Tag: Shane Humberstone

Has Museum Theatre Emulsified the Two?

Shane Humberstone / / Inspiration, Possessed Time, Research

During most museum visits you meander through the exhibits occasionally reading a thing or two and possibly even have a chat about what you have seen however this is changing. Catherine Hughes believes that ‘museums are theatres, rich with stories of human spirit and activity and the natural forces of life… both museums and theatre present us with ourselves in different contexts, holding the mirror up and showing us what we have done and what we might do (Hughes 1998, P. 10).

Performances in museums by actors are becoming increasingly popular, with our piece Possessed Time being an example of this. The parallels have always existed between museums and theatre, the whole idea that an audience goes to see something that they will hopefully find engaging, but now the two have become to merge and the distinctions between the two may be obvious although at a small number.

Susan Bennett observes, ‘… theatres and museums have increasingly become symbolic and actual neighbours, sharing the task of providing entertaining and educational experiences that draw people to a district, a city, a region, and even a nation’(2013 p. 3). They both serve a similar purpose and both work together to create a culture that is symbolic of the area in which they are situated. Moreover, ‘exhibitions are fundamentally theatrical, for they are how museums perform the knowledge they create’ (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998, p. 3). The parallels are clear, they both serve the same purpose they just have always done it in different ways, and now that live action is happening in museums theatre has bled a new dynamic into them. When performing Possessed Time people stared and looked at us and try to understand what we were saying and what our purpose was as if we were a painting or a sculpture.

As well as differences between the two buildings, such as the audience in a theatre being on one side as they sit and watch the actors on the other, there are also differences between theatre on the stage and a performance in a museum. In a theatre ‘the subject matter of the play bears no relationship to the premises in which the play is performed’, whereas in a museum, ‘the subject matter is related to the museum as a whole or the exhibit’ (Bridal 2004, p. 9). If we performed our piece in a theatre, it would have had half the impact compared to Gallery 3 because all our influences and process were based on the things we discovered in that space. Furthermore, ‘museums traffic mostly in material designated as representing the past, while theatrical performance takes place resolutely in the present, ephemeral, resistant to collection’ (Bennett 2013, p. 5).

I believe that although they will forever be separate entities now that theatre has started to become part of the museum experience, the two will become ever more indistinguishable.

 

Written by Shane Humberstone.

Works Cited
Bennett, Susan (2013) Theatre and Museums, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bridal, Tessa (2004) Exploring Museum Theatre Oxford: AltaMira.
Hughes, Catherine (1998) Museum Theatre: Communicating with Visitors Through Drama, Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Kirschenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1998) Destination Culture, London and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

 

If I Could Have That Time Again…

Shane Humberstone / / Evaluation, Possessed Time

Although I believe we achieved a considerable amount of which we set out to, if we were to do this again there would be several things I would change which I believe would make the overall execution of the performance better and more effective.

The first of these would be to engage with what time meant for other people apart from us. This could have been done by organising a short survey to find what time meant to them and then interpret that through our performance. , potentially by projection, or displaying their comments physically. Another way in which this could have worked is by adding a different dynamic to our piece, sound. If we had either spoken the words, or played recording of them, I believe that we could have had a bigger impact and it also would have made the piece more integrated with Gallery 3. Moreover, to help further see what affect we had on the them, as well as their perception of time, a feedback survey or comment box would have been really interesting and insightful, being beneficial for our findings but also for the Usher gallery as they could use it as an assessment of the space.

Secondly, I think we could have played about more with the projections and should have looked deeper into the idea of projecting something against us. We did talk a lot about this but could not decide on a strong enough image or way to do it. At points the projection was displayed on us, especially during the sleeping segment, which I thought was a really interesting effect. If we were to have a segment where the image was projected across us, I believe this could have been a good to show how time and our experience had affected us and people as a whole.

Although not entirely vital, but as stated previously, to add a new dynamic to the piece, more audience being among us would have been desirable. It would have been interesting to see not only how they reacted and felt being right in the centre of our piece, being part of something they were more than likely not familiar with, but how differently we reacted and how it changed the feel and impact of the piece. We did put up a sign welcoming the public into the space and to enjoy the performance as part of their museum experience, though more could have been done. Maybe introducing the idea to the public on their entrance with leaflets to accompany their visit, making them feel more comfortable with the idea, would have enticed more people to come closer to the action. Also more signage and direction would have been beneficial leading up to the gallery.

The gallery had introduced an ‘iGuide’ too late into our process to utilise it, but we had discussed using different forms of technology to present our piece. If we were to do the piece again using the ‘iGuide’ would have been really interesting, and beneficial, as we could have put a lot of different images of time and clocks on there and more explanation of our perception, and others, on the effect of time. Moreover, audio clips would have been good as it would have added a contrast to normally a very quiet experience, changing it to a more dynamic one.

Authored by Shane Humberstone

A Reflection on Possessed Time

Shane Humberstone / / Possessed Time, Public Responses

Possessed Time in Action

Beginning with an hour of ‘sleep’ our Site Specific Performance was underway. The daunting thought of doing a five and a half hour performance was quickly forgotten as we started the strenuous movements that represented getting ready for the compressed day ahead. When practising this had always been difficult for the group as our arms were not trained for the repetitive controlled movements. This was the first time we had done all three actions together for the full amount of time, and I thought that this would be difficult, having to keep up the precise controlled movement, yet each segment became increasingly easier.

Next was the walking routine where we walked alongside the ticking noise of the clock. We had played with and experimented a lot with this section but decided on a simple movement to show the routine of the act and the control time had over us. Despite this the track we used on the actual day was a lot shorter than the one we had practise with and because it had to repeat itself there was a break in the rhythm, potentially throwing the synchronization. It could have looked messy if we started to walk at our own pace but instead if anyone in the group lost confidence in the rhythm, they would stop for a beat and then join in again, which kept the section looking crisp.

As soon as we sat down to start the puzzle we all seemed to speed up and move as fast as we could. This shows the effect of being controlled by a mechanic rhythmic movement and then being able to break out of that strict discipline. Due to this we completed the puzzle, the first time, very quickly but as time went on, the puzzle became increasingly difficult. This may have been due to fatigue, but mainly to do with the pieces not sitting as true as they did at the beginning. This made it harder to put them together and to judge if pieces fitted where we were putting them. Luckily we finished the puzzle for the final time just before we changed discipline so we smartened it up for the proceeding audience members.

photo (22)

After the walk home came the watching of the human clock, which we had projected on the gallery’s door. In my opinion this proved the most difficult as we were sitting on the floor looking up at the projection in a set position, which quickly became uncomfortable. Furthermore because this part contained very little movement this section seemed to last longer than it actually did. After the four and a half hour mark we had our dinner eating representation, which we did to the rhythm of the clock again showing its control and also the robotic routine of this part of the day. Fatigue was definitely an issue here as the movement became a lot harder than the ones from earlier. In addition to this we were sat in a similar position to the clock watching, which made it even more uncomfortable.

When we entered our second stint of sleeping the museum had become busier and other performances had now finished. This meant that a lot more people were about. Feeling them walk about the room was a weird experience because when you are asleep you feel safe and in comfort, but when you feel people are around and watching you, it makes it a lot harder to relax and in turn you feel uncomfortable. In addition to this, a weird sense of blinking with my eyes closed came over me as the projection of the pineapple was directed straight at our faces. The flicking of the images made feel like I was blinking and this became really uncomfortable for me, so much so I had to cover my eyes from it.

The Effects of Possessed Time

clock-melting-clocks

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, found on: http://psychopathyawareness.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/why-do-sociopaths-waste-our-time/clock-melting-clocks/

Being on a Saturday the Usher was always going to be busier than most of the days we had practise but because we had experience a busy day before, it was not as daunting or distracting.

After we woke from our first section of sleeping it was encouraging to see so many people watching and several were sitting down which showed they were interested to stay for a good amount of time. As we then continued towards the glass cabinets I felt the audience then become uncomfortable and they started to usher themselves towards the door, although the fact they were still watching was good as it showed they were interested. The public still seemed intrigued and as we had experienced in rehearsal, after one member of the audience decides to get closer and have a better look, then the rest follow. Obviously for most this is not what they expected when they came to the museum but the fact they continued their day and embraced what we were doing was exciting.

When we started to walk around as expected the audience backed away into the corner by the gallery’s entrance. The audience seemed to be impressed and fascinated by this movement as there was a lot of people here at this point. During this section there was a group of ladies that had walked in. As I was just in my underwear they were shocked and had to turn away in embarrassment as my path led straight to them, this was interesting because the rest of the audience did not appear to see it as nothing else than a costume like the rest of my group. When we sat down to start the puzzle more people filtered in around us. In the past when we had done we had felt that people wanted to join in, or at least the engagement of the puzzle made them want to stay around until it had been finished.

clock

As we sat down to watch the human clock observing the audience became a lot easier. We had now drawn attention solely towards it and because we were essentially staring at the entrance the audience reactions were clearer. Several people came and stood at the entrance and watched the clock for several minutes with us. This could have been down to their sense of intrigue towards the clock or maybe because our piece was so elongated they were wondering why we were watching it for so long. Furthermore during this section a lot of parents with their children became engulfed by what we were doing. It even became fairly interactive as parents were asking their children questions on what we were doing and what they thought of the different projections.

On top of this the puzzle was continuously acknowledged and seemed to impress. Now the distorted projection of the pineapple could be seen clearer as there was now little distraction. For a long time no one had dared stepped into the gallery, which was not disappointing but it would have given the piece another dynamic. This was until one man decided to walk straight through us to the other side of the gallery and acted totally vacant towards our existence. This was interesting because it felt like he was trying to make the point that we should not have been there.

Overall, I feel that the public enjoyed our piece and welcomed a different aspect in their museum experience. What I found the most interesting was the willingness of people to continuously come back over the period of the day, almost as if they were checking on our progress, which is what we intended as we never expected anyone to stay for the whole duration of the piece.

 

Authored by Shane Humberstone

Human Clock

Stephanie Jackson / / Possessed Time

Focusing our work on clocks and time, we are in the process of creating our own digital clock to project throughout our piece onto the doors of Gallery 3. We photographed ourselves in the positions of each number from 0-9, and using an animation software, these photographs will become a clock, ticking down from 24 hours.

site

 

The reason for us wearing white is in order for our clock to stand out against the midnight blue of the Gallery’s interior. The digital clock will contrast the traditional Grandfather clocks which are present in the Gallery, and will structure our piece which represents a 24 hour day. Our piece is also physical with lots of mime and movement, so making a clock using our bodies will be an interesting visual addition.

 

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We were inspired to create this from watching similar work by other artists, finding it both interesting and highly effective to watch.

‘Putting the pieces together’

Tabitha Hilton-Berry / / Development, Experimentation, Possessed Time

As part of our final performance, we have decided to incorporate a teamwork exercise of putting together a puzzle, which will reflect the work of James Ward Usher’s clock collection and his ideas on industrialism. Our piece displays a condensed working day in to a six hour performance that will provide the experience of each significant task that we perform every day in our daily routine, highlighting the time it takes and how it is an integral part of our day-to-day lives. As Dion Boucicault remarks “Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” We do not appreciate or realise the time in which we waste performing important but mundane tasks as it becomes second nature to us, therefore, this is one of the points we try to accentuate in the durational piece.

The reason that we have decided to include a puzzle in our performance is because we wanted a section of the performance to contain a teamwork aspect that could reflect the mechanism of the inside of a clock. All the components have a part to play in order for the clock to become fully functional in which each of our group represents.

We have decided to use 9 carpet tiles measuring a square metre each as the material for the puzzle in which we will draw a skeleton/outline of a clock onto before we cut the tiles into puzzle pieces. The carpet tiles we have chosen are a light beige colour which contrasts to the dark midnight blue flooring and walls in Gallery 3. This will make the puzzle solving stand out to the audience and will require us all to work together as if we were in a factory assembling a clock for production.

               puzzle

The process of putting the puzzle together will be the imitation of our work/job in a factory of producing clocks and will take 90 minutes to complete, including a 15 minute working lunch break in the middle.
There have been some slight difficulties with the process of cutting the carpet tiles into puzzle pieces as the base that the carpet sits on is a thick plastic which, although it will be more convenient for putting the puzzle back together, it poses the problem of cutting them out to begin with. For this, we had to purchase Stanley knives which are specifically used for cutting carpet tiles and have proved to be a much easier solution for the task.

We are still in the process of discovering if the puzzle will work in the piece as it is quite a daunting task putting together a puzzle that we have created ourselves but we feel that it is an integral part of the performance.