Author Archives: Tania Smart

Second Hand News..

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On Monday 2nd February, we started our second week of site specific. We were taken on a tour all around Steep Hill, Lincoln. After viewing the lovely sights it had to offer I decided to dig deeper and discover some of the history behind Ellis Mill.

Ellis Mill

After doing some background research, I have ascertained that Ellis Mill is the last remaining mill to operate and still produce flour in Lincoln. The mill has continued working after an incredible two hundred years from when it was first built. There is evidence that proves there was a mill around Steep Hill before the Cathedral (the main tourist attraction) had even finished being built.

Looking further into the history of the mill, I have discovered that in 1551, Lincoln suffered an absence of wind for five weeks. As a result of this, the mill was unable to produce flour. This left most of the people in the city deprived of food, as the whole population relied on bread, especially the poor.

History of Ellis Mill:

http://www.lincstothepast.com/exhibitions/places/windmills/ellis-mill/

http://www.visitlincoln.com/things-to-do/ellis-mill

After investigating the historic past and backgrounds of windmills in Lincoln, it has now enabled me to appreciate how Ellis Mill is a major importance for the industrial history of the city. As Mike Pearson suggests:

“a visitor’s experience of the same place may invoke reactions and associations entirely differently from that of the inhabitants: it is possible to be in a place without realizing its significance for the groups of people who have historically inhabited it.[…] A pile of old stones to walk your dog over then, or the defeated hopes of a nation?” (2010, 24).

When I first visited the mill, I was not particularly captivated or interested by it, as I did not have a great underlying knowledge for it. Having a sense of understanding for this, has allowed myself as a spectator, to admire the layers of history attached to the site, offering more than what meets the eye.

Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/131412114@N08/

 

Pearson, M. (2010) Introduction in Site Specific Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Three Things That Have Caught My Imagination…

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An Abyss To Fall In

ABYSS

On Monday 26th January we were set the challenge to perform a subtlemob. We were given a list of instructions and included in this was to find ‘an abyss to fall in’. My interpretation of the caption is the photograph that I captured. An abyss can be perceived as an unknown quantity of space. I believe the photograph also has the power to portray this. The picture captures what is above the hole yet the space or what is behind it is left to our imagination.

Adrian Howells

During Wednesday’s seminar we briefly looked upon Adrian Howells work. Instantly, his work grasped my full, undivided attention. After the session I decided to investigate further into his work to gain a clearer knowledge and understanding of the performance techniques pursued. I discovered that Howells usually worked extremely close with the audience. The performance methods used present the audience making a show of themselves, urging for self-reflection by leaving them to question how they present themselves to the world. The aesthetics of the piece would derive from a personal one to one therapeutic session with the spectator; carefully enabling them to open up. Howells’ practice represents and demonstrates that “theatre is not just something to be consumed but a shared act” (Gardner, 2014) leaving us to appreciate the artistic value as a joint effort on equal parts.

An example of Howells’ most famous work would be Foot-Washing for the Sole, which he performed in multiple places around the world, exploring different cultures.

Link 1 (Foot-Washing for the Sole interview with Adrian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9PPEbAU5z8

Link 2 (Foot-Washing for the Sole Mini clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_a8PDfErtA

 

Site Specific!

As opposed to Howells’ work Foot-Washing for the Sole which categorizes under site generic work, site specific work is designed and created with one place in mind. Site specific performance links a close relationship between art and site, the particular location is completely necessary for the structure of the piece. “site-specific performance engages with site as symbol, site as story-teller, site as structure” (Pearson, 2010, 8)

After my first week and a half of being introduced to Site Specific performance I now feel more eased into the subject and have grasped more of a clearer understanding of it. I believe that keeping an open mind to the subject will allow me to appreciate the full beauty of it.

Pearson, M (2010) Introduction in Site Specific Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kilkenny Arts Festival (2010) Adrian Howells Interview | Footwashing For The Sole | Kilkenny Arts Festival. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9PPEbAU5z8 [Accessed 2 February 2015].

 

TPAM (2012) TPAM 2010 (15 of 17) Adrian Howells. [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_a8PDfErtA [Accessed 2 February 2015].