Yesterdays seminar opened my eyes to the boundaries of performance. Looking at work by Adrian Howells has particularly played on my mind because I think the idea behind taking on a persona of a hairdresser is genius. Hairdressing is a very unique environment which Howells quite rightly recognises the unspoken relationship that seems to appear between hairdresser and client, and that is the exchange of personal information between two people in a seemingly confidential environment. I think Howells to recognise this environment and use it as  a form of ‘therapy’  is indeed very clever. This led me to contemplate site in relation to The Place of the Artist text where it is stated that: “What becomes important is not just the geographical place in which the work is sited but also the social practises that are engendered as part of the space” (Govan et al, 2007, 121). This is because it is not the building of the hairdressers that makes people open up, it is the social practise and the trust that happens between people there that allow people to be comfortable. This has led me to focus more on the social practises of a place as well as the site itself as both help make the site unique.

Govan, E. Nicholson, H. Normington, K. (2007) Making a performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practises. Oxon: Routledge.