day three MA shed show: saturday 6th sept: i'm shed happy:)

cats watching the traces left...i like this little memorial emerging, links the little shed to the first and summarises the finality of the image throughout this show, against the real life living on.

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today was the best yet, which is good news that things are going forward and not regressing.
i need to sit and re-work the instructions to ensure the screen is up ok, OR just making sure people feel confident in asking for guidance- they need to hang the sheet by the eyelets, its been hung at funny angles meaning its not as flat as it could be. i have been thinking about the action i am doing outside the shed, writing on the name stick- been trying to make it more pronounced- but need to now think about this more.or is it important, is it just aesthetic- the apparent still image becoming real and durational, time passing in front of your eyes.

i also recorded my story twice today (and only this, purely for review purposes) and then walked round with the dictaphone when just doing normal things and listened to myself, thinking about the normal and the performative.my style is definitely getting more relaxed and genuine.

the digital image isn't working i've decided within the tone of this performance, and i want to save the polaroid idea as an alternative for future work.

part two is working much more cohesively. i'm giving people longer to make themselves at home in the big shed before coming out to the little shed.

some feedback from participants today;

• liked the work sitting between art and theatre, still acknowledging me in the work
• really liked crouching down on their own at the end reading the tributes/stories left- although spookily like being at a road side memorial where floral tributes are left or in a graveyard
• reminding people of the KLF guy bill drummond deleting the song in front of the creators
• the preciousness of my actions in the taking out the doilies smacked against the violent act of removing the image- liked very much
• possible teenager big shed, adult little shed?
• [asked people about the cat toy squeak] many said to get rid of it
• possibly too much emphasis on the cat over the flower [i need to really think about this] to connect part one and two together more
  
• move self around more outside and sideways on
• unclear image was being deleted, could have been filed?
• lighting is just right for some who said, others who were further away, too low [encourage people to get closer?]
• tell people image is upside down [can't they work this out- or maybe if they are struggling to see it]
• the photography questions the piece raised were superb
• ideas were very clever and very well thought out
• it felt like 2 shows in one with 2 sheds [needs consideration]
  
• the project is packed with ideas which you only unravel over the rest of the day- so much to think about which has to sit with you,which was liked.
• great sense of calmness in the story and preciousness with objects
• the creaking shed door was quite horror film like- same sense of apprehension
• the deleting a digital photo for some may explain that the piece is all about photography.[ hmmm- need to think about if i remove this, make sure the other areas are definitely saying finality?]
• liked the narrative structure, better than other performance art which tends to take one tiny idea and magnify it
• liked the warm, sweet storytelling.
• liked how the darkness evoked many more sensory perceptions to come alive, eg sound of the cat musical toy, the smell of the nail varnish remover, possibly think about the scent of the flowers more to bring them into the present?
• reminded one person of momento mori ideas- [links to sontag]
  
• all the flowers seem to be quite simple, small and old age, was this intentional? [in part, yes, although the convenience of the size of the pot for the intended digging it up]
  
• liked the cats lurking all over the piece
• loved the death and memory references throughout- the cloth as a screen not only as a childs dens but also as a possible shroud
• liked the doilies- they were like a web

ok- from reflecting on these thoughts and rest of this blog: action plan for the monday shows

• i need to connect the 2 sheds better. replicate the activity more- will try opening the story with bigger, more pungent flowers in a vase, saying, these flowers remind me of my nan. on the day of her funeral....
• frame things more clearly and invite more interaction with the walkie talkie
• ditch the digital. people to start in the shed, and i knock and go inside, works better, more like the second part.
• finality of image more to ensure the photography is making poignant statements- make it more temporal like the cat wreath erasing, people have to take down the sheet themselves so the image goes again, snatched away, and also, in part two, expose the image for longer so that the image goes entirely black inside the shed, nothing is on it when it leaves the shed.
• offer more choices, more open ended, writing the stick or not- suggesting they could write a moment from their story?
• put out on the table cloth the cat and the flower to suggest a link better, limit the cats coming out of the case but allow light to fall on the case to suggest more within.
• action i am doing outside- bigger gestures of simply watering the plants [er, what to do when its raining?]
• continue to stay just within the little shed at the end, let the person lay their plant back down in the 'garden' alone
• really try to get an usher to get people in the sheds and door closed, however most people have finshed now and its proving problematic ushering myself

arrghh- all go, am so very tired still, but excited about this week. have got DUCKIE stuff to work out and pay and display ideas for emma hart too....life after the MA...