Endurance “Rehearsal” & Challenges

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Earlier this month, I attempted a “rehearsal” of our performance. I use the term “rehearsal” loosely, as we are still finalising parts of our performance, so this might not be a completely accurate representation of what this part of our performance will look like. As a group we are looking to complete a ‘routine’ of actions so to speak, for us to follow as we perform these day to day water based activities. Our next step is getting these ‘routines’ polished and completed, which we are working on daily.

I have uploaded a sped up version of this “rehearsal” that I attempted to YouTube, despite the fact that I was unable to complete the one hour duration that I had planned on doing it for. Unfortunately, I only managed to complete about 20-25 minutes of it. I wasn’t able to finish it because I had an allergic reaction to the soap that I was using, causing my face to turn red and swell slightly. The reason for uploading this video is that I believe it doesn’t hurt to document both the positives and negatives of creating a piece of performance. All performance can be a struggle at times, and there will be challenges you have to face along the way. The video can be found here (Jamie Dunn, 2015).

The next step from here as a group for us is to find a way around this obstacle. We already have an idea of how to do this, and will be visiting our site in the next couple of days for another attempt at this “rehearsal”. As a group of two, we are hoping that we can both actually manage to do this without any allergic reactions this time. With any luck we should be able to film it, or at least have a friend of ours take pictures so we can document the process and hopefully put it online.

We are also working on the marketing of our performance piece, and are hoping to have a Facebook event up by no later than the 20th of April. As Tehching Hsieh has been our main influence for this piece, we’re hoping to recreate his poster for his Time Clock Performance, as seen here (Hsieh, 1980, cited in colaboratorioartandspace.wordpress.com, undated) in our own style. We plan on finishing these posters up after our next rehearsal on the 17th of April.

Although this “rehearsal” of mine didn’t go smoothly, I would encourage anybody interested in performing to give endurance pieces a try. It’s an interesting thing, attempting to do something that we do every day for longer than normal. Since I started working on my performance, I’ve been thinking about everything that we do in our day to day lives that we consider mundane, and how the meaning of doing it changes when we pinpoint that specific action or activity, and I wonder how our opinion of it would change if we focused on doing nothing but that one routine for an elongated piece of time. Thanks to the this module, I have found myself becoming more and more interested in performing endurance pieces, and would consider trying out variations of this style of performance in the future.

References:

Jamie Dunn (2015) Endurance Performance “Rehearsal” [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xErlJtAjc4s [Accessed 16th April 2015].

Hsieh, T. (1980) One Year Performance. [online] New York, USA: Tehching Hsieh. Available from https://colaboratorioartandspace.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/tehching-hsieh-art-live-in-action/ [Accessed 15th April 2015].

Getting to the Route of things

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I’ve found it difficult to think of a route off the top of my head when thinking about our audio. I believe that with our audio a simple route was needed so that the audience could appreciate what they were listening to and not have to concentrate on holding maps or working out where they are. I also thought that with a simple route it would mean that the audience would be able to appreciate their surroundings more as they could look in each direction and see how the audio fits with what they were walking past, this is why I decided to look at Newport Arch, I felt that it was quite a distance from the Cathedral that it would be a nice walk for people to take but also had interesting buildings and places to look at on the way back along towards the Cathedral. I also felt that the different shops and pubs along the way would fit in well with the sounds that we have within our audio.

I began to look into the history of the area specifically looking at Newport Arch, I was interested to find that it is the most famous Roman remain in Lincoln as well as the best preserved. The gateway straddles Bailgate at the northern extremity of the old Roman city; this is where the old Roman Ermine Street struck north towards York.

Dates are found to the stat of the 2nd Century AD, the arch was mainly made to act as a main gateway for transportation and to create the main road to pass through north to York, however it is still used today and from what is known, it is the only Roman arch still in use for daily transportation. However the arch that we in fact see today is merely the upper section of the inner arch as the outer section was destroyed in the 17th century. In 1964 the Arch also found itself victim to an accident as a tall lorry passed through it without realising the restriction and as the lorry became stuck under the central arch bits of the archway began to become dislodged where they had stood for over 1800 years. Over the years this got built back up and therefore was able to still be used however the restriction is made apparent to make sure such an incident does not occur again.

I then began to look at Exchequer Gate and the history behind it as I thought it would be quite interesting starting at a gateway then ending by passing through another gateway to get to the final destination. Exchequer Gate was where tenants who had rented properties from the Church would meet to pay their rent. Built in the 14th century it acted as the main ceremonial access to the Cathedral.

The path from Newport Arch to Exchequer Gate is a simple walk where audience members can take in each site around them and their will be a confidence that they will not get lost as even if they are unaware of the exact places in which I am saying, I can easily explain where to go through a means of places on the way as well as following the path down or walking towards the Cathedral so automatically the worry about finding the end point goes and therefore the audience can fully interact with the audio.

Britain Express (1996) Newport Arch, Lincoln. [online] Available from http://www.britainexpress.com/about_Britain_Express.htm [Accessed 12 April 2015]

Collins, R. (2012) Exchequer Gate in Lincoln – an Illustrated History. [online] Available from: http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/exchequer-gate-in-lincoln-an-illustrated-history/ [Accessed 12 May 2015]

Britain Express (1996) Exchequer Gate, Lincoln. [online] Available from http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/lincs/properties/Exchequer-Gate.htm [Accessed 12 May 2015]

 

“Orchestrated Serendipity”

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“A place owes its character to the experiences it affords to those who spend time there – to the sights, sounds and indeed smells that constitute its specific ambience” (Ingold, 2000,192)

Our original idea for our audio walk involved a lot of quite forced audience participation, however things have worked out differently as our ideas panned out. Instead, we are trying a ‘gifting’ approach with our audience – we want to look after and ‘nurture’ our audience this is so they can have a fruitful experience – we want them to feel comfortable, not forced to do things or out of their comfort zone but allow them to be alone with their thoughts, something a lot of people don’t get to do very often because of the fast paced lifestyle many people lead.

One of the audio’s we intend to use was recorded by one of our groups family members, this was because we wanted a relaxed recording – not recorded by an actor of any kind – just an ordinary person. This resulted in a couple of (barely noticeable) hiccups which we have decided to keep. This is in order to sustain an informal approach and hopefully relax the audience members so they feel comfortable and therefore open to personal reflection.

Referring to the earlier quote from The Perception of the environment we have decided to regard the locals of Lincoln in our piece. In the beginning we unintentionally avoided anything that could be a distraction to our audience instead of realising we could use this to our advantage. The place we have chosen wouldn’t be as it is today without the people making it so and we have decided to pay homage to that and note them in our walk. We will refer to them as soldiers in the square and ask them to take notice of them. This is because of the nature of our performance – it is about a journey – everyones personal journey. At this point in the walk where we refer to the people of Lincoln it is to encourage our audience to think of others journeys as well as their own and what has caused them along their journey to be there at the exact same point in time. In Mike Pearson’s introduction to Site Specific Performance Sue Palmer states “It is not just about a place, but the people who normally inhabit and use that space. For it wouldn’t exist without them” (Wilkie, 2002, 145) therefore we decided to incorporate ‘orchestrated serendipity’ into our piece, a phrase inspired by Fortnight a project which happens in only a handful of cities and allows the participants (who are locals) to see the place with fresh eyes – which is exactly what we intend to do. How we will do this is use subtle symbols around our tour which relate to the audio. For instance we may decide to ask our audience to think about their day – what has happened this morning? What is in the news? and along the walk could be a person reading a newspaper, something so ordinary it is barely noticeable, but, we intend to do a few of these so hopefully the audience will notice and keep their eyes peeled for every subtle ‘coincidence’.

Ingold, T (2000) The Perception of the Environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London: Routledge.

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

Earning our performance concept

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Before we broke up for the Easter holidays, we created a detailed script of what would exactly be said on the audio files. This allowed us to understand exactly what the audience would hear and produce trial runs of the performance, allowing us to see any places where improvements would be needed. It also made us go through the performance idea with a fine toothcomb and really understand what each site means and what our intentions were for each site. We really tried to make the text as guiding and encouraging as possible, with specific terminology and phrasing that wasn’t harsh and ordering. We did this because we wanted the piece to feel quite casual yet with clear enough orders so the audience can get as much out of the performance as possible. Therefore certain phrases like ‘please be aware that you will be crossing public roads, so take care’ and by using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ it makes them feel at ease.

We then broke up for the Easter holidays and each had tasks to do ready for when we arrive back. Fleur typed up the script into a really clear format so that it was clear for not only us to read, but also Rachael so she would get a accurate understanding of what would be exactly said and give valuable feedback. (Script attached below)

Audio-Script-First-Draft

I gathered recording of the Cradle Song and the seven ages of man speech from my young family friend who read the Tennyson poem, and my granddad who read the Shakespeare monologue. (Both files attached below)

The Cradle Song

The 7 Ages of Man

However, despite our enthusiasm for using the 7 ages of man speech to finish our performance, Rachael said that the symbolism of the circle of life isn’t clear enough to justify the grand speech. She said that we would have to make the transitions between the ages more fluid and less extreme (e.g, jumping from an infant at site two, to marriage at site 3). This would allow the audience to realise the gradual journey, rather than suddenly skipping a significant chunk of life as it may make it hard for them understand what is being portrayed. We them looked specifically at the seven stages of life that is spoken about in the speech and worked our way through each stage, creating a site for each age.

  1. The infant … (the cradle song poem)
  2. The schoolboy … (commenting on the school that is on the route, the bustling streets at 3:00pm, and also asking them to reflect on their schooling experience)
  3. The lover … (confetti scattered on the floor and wedding bells playing over the audio)
  4. The solider … (walk to Castle Square, look at the people ‘marching’ in the street, very patriotic)
  5. Justice/ peak of life … (walk to the three arches and stand in front of the highest peaked arch, rhetorical questions in present tense reflecting on the journey they have embarked on both during the performance and also before they arrived)
  6. Mature/ elderly man … (walk through the arch and stop outside the west face of the cathedral, the same rhetorical questions are read but in past tense)
  7. Second childishness … (the seven ages on man speech, completing the cycle)

To achieve this level of detail, we needed to change the route of the performance. Instead of turning left into Misters Yard, the audience would carry on straight and head back into town and into Castle Square. This therefore allows the forth age of the solider to be incorporated. This change of route also highlights the fifth and sixth age of reflection and the peak of life through the three archways, which symbolise a change in time when the audience pass through them.

To enhance the different stages of life we decided to incorporate some orchestrated serendipity, chance encounters and coincidences. Several scallop shells would be drawn, hung or placed somewhere in each site (possibly on the Tennyson statue, hung around the head of the gargoyle coming through the wall, on the railings of site one etc). By scattering them around the route it connects everything up and also reassures the audience that they are on the right path. As well as the scallop shells, chance encounters will be places around the route, such as a small knitted Easter chick toy outside the Tennyson statue, a lost child’s glove on the fence outside the school, confetti scattered on the ground outside the church, one of us in a ‘Help the Hero’s’ t-shirt collecting money (which will be donated to the charity by the castle etc). Once again this enhances each of the ages of life. Theatre company Proto-type’s performances of Fortnight (Proto-type, 2014) used chance happenings within their site specific performance. ‘Each location offers a brief encounter that illuminates the everyday’ (Warwick Arts Centre, 2014). This enhancement of each site is what we aspire to achieve.

Additional research

Mark Storer and Anna Ledgard’s Boychild (Storer and Ledgers, 2007), performed on Fathers Day 17th June 2007. This performance is extremely similar to our own. It is a site specific piece where the audience each have a headset and are taken on an audio guide around a building, stopping at curtain areas to consider either an instillation of some kind or listen to voice recordings. This piece is not only similar to ours in regards to the layout, but also their intentions. This piece ‘takes the audience on a journey around the building and a journey through life from fetus through sprouting puberty to old age’ (Gardner, 2007). Both our piece and Storer’s plays with the power performance can have over the perceptions of a site. Many theorists discuss the difference between place and space, how something can be a space (lacking in personal understanding) or a place (a site which holds a personal understanding). In reference to Boychild, Helen Nicholson stated that ‘space is never empty; it always carries social connotations and it is always someone else’s place’ (Nicholson, 2009, 61), thus we have to understand that people will hold different interpretations of the site we are working in.

Gardner, L. (2007) Boychild Explores the Measure of a Man. [blog entry] 11 June. London; The Guardian. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2007/jun/11/boychildisoneofthesummers [Accessed 14 April 2015].

Nicholson, H. (2009) Theatre & Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Storer, M. Ledgard, A. (2007) Boychild. [performance] Mark Storer and Anna Ledgard (dir.) Dorset; Southwell Park, 17th June.

Warwick Arts Centre (2014) Fortnight. [online] Coventry; [Accessed 14 April 2015]. 

What is an Earthquake

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When underground rock breaks along a fault, the sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that cause the ground to shake. When two pieces of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they begin to stick slightly, meaning although they are pushing against each other they do not move. Through time the rocks break causing an earthquake.

Both during and afterwards the plates and rock continue to move, this occurs until they are restricted again by one another and therefore become stuck once again.

The focus is known as the spot underground where the rock breaks, the place above the focus on top of the ground is called the epicenter.

The most severe damage is found closest to the epicenter and then dispursed from there outwards, earthquakes can alter in time depending on teh amount of energy that build up before the release, as well as the size of the breaking rocks or plates underground.

BBC (2014) GCSE Bitesize- Earthquakes and Global Warming. [online] London: BBC. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011/energy_home/6_stable_earth1.shtml