Week 9 Performance Day

Week 9 Performance Day

Right before our performance starts i would like to outline a few things i would like to achieve in doing this performance.

• I would like to show that the London tube experience is something WE MAKE OURSELVES, the Olympics didn't change anything other give us a 'reason' to talk to others, we still have that ability we just don't use it.
• I would like to make people laugh or at least smile as that will elevate peoples moods and than in itself is a good reason to perform.
• i would like people to question their daily activities and how it effects their lives.

 Evaluation Of Our Performance

On performance day i was running late as the station that i normally get my tube from was closed and i had to walk to the next stop which was INFURIATING to say the least. But as soon as i got to Stratford i called Jason and asked him if he wanted to add to the big poster i had made at home as it was missing a bit of coloring in anyway and he did so we went to Costa coffee in the market center to finish that off, knowing that our performance wasn't until 12, however at 11:15 we got a call from Angelina telling us that we were on stage now and were going to miss our performance so we quickly packed up everything and sprinted down to the theater hoping we weren't in trouble and confused that our performance wasn't at the alleged time told to us.

When it was time for our performance we were all feeling confident and i even managed to have the time to make some last minute scripts for Ellie and Jason to say at the end during the previous performance. It went well albeit with some technical difficulties as the video cut out a few times and left the audience waiting in silence, we still don't know why this happened as during the many run-throughs' it worked seamlessly but i think next time it would be a good idea to check it using the projector also.
The interviews of me Ellie and Jason giving our perspective as they brought the attention back to the screen when the audience got tired of listening to the bad quality first day recordings and i think this let down our performance a little bit as if we had more time we would have definitely opted for better quality audio interviews, and the lack of video was also a concern as we only had 3 short video clips which totaled about 2 minutes of our 10 minute performance, it would have been more involving if those videos were a bit longer or if there was more of them.
As the film played the audience looked attentive and even laughed at the bits i thought they would which was a feeling of achievement for myself, and i think so for Ellie and Jason too, and Jason also did a great job with his Q&A at the end of the film, I decided to hand out bits of paper to the audience before the film played asking them to write one word describing the atmosphere of the underground and this offered a great amount of discussion to close our performance.

Looks like we did eventually get everyone talking!

Monday 12th November (the day before the performance)

Monday 12th November (the day before the performance)

Me Ellie and Jason met up today to go finish the work we started last week. We borrowed a proper microphone from the university and went around the Transport lines around Stratford interviewing staff and a few passengers asking their opinions on the matter and got some great interview audio footage.

We decided that we would do our performance as sort of a mini-documentary looking at how the olympics affected london's people and what it did to their general state of mind
 
We asked the people we interviewed to give us 1 word that describes the London transport experience at the end of every interview.

I went and brought some large paper and wrote the words down splitting the paper in 2 (before and after the Olympics and during the Olympics and the build up to it.) and this was to be presented alongside our mini-documentary.

We sat in the  library until 23:00 that night putting together all of our footage and editing the bits that i had done at home onto the final edit of the film

we thought this parody song about the London underground was fitting to put in our piece as it voices the displeasure most people talked about in their interviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHu_cfy33bY.

And we had some footage of Jason's time working for the Olympics which proved really useful to explain his story (which came about in the form of and interview we each did about the transport and Olympics and how it effected each of us) which we edited into our documentary.

Week 8

Week 8

It turns out that due to my absence i have been removed from my group along with two others Ellie and Jason and its three weeks till the final performance....

.....YIPES!

So we sat down as a new group and instead of accepting our apparent fate as failures we began brainstorming

''So what will we do?''
''i don't know, this is terrible''
''something in Stratford''
''TRAINS''
''Yes! trains that's great''
''but what are these trains doing in relation to Stratford?''
''the Olympics''
''this is gunna be a long day''

this is an actual conversation between me Jason and Ellie and it shows just how effective brainstorming at 10am is to students.

Nevertheless we persevered and we eventually came up with the idea to investigate the effect that the Olympics had on the social behavior of the people in London, focusing on Stratford and the transport lines that pass through it.

we decided that we would do this by asking people on the tube what they thought of the underground/Stratford prior or after the Olympics ad then what they thought during the build up and latter stages of the hype.

So with this idea set in stone we went out to record our interviews...
we got on the first tube at Stratford and immediately noticed that no one was looking approachable but we still went ahead and tried to interview someone who blanked us and made us feel a bit embarrassed at being turned down for conversation n the tube.

We decided a different tactic was in order, we needed to find an ideal 'type' of person to inteview so we made a checklist of no no's (non-ideal people to interview).

no headphones
no newspaper
not on the tube (can be on the platform)
not with sad face

after narrowing our search terms we started to have some success and it looked like we could actually do it and we began to have hope for our project

Feedback 

We came back to the lecture room after gathering some of the audio and pics and told Claire about our idea and what we were proposing for our final performance, the main point that Claire made was that it would be a good idea to take the class on the underground for the performance to make it more involving and whilst that was a great idea we are very worried about the time we have to do everything starting so late.
We are now thinking about doing it in the form of a video of our travels and the tasks we faced just getting people to talk to each other.

Research 

BBC Story on Olympic Fever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiD5AJbUWk

And here's some Olympic propaganda that referred to the tube which i think gave the tube an Olympic feel.

 

Week 7

Week 7

I was absent from class today, i haven't been able to get in touch with anyone from my group but i am staying on top of the readings so as not to fall behind.

Rebellato, D (2009) Theatre & Globalisation, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.1-18 

Rebellato begins by stating that globalization (of which he breaks down into 5 different sections of; Consciousnesses Culture, Politics, Conflict and Money) can be explained as a happening as it is happening all constantly. Culturally we see globalization as different cultures from around the world merging together, this waters down the world’s culture. It can be said that globalization has something to do with the universal idea of belonging. The place of logic can be related to the sense of dislocation, wanting to belong to something. Rebellato also disputes that not all developments can be described nor ought be included as ‘globalization. He says that globalization is an economic phenomenon

Lippard, L.R. (1995) ‘Notes from a Recent Arrival’ in Doherty, C (2009) Situation – Documents of Contemporary Art, London and Massachusetts: Whitechapel & MIT Press pp.154-157

 In 'Notes from a Recent Arrival' Lucy Lippard examines the need for belonging in relevance to the art world. She states that the sensitivity to 'place' is vital in determining cultural and social surroundings. She discusses how that knowing the history and ethics of a place and culture; provides the individual with a sense of amazement and individuality of surroundings. Lippard says that she would like to see the arts should identify the history of their work, before producing a different perspective and reaching new audiences. Lippard blames societys lack of focus for its undernourished roots.


Research: David Lynch

One of my favorite artists is David Lynch. His work is something i admire for its ambiguous meanings, watching a Lynch film is an experience like no other because it doesn't have a specific meaning, his dream like surreal cinemascapes are like a workout for your imagination and ability to think critically and, like dreams it seems that everyone who watches his films finds their own meaning in it. Here is a link to a popular review website that will give you an idea of this - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/reviews
I find that this uncertain meaning brings a 'cult' or community status to a film (or a piece of art in any form) and would like to invoke discussion in all the art i make.

Week 6

Week 6

In today's lesson the rest of my group and i went on a walk recording audio for our final performance (for which the layout had changed in my absence, we were now recording audio but no one really knew why), we used a phone to record the audio which was a mistake as there was too much background noise, but nevertheless we powered on making adjustments to the locations in which we wanted to gather sound samples, we varied through a range of experiments such as speaking directly at the microphone part of the phone, or cupping the mic to achieve less background noise. in the end it was decided that there was too much noise so we downloaded the music samples online.

Freshwater, H (2009) Theatre & Audience, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.1-27

Freshwater begins by explaining that the audience is just as important to a performance than the performance itself, and that this is a fairly new discovery as before the 20th century it was mostly unacknowledged.
She lets us know that directors have now began to leave performance unorganized, n longer acquiring a specific location. Freshwater then finishes highlighting that theater doesn't need a costume or props to become a performance.

O’Donnell, D (2006) ‘An Aesthetic of Civic Engagement’ in Social Acupuncture - A Guide to Suicide, Performance and Utopia, Toronto: Coach House Books, pp.25-45

 Darren O'Donnel is not in favor of the role that art plays in the influence of society. His view is that art is rather powerless in its ability to change the world. He goes on to compare this to the understanding of how the individual is almost powerless to change society. He then goes on to explain 'activism art', a form of art that carries political and social contents, that may not look like art but carries within it critical messages

Week 5

Week 5

This week was Tutorial week, my tutorial is next week. but i'm using my time to update my blog and brainstorm some ideas that will hopefully help me when it comes to the end of the semester.


Ridout, N (2009) Theatre & Ethics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.45-70

In 'theater and ethics' ridout examines the connection that politics theater and ethics all share. Theater usually involves a moral/ethical side that gets a moral/ethical response from the spectators, making the audience not just passive watchers but an involved audience capable of also exploring political and ethical issues. He then goes on to show that Shakespeare had a role to play in the analysis of theater.
He then discusses the political work that was done by Bertolt Brecht and the political message he wanted to get across. Identifying his ethical teaching and how Brecht’s theater practices are a medium for scrutinizing social life.

Nicholas Ridout states that Brecht’s dramatic practice is a process of clarity. Brecht’s ''the decision”, is a play where, four socialist agitators report back to their mission to broaden communist teachings to the people of Mukden, and is a clear example.

What i'd Like to Acheive With My Work

What I'd Like to Achieve With My Work

I really liked the Kelleher reading and its the idea of using art and theater to explore opinionated issues that really rang true with me. I would like to make art that challenges opinion and lets me communicate complex ideas of social change to the audience, i myself am an opponent of capitalism as i find its an outdated system no longer apropriate for the needs of the people that rely on it.

i would like to present something with a lot of depth and hidden meaning, something you really have to pick apart and understand and make your own opinion of, something that would get people talking and motivated to approach one another and change things at their own whim.

Week 4

Week 4

 I was absent for week four but got updated on the readings and an outline of what happened in class.

 Kelleher, J (2009) Theatre & Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.16-31

Kelleher starts off by explaining that theater is a way to identify, explore and argue opinions, allowing an audience to examine the artists construction of how he/her sees the truth.

Kelleher then explains that narratives like the one in this place are largely relatable to most of the audience members and that the characters hold familiar aspects audiences that will connect with groups in culture. He then states the importance of creating this comfort level with the audience and says that by conjuring up work that audiences can relate to it renders them permeable and unlocked to political communication within the work.

 Glissant, E (1990) ‘Poetics of Relation’ in Bishop, C (2006) Participation – Documents of Contemporary Art, London and Massachusetts: Whitechapel & MIT Press pp.71-78

Glissant starts off talking about the awareness that the bonds between people are found through society. This is mainly acheived by the way in which social groups are generated, they  hold their own traits which show and instantly differ them from other groups. Sometimes the entire range of societies endeavour to make their own distinctiveness apparent.  This is done by promoting these traits that define them as a group. Using their sense of Culture and the Nation’s individual power to describe and build the basis of their identity as a group.

Week 3

Week 3

We began this class by talking about last weeks readings and in the following group discussion a lot of points were made which helped me to understand the readings as when i read them alone i found these two particularly  hard to grasp.

We then started working on our piece, as we were in a very large group of around 8 people it proved very difficult to get everyone to concentrate and focus their efforts but a few of us separated ourselves from the main group and began brainstorming.
we came up with the idea to get people to stop for a cup of tea and a biscuit and find out about them, exploring ideas of self-identity and communal perception.

Then we went on a walk just around the corner to a rooftop space where a previous performance had been held. there was two brick walls painted with words that the inscribers wished someone had told them. i felt that this showed us as a class that a performance doesn't have to be a performance in the general traditional sense, but it can also be a thing you wouldn't generally regard as a performance.

After the car park Claire took us to the steps outside Stratford station to observe and to also scout for a location in which our performance could be held, this seemed to be a day in which most of the people in class had very low energy as i remember most people just sat on the steps complaining about how cold it was/tired they were, nevertheless our group solidified our plans to do our performance inside Stratford market.

Banes, S (1993) ‘Equality Celebrates the Ordinary in Johnstone, S (2008) The Everyday – Documents of Contemporary Art, London and Massachusetts: Whitechapel & MIT Press pp.113-119

Banes starts off by talking about egalitarianism and john cage, john cage created music using objects found around the house and his view was that the noises made by these homemade instruments were just as likeable as noises made from purpose-built musical instruments.

In that time in society, the usual was praised and the unusual cast aside and ignored, with this Banes then elaborates on Cage again stating that the work of Cage changed the norm into popular culture and performances from after then started to focus on everyday actions too. 

Sheringham, M (2007) ‘Configuring the Everyday’ in Johnstone, S (2008) The Everyday – Documents of Contemporary Art, London and Massachusetts: Whitechapel & MIT Press pp.141-147

Sheringham starts off asking the question ''should we pay attention to the everyday?'' the 'everyday' is a compilation of constructs, happenings and things that bond us as we nearly all experience them. Sherringham then goes on to say that these everyday actions  should not be ignored, as the everyday actions we do play a vital role in our possibly new everyday actions for the future.

Week 2

Week 2

Class began today by having a group discussion about the reading from last week.

 We then went on  a walk around Stratford listening to a track (http://mappingyourmanor.com/locations.) of a woman named Lucy Harrison explaining how Stratford has changed over the years and this combined with the walk that we were doing turned into a feast for the imagination (when i could get my headphones working properly) being able to visualize her words and her imagined surroundings.

In this class we also exchanged maps that had a destination and a piece of music. [STAMINA/CHURCH]

Here are my directions for Soriya -

• Exit Stratford Station
• Go through the Stratford market and exit on opposite side
• Cross the road to the church
• Go inside the Church
• Press play

I chose the song 'Stamina' By the artist Tech n9ne, its basically 40 seconds of a rapper rapping over the sound of an ak-47 machine gun, i thought it: contrasting, absurd and ultimately, fitting.

Group performance: New and old Stratford 

We were put in groups this lesson (Me, Lanray, Ellis and Joshua) and we focused on the telling of how ssmall buisnesses in stratfor could not cope with the pressure that the new Stratford Westfields center has put on them and we decided to voice that in the form of a short scene where the shopkeeper (me) has some people arrive into the shop and he overhears them stating that they saw something similar and cheaper in the new Westfield center and then it goes into a monologue about how things have changed for the shopkeeper as he reveals some of Stratfords history.

 Debord, G. ‘Society of the Spectacle’, Eastbourne: Soul Bay Press, pp 113-119

 In  Guy Debord's 'Society of the Spectactle' he comments critically on how society is managed and how we change our surroundings to fit the ideals of society, ultimately leading towards Urbanism, this is seen as a threat to nature and human nature. this all leads up to the separation of people and the combined effects of capitalism and Urbanism together lead to a great amount of separation which is used to control people. he then goes on to state that some cases the countries city is like a power hub which spreads and effects everything around it constantly changing the environment.

 Hussey, A. ‘The Map is not the Territory’: The Unfinished Journey of the Situationist international’ in Whybrow, N. (Ed) (2010) Performance and the Contemporary City, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan pp. 94-105

 In ''the map is not a territory'' Hussey starts off by analyzing the group of artists and other creative professionals that came out of europe around 1957 called 'Situationalists' who tried to tried to save art from the clutches of capitalist control and were largely objected to urbanisation, claiming that city life destroyed human nature. Debord's view was that a Derive’ was the most effective way a Situationist could discover, identify and experience the artistic quality of a city.

'Revisited place'

I chose to revisit Wandsworth shopping center as the last time i was there was years ago when i finished secondary school and i have lots of memories there.

I sat down on a bench inside the shopping center and decided to just relax and take in the surroundings and i was immediately drawn to the fact that there used to be two levels to the shopping center and now there was just one and all the shop had really high ceilings giving the impression of the ground floor of the Stratford Westfield center. Here are a few more changes i noticed:

• There is now a posh deli food court where 'shoezone' used to be
• The whole place looks shiny and new
• The market now catered to foreigners as it has a mini polish market inside
• the type of people shopping were more posh as the new upmarket shops had been installed

Week 1

Week 1

Today was our first day back of this new year of university and although i was late and missed the first 10 mins of introductions i found the class got to the point very quickly, our new teacher Claire Qualmann gave us information about what the module will contain and a brief look at what we will be doing in this semester of study. We then went on to examining the phrase ''contemporary performance'', and what it means, which i gathered as performance in OUR day and age, as it is different from the past being that most all art forms are ever evolving in some way and change throughout history.

We then went on a walk through Stratford, we went to the train station and stood upon the high balcony and watched the people going about their business. Claire then told us to put our headphones on and carry on watching the people. We did this as an exercise joining the people with the music influence. this is something i experience on a daily basis being a person that often carries headphones but doing it as a group was effective as i got to hear everyone's perspective and was often surprised how different or the same it was to mine. i was listening to a very fast paced angry parody song which just made it look like everyone was rushing around pointlessly at high speed, quite a trip!

Harvie, J (2009) Theatre and the City, Basingstoke: Plagrave MacMillan pp1-10 

In 'Theatre and the City' Harvie starts off by stating that even though we may not be aware, we can be a part of a performance that is happening. She refers to a performance titled ''small metal objects'' held at stratford station. she relates this performance to the importance of performance space, in this case the city and how it can help us to to understand the city and how things work together.
This reading this left me pondering the relationship the city has on performance and also the impact performance has on the city.

Harvie uses theater to mirror and effect social experiences in the city using two critical approaches: cultural materialism and performative analysis. According to Harvie, cultural materialism can be defined as conditions of cultural practices and how these conditions affect and limit the possibilities and performative analysis is explained as our daily performances and projections of identities and this is done in order to understand both theatrical and social performance in the city.