Final Blog: Time to think things over and reflect

May 20, 2016 by Georgia Green

The Final Look

To me, the set came out wonderfully and much better than I excepted as I felt I was in a representation of my mind as well as the mind of another young adult.

Why have I chosen…

Plain paper?

I have chosen to use plain paper because whatever is written on paper from the government and the media is usually full of empty promises, threats and praises towards their young population. It is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye when the lights hit the whiteness of the paper.

As shown:

Newspaper?

This shows the media to be the only source of information about what the government is doing; they are the middle man but a corrupt middle man so the newspaper is scattered and scratched into a ball to represent their untrustworthiness.

Rope?

As said before in my other blogs, the rope represents the restraint and barriers we, as young adults, must try to break through in order to be trusted. It is just one big obstacle course with a lot of strings attached. These strings must be cut.

Union Jack Flag?

Just a reminder of where we are living and how ‘patriarchal’ we are as a country and how the government is too, supposedly.

Chair and Table?

Isn’t it better to be delivered bad news when sat around a table? Well supposedly it is, but the other reason why there is a chair and table is that they represent myself and other young adults who are trying to better themselves with education and studying hard for a £23,000 piece of paper. Additionally, they represent the constant sitting down one does when looking for a job and filling in applications or how hard it is to get a job as an inexperienced, untrusted youth of today in a recuperating UK.

The Experience of Performing

Well the piece felt like it wasn’t really quick from when I was practising it but, I felt a therapeutic release of stress as I performed it. It became an outlet which is what I wanted but, I felt that when I practised saying my opinions in a particular area of the soundscape, they had become personal and I have tainted the performance with my ideas. So, I took a risk and practised for half an hour before the performance with very open ended opinions. I think it went well and made the piece more all about the media rather than me. Finally, I was allowed to be the ‘mind’, the extra to the piece which is what I liked.

I will be truthful and say this was a first for me, to do a piece this artistic and abstract making was a big step but, discovering this side of theatre and performance was exhilarating and the freedom became a wonderful gift. To be able to create a piece for something I am very passionate about and express it and bring it to the table but not by throwing words into people’s mouths. There has been too much of that already.

I wanted that human to human connection as “we judge the limits of human endurance [and] value experience” (Birringer, 1998, 12) so this is an experience to see where we can push the limits with what is acceptable to perform and how to act as human in real life. I wanted to show “the ‘truth’ or ‘identity’ dominant culture” (Birringer, 1998, 16) as when this ‘truth’ and ‘identity’ is focused onto the audience, like in the journal article of Solo in Soho: The Performer Alone by John Howell whereby in the 70s, performance art “flourished in an atmosphere where the focus is on the audience” (Howell, 1979, 153); this is a quote from a piece where the interaction is hands on communication with the audience. My performance is communicating with the audience mentally through their imagination as a “performance earns the disdain of audiences wishing to be entertained or satisficed in terms of their analytic desires” (Birringer, 1998, 12). I wanted to keep the audience interacting with me with the openness and freedom of expression of their minds.

I feel this quote says a lot about my performance,

“if we observe how contemporary performance art,…derives their energy from direct experimental knowledge of bodily sensation or privation and how they transmit perception of sanctioned violence, discrimination and social deprivation in the body of politics through increased physical brutality on stage”

(Birringer, 1998, 15)

For me this quote shows exactly why I chose to do performance art instead of something which is autobiographical where all feelings, evidence, experiences and interpretation can be in one safe place; where nothing goes wrong and the audience have time to think on the matter and decide what side they can be on or not. It is time to reflect on what the world has given us and how to handle it through the mind of the audience.

The soundscape I felt went well as it was the first time I have ever edited audio together with the software called Audacity. Where I recorded YouTube clips such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yRenBc_Zs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL51Tsh6Sdg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF0twf3u5wA

I used the style of a 1930s radio show to present the soundscape of the mixture of media to make it a bit light hearted and show how backwards and right winged the Tories are acting when it comes to a very 21^st century problem. I feel that they need to get with the times and actually look up and take a big long view on what they are doing to the next generation as it is they who will step into their shoes in 5 years time or so; as “process-art are perhaps crucial at a point in history where state institutions can no longer guarantee economic and political integrations” (Birringer, 1998, 18). When I was putting the soundscape together I started to understand even more why it was important to use different media as this is what ‘millennials’ are always in contact with ie smart phones, apple watches, tablets etc. As these make it easy to access reports, hopefully, some of the audio will have been heard by the audience beforehand so they can experience it again and second question and analyse the topic better.

So this is what I felt about my performance experience of the piece.

Evaluation

What I liked?

Finally performing it
Having the set as dramatic and artistic than I thought it was going to be.
Finally cutting the string after practising without it.
Hearing great feedback as well as constructive criticism from my peers.

What to improve on?

I feel I need to use levels in the piece because there wasn’t any definition in it whatsoever. I needed to be “sensitive to the dramatic rhythm which is established” (Lecoq, 2000, 31) in every performance. I felt like I didn’t listen to the area and my body so the performance didn’t show enough depth with the contact of the space and the performer. Next time I must play with the idea of expanding out of the alcove into a bigger space or just practise with the framing and string then without it.

My opinions on the piece need to be clearer I felt, and I was disappointed within myself that I didn’t put enough courage into stating the opinions or sayings of the ‘mind’ I was stuck in as “words are approached through verbs, bearers of action, and through nouns which represent a designated object” (Lecoq, 2000, 50). So, if I was going to say it, I needed to say it with all my body and not half-heartedly.

The feedback from the audience and luckily it was my target audience, was positive; they liked it and thought it was inspirational and uplifting to see a performance about the current issues in such an abstract way. They said it felt as though they were in a mind and it was easily interpreted and open to change and that their issues came through it. Most of them felt it needed more vocal interaction from me which I agreed with and, the performance needs to expand or I must find something to do with the space used.

Overall, I felt as though this experience of working with me was very challenging but rewarding to see a performance devised entirely by myself. I may carry on with this concept and develop it in the future as I think it will me great to see it go further.

As it is all about ‘Mind over Matter’

Work cited:

Birringer, J (1998) Media and Performance: Along the border. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

Bruno, S. and Dixon, L. (2015) Creating Solo Performance. London: Routledge

Howell, J (1979) Solo in Soho: The Performer Alone. Performing Arts Journal, 4 (1/2) 152-158.

Lecoq, J. (2000) The Moving Body: Teaching Creative Theatre. 3^rd edition. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Media.

Synopsis of the Show

May 18, 2016 by Georgia Green

Have you ever wondered what a young adult’s mind looks like nowadays?

Well it’s your lucky day because you can experience it today!

A young adult is captured and forced to do a self evaluation in their own mind. They are trapped, there is no where to go, all they can hear is the criticism about themselves and what it is like nationally to be a young adult in this current economic climate. This is how young adults feel they are portrayed and treated by the government and the media.

Setting up

May 17, 2016 by Georgia Green

So this is the basis of my set. It was done on 12^th May and was based in the alcove, with a table and chair and a basic floor light however, soon enough the whole space will become littered with paper, string and rope.

We used scaffolding as the frame for the rope. Looking back at my final design, the piece only used vertical lines to replicate bars but I decided this wasn’t going to be visionally stimulating and would look clumsy as well.

I chose to have a spider web effect which would also double up to replicate how electro neurons appear in the brain:

This shows the connection of all pieces of media and thoughts but physicalized in rope and string.

I used weaving to create the web like structure and had to teach the techies how to weave; this system was more effective than the one we used previously which was too complicated and difficult to manage. By tying the rope onto one end and threading it through made it work quicker and more efficiently; it also gave me more room to be imaginative.

The set could be likened to an art installation as I believe it evoked a similar feeling to that of the powerful and thought provoking piece by Marina Abramovic entitled Balkan Baroque. Her piece was a statement about her country of Serbia which she felt did not exist following the Yugoslavian wars. “It involved her scrubbing clean 1,500 cow bones six hours a day for four days and weeping as she sang songs and told stories from her native country” (O’Hagen, 2010). This was all visual, there was no narrative just the audience’s interpretation of her pain and agony when cleaning the horrific past she endured with her mother and father and how she was treated.

(The Guardian, 2010)

I feel my set has the same sense of drama and visual protest and imagery where it makes you stop and think but not to the same level as Balkan Baroque.

When the webbing was done we worked on the lights where a floor light was used.

This was a great source of light because it gave a harshness to the set and when a performer steps in it, it is though that are being interrogated because there is a piecing the light directly on the performer’s face. It gives great use of shadows as well when it comes to presenting a troubled worried mind as though the mind is ongoing with strings attached and nowhere to go.

When it came today the importance was the lighting which I have done earlier:

Blackout

A grey hard edge light snaps on before the sound starts

At 15 secs a pulsing light starts and gets stronger until 1:00 hits on the soundscape (or before it becomes a health issue).

Then the use of blackouts in pulse like rhythm that snaps on light until the soundscape hits 1:30.

A very slowly fade in back into a sand tone yellow lighting which will be sustained throughout the piece.

When the ‘God save our Queen’ music is over, the Cameron speech spec of blue and red comes on until 3:42

Then back to the yellow colour.

Yellow fades slowly into a flat white at 4:30

At 4:90 it starts to flicker back to the yellow shade where it sticks at 5:10

A strobe flickers into a LED white at 7:00

As the character starts to clean up the space at around 9:00 fade very slowly to blackout.

Lights fades back up at 10:00 to discover the character in the audience’s space.

Final blackout

This was set up ready for the show for tomorrow.

This is the final look until the floor becomes just paper in and around the alcove and all the other props.

Work cited:

O’Haggan, S (2010) Interview: Marina Abramović London: The Guardian. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/oct/03/interview-marina-abramovic-performance-artist [accessed 17th May 2016].

Lighting and Sound workshop

May 10, 2016 by Georgia Green

Today was very eye opening and extremely good fun!

The first thing I was told was to make sure I used the right vocabulary such as:

Angle
Intensity
Hard edge
Spotlight
Warm
Cool
Bright
Dim
Less shadow

The workshop was very helpful especially with the use of examples of lighting and when and where to use them in the performance.

The lights used were:

Birdies
LED lights
Floor lights
Floodlights
Profile
Spotlight

The lights I was most interested in were Birdies and LED lights.

The Birdies:

These gave great shadows and reminded me of the saying ‘rabbit in headlights’. They had that dramatic look as though the character was up to no good, untrustworthy, or has been tainted in some way or other. Birdies can cancel the shadows out with the help of a rigged light above to show the character for example to be pure, honest and with nothing on them as though they have something to say; the room becomes focussed just on the character which gives the piece more dimension.

LED Lights:

Very versatile lights as they change colour typically from red, blue and green or they can change or morph colours to make a certain colour. A versatile light that can create an atmosphere and capture the audience’s attention or can help them relate to something specific like a memory by giving it its own colour which will always remind the audience of that memory or a particular scenario. It reminds the performer of that memory and they can use the colour again to get that atmospheric look or give the audience a clear understanding of what is coming up next.

After exploring the lights and what you can do with them we were put into 2 groups and each group had a studio. My group had studio 2.

These are some photos that we created:

This is called a corridor where a spotlight is refocused by hand in to a style of a square and then elongated.

The corridor does what to the performance?

A great entrance to the space which brings the whole space to focus on what is coming down that corridor.
When watching an example of the corridor I just thought that there is going to be a confession because the actor is appearing from the dark with a secret.
Dramatic way for exits as though you are passing on to another life or to heavean for example.
Gives a presence to the actor of “I am here” and gave it a dramatic dimension.

We based our lighting as a daily routine with a twist as though something is going to happen or the character is going to confess something to the audience.

Side lighting on each side of Laura’s face gave a dramatic effect and was eye catching as we gradually lit up the rest of her body giving the impression that it was getting discovered or waking up.

IMG_4028 - Copy

Using LED in the space modelled by Alice as we sort out the colouring of blue, white and pink; they are softened and submerged into the floor to show our character was going to end up as though ‘the day has started and something has to happen eventually’.

The video will show the whole piece in one but will also show the end as the lights physically show that time is passing by. The use of LED lights changes by flashing slowly in different areas of the floor in a distinct rhythm to represent the passage of time.

Video:

Soundscape replaced The Script

May 8, 2016 by Georgia Green

I have tried and tried to get a script done for this piece and here is an example:

Characters: Young Adult (Y.A.) and Subconscious

Starts with Blackout

Voice-over

Ramble of voices starts and the voices fade in the dominant one.

Fade in for the dominant one and a fade out for the soundscape of other thoughts.

Lights fade up and Young Adult looks around and sees they are trapped and struggles to be set free. They are not successful.

Y.A. (moaning) What am I doing? I have nowhere to go; no potential future prospects, no balance in my life.

Nooothing, nothing…..

Exhales with disbelief

What am I doing? Where is the trust in my life and in other young adults like me?

Silence

Anguish sets in with a slight feeling of regret.

What am I doing?! I keep moaning and moaning about not doing anything when I should be looking for something!

Urghhhhhhh!

I feel I am in some sort of paradox or in limbo.

So many people say to me don’t worry you’re fine, you’re not dead, and nothing scary has happened it’s all in your own mind.

It’s not…. others like me are thinking the same…

Cue in reports on young millennials’ thoughts and feelings which get louder in the mind, so uncomfortably louder that the young adult has to breathe in heavily to stop their anxiety.

Exhales

Just be calm, calm (breathes out) just contemplate your thoughts and do some tidying up.

Coughs, goes back to tranquillity mode.

Closes their eyes and breathes in….

Sound of the ocean starts to fade in

When they breathe out they open their eyes quickly and say…

Let’s do it…

They start to cut and, with every cut there is a specific news report or thought which causes a muffled background noise.

They talk their feelings.

I just want to sort myself out; my anxiety levels have risen because of this specific reason. There are no views for someone like me, no one to give me a chance to learn and experience so I can make my future bright and those people like me and people who will follow after me! Everything will be fine after this… all I need is some TLC; tender loving care for my own sanity.

Y.A. looks around in disbelief and struggles yet again to break free but unsuccessfully.

Silence

Looks around, uncertain that they maybe in that scenario

They get themselves out of the chair, look around in disbelief as the muffled sound continues to get stronger until it is unbearable!

The young adult cannot stand it anymore! (Voice over is done, time for their voice to be heard.

Y.A: SSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!

Rambles carry on for about 2 seconds then the young adult shakes it off and then concentrates. Fades out

Mind state fragmented thoughts carry on but they start to snip the string a voice carries on.

I am going to this my way no other fuckers are going to help me!

People say to me you’ll get there you always will.

Yes, maybe, but others like me won’t; they will be suppressed until they fit in to some stupid, fucking cubical working in a dead end office job just so they can survive!

SURVIVE! No experience of life and actually living life, just surviving, that’s not what life is about.

The government have been playing with us ‘young people’ for far too long; it all started in 2012!

This was when the cost of degrees went up, sky rocketed up past the moon and through the stars into the arse hole of David Cameron with his accomplice George Osbourne.

A reporter in the Guardian newspaper wrote “George Osborne’s budgets have left young Britons with mounting student debt, depleted housing benefits, and cuts to youth employment and wage support”.

This was from a man who made us believe there were no strings attached because he wanted to make a stronger, secure and safer Britain; bull shit!!.

There is no balance whatsoever in this world, and I know it’s not just my age group that feels it but for every living thing on this planet.

It all started from around the time I was 11; this is when you start to grow up and become more aware of the news and understand what the world is all about for the first time. This is when you come out of that childhood bubble that was so abruptly burst that you couldn’t manage to take it all in!

There is no balance.

No balance

Balance no

No balance

The sound comes back of new reports etc. they push it away through physical theatre.

So this mind is a palace, so why is it corrupted?

It needs to get stronger, more efficient and capable to survive

Because us millennials need to have a better understanding of the worked and the world needs to better understand us.

So the first thing I need to do it is, to cut the strings that have surreptitiously attached themselves to me.

The young adult starts to cut the prison of string and rope and tries to untangle themselves

Whilst this happens, the music and the reports slowly go away.

‘Mind over matter’ which means the use of will power to overcome physical problems.

For me this just didn’t fit into what I wanted to do. I felt like I was putting words into the audience’s mouth and like I said in my Non-narrative blog, I want people to interpret it with as much freedom as possible and let them have a unique time when watching the performance.

So, I thought how can I keep the piece immersive and interesting for the audience and that’s when I thought of my time in the studio when I rabbled on about my feelings about the way young adults are being treated by the government etc. I viewed a number of news clips on the topics on YouTube and just spoke in the space. That’s when my emotional pathway came through the most and as I felt more into the whole situation, I became immersed in it all and re-experienced the news clips again for a second time. That was very raw for me and I wanted my audience to have the same experience.

Once my final decision was made, I started working on my soundscape which was going to run for the entire performance; I worked on it for two weeks straight.

and here it is:

Whilst going through this process I looked at the Creating Solo Performance book again and found a section called ‘Approaching Technology’ and I found some of the introduction very useful before I started working on my soundscape.

There was a section in the introduction that caught my eye and I feel as though it speaks for itself:

“These… performers, designers and artisans who, through a blend of technical ingenuity, skill, story and stagecraft, created shows that brought the audience into a world where the ordinary became extraordinary”

(Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 149)

This is what I want to get a sense of in my performance when all the bits and pieces such as the set and soundscape all come together. This is the goal.

I want the audience to be overwhelmed by the way in which my piece expresses the negative feelings of the topic; this negativity will bounce off and cancel itself out if the audience feel they can change and fight the situation. This will show how “the performer’s role was to deny the illusion was taking place, to present the illusion a reality” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 149). so the audience can empathise with our predicament and treatment by the government as well as the financial millstone we have round our necks as we enter the employment arena. Another thing I found interesting was that, as a performer, I have the freedom to “bring the audience into the world of your story, amplify the mood or even deliver exposition” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 150); this excited me so I can be as dramatic as possible in order to get the audience to face facts about our current situation .

I carried on reading the book and stumbled on a section on soundscapes.

This section is basically telling you to engross the audience and capture their imaginations as well as in my case, their memories of the past and its issues such as youth employment, recession, student loans etc. This was great as the first line I read was “use sound to provide your audience with specific details of story, character or their world” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 153). This is my aim.

My main encouraging quote from this section is:

“Radio news broadcasts, commercials, public address announcements…provide the audience with information that might help them better understand the world of your performance” (Bruno and Dixon, 2015, 153)

Keeping this quote in mind I answered the question from the section:

When do the audience begin to experience the sound scape?

Straight away and then for the whole duration of the piece as the sound scape is the main focus and, with the help of the set’s imagery, I hope the audience will interpret it for themselves.

What does your soundscape reveal to the audience about your performance, the world of your performance and your character?

Honesty, truth, stress relief, pin pointing out the obvious, highlighting the troubling areas and trust, safe place to feel angry with the scenarios. Hopefully after watching it, the spectator starts to feel good as if it were stress therapy to see the same frustrations and anger performed for them.

Work cited: Bruno, S. and Dixon, L. (2015) Creating Solo Performance. London: Routledge.

Solo Performance – Georgia Green

Live. Work. Play. How true is this saying?