shed show day four: shedding light on stories

building up from a good vibe on saturday, today was the best so far in terms of me feeling really connected with my work again like the EEC. i have felt slightly on the periphery of it for some reason, which i think may have prevented me form really situating myself within it and with the participants. my role is becoming more fluid at points and i'm finding i'm more able to relax, i think my body language and eye contact is much better, and really am enjoying listening to people telling me their stories.

it really hit me why i make the work that i do and bringing to light the niggling issues i have had with the project and why that is so. i'm really interested in storytelling, being in the moment of the story and sharing this with others. i've had a huge issue with my stories on this project from the slick and well rehearsed versus the natural and fumbling, and to be honest, i'm now 'unrehearsing' telling more details differently each time, it feels more from the heart. the fumbling is good, its me, and it feels better to set up the situation for part two, a perfectly performed story would put people off.it is the chance element i like in my work when working with participants and shed technology, in contrast to orchestrated elements based on domestic rituals and etiquette, such as the attention to preciousness in laying things out. the 12.15 and 4pm shows today i was feeling much more in the moment of my story with the audience, and the participants stories that resulted i feel were more open, one story struck a chord with me and my own personal situation- in 2 weeks we have a memorial to scatter my late father's ashes. the grandparent connection comes through with many and the choice of flowers seems to be reinforcing that, have also been chatting shed life, sheds from childhood which i like. the sense of exchange is different here to EEC as the first shed story is set up differently, which through me talking to people about their stories in the little shed is allowing a greater sense of that personal, unpredictable connection to happen. there may be less of an equal balance between me and the participant, that the nunnery and EEC did have better, which i can revisit in later work. shed show does i feel work now as a whole show, but could also be 2 shows- the nature of the MA show stage is to put it out there and see and that's fine.

i think in all my work i like a part that really strikes a nerve. the erasing the cat wreath photo is my EEC shredder :)

for tomorrow;

• continuing to play with the storytelling feeling my way a little with embellished details
  
• try out different ways of opening up conversations in the little shed, how much do i ask people questions and how much do i let them just have their space
• think about the plant labels- i like these markers like dedications on gravestones, perhaps there is more opportunity to play with this. i have asked for a moment from the story, a person to dedicate the flower to, or nothing if they so wished
• sharpen up the instructions a little, although this can also encourage more of a dialogue when its not clear which i like- into the unpredictable