invention (e.g. seconds, minutes.)

The performance begins with us inert in a sleeping position for the duration of the first hour; we then are individually awoken by a series of alarms to perform our morning routines in a mechanical manner and in time to the sound of a ticking clock. Each member of the group stands in front of a section of the glass cabinets to perform their own daily routine as if the glass is a mirror. In three pairs, we reflect actions of each other brushing our teeth, washing our face and eating breakfast for 15 minutes per action, each pair performs the actions in various tempo’s but making sure to keep in time with the clock ticking sound still. We have included three videos displaying an example of the various tempos that each pair will use.

The first, shows the slowest speed whilst keeping to the ticking of the clock and the last video displays the fastest speed which still keeping to the beat.

Through the manner of miming, we display how a lot of our daily actions are mechanical and we perform them without thinking about the amount of time it consumes. By the end of the second hour, we will portray the walk to work by using an exercise we previously created as a warm-up. It incorporates using the space in Gallery 3 and moving in a mechanised style.

In the third and fourth hours, we will be aiming to represent a working day through the medium of constructing the puzzle of a clock made from carpet tiles. This serves to act as a reminder of the works of James Usher and how clocks were a key feature of both his public and private life. Between these hours, we will be including a 15 minute lunch break eating pineapple related foods, which is part of the performance, reflecting the exhibition of the ‘Pineapple Dish’ currently housed in the gallery. At the end of the fourth hour we will perform the walk through the space exercise previously used as the ‘walk to work’ but changing it to represent the walk home.

For the final hour, we will represent the evening period of a typical day which will display dinner time, relaxation or recreation time (working as a group to incorporate a game into the performance e.g. a passing ball game) and finally finishing the performance in the position by which we began, sleeping. This position will not be held as long as it was at the beginning of the performance as it is just a brief representation of the end of a typical day.

Occupying the Collection Gallery cafe

Francesca Maria Izzo / March 5, 2013May 13, 2013 / People, Public Responses, Video Research

A couple of weeks ago I was walking through Lincoln high street when I came across a sofa with a white square in front of it stating ‘Joe’s space’ and sat down on it were a couple of girls. I did what a lot of other people in the street did and looked at it as I walked past but didnt interact with it any further.

This was part of Joe’s photography project which was ‘a social experiment to explore the boundaries of the public spaces on the High Street, but also an investigation of public interactions with strangers.’ Along with this he states in the about section of YouTube with the video, ‘ most occupy movements have been engaging significant political value, mine was to instigate conversation and basic human interaction as so many of us just walk idly by one another.’

This made me think of our group piece which is based in the Collection Gallery cafe and an experiment which our group tried the other day. A few members of our group sat on their own around the cafe and started talking to themselves, no one caught anyones attention except from Gabriel. Gabriel sat having argument with an imaginary person in the seat opposite and caught the eye of a customer of the cafe who looked up, saw what was happening and quickly looked away again. This shows that we avoid any interaction or involvement with things which are not considered normal or which may include being a part of it. Like the passers by in the street, compared to the amount of people in the high street, only a small number of people actually stopped and got involved with the project.

From the observations my other group members and I have found from the customers in the cafe, a lot of people tend to sit on their own and appear to be in their own world, totally oblivious to everyone else. Which makes me think, are they so involved in their own bubble they don’t really notice anyone or do they pretend to be to ignore things which happen around them? For example, yesterday afternoon an elderly man caused some commotion in the cafe with the staff but the only people who seemed to notice were our group and a couple who were sat behind us. I looked around and everyone else just carried on as normal with their own conversations or still reading as if nothing had happened.

There are so many examples in today’s society where people avoid situations because they feel awkward or not safe. An extreme example of this is demonstrated in the video below:

Is this now the extreme people will go to to not get involved? Does this make anyone else think we live in a society where people are more enclosed and seem cut off from everyone else?

Burt, Joe (2013) Occupying Lincoln high St. [online video] available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgSP7Rb3cb4&feature=player_embedded [accessed 5th March 2013]

PayNoMind416 (2010) The Bystander Effect: No One Cares. [online video] available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGaJrgi_SpE&feature=player_embedded [accessed 5th March 2013]