(in)visible exchange EEC performance 24 may 08- reflections, thoughts and comments

hello

thanks to everyone that came into the little room behind reception, and shared their stories.

i would like to invite people to comment on here, and to open the work up for discussion to help inform the future development of my work. if you would rather email me, please email me at harrietpoole@gmail.com.

here are comments left in the book on the day (thanks very much);

"really well thought out concept-very powerful-esp with the developing of the photograph, sending it on is a nice touch also-v intimate, natural style which was good. not sure about the girl guide story and shred the compliment slip- that made me feel sad. v good though."

"it reminded me that the barriers of intimacy and the personal can easily fall away. our 'stories' and what is personal to us is quite similar. ('us' meaning human beings.) wasn't prepared for having an address though or something that meant something to me. the piece is heavily reliant on the 'audience' member."

"yes you're right! sometimes you just have to let go and not hold onto things. the 'moment' eh?! thank you!"

"thank you that was lovely! very personal and heartfelt. made me remember my childhood and its awkward and wonderful moments!"

"why d'you shred the compliments slip? i am looking forward to finding out what [the young recipient of the photo] thinks- might be freaked out. i liked the new additions- just query the shredder bit-but the dislocatedness quite nice."

"I enjoyed sharing bits of stories. the whole process was intimate....i was temporarily shocked when my image got shredded, i had written it with so much love. but the package and envelope looked very nice, and made up for the previous disapointment."

"the shredding was nasty, almost how bad she felt when the girls laughed at her on the bench."

"what an emotive, intriguing piece.the shredding somehow made me feel like there is a unity in us (humans) regardless of backgrounds."

EEC Site visit photos- PART TWO- provisional choice of site for (in)visible exchange

the reception area- a place where people (visitors, employees, students) need information such as changes to rooming for lectures, directions to a room, show staff/student security passes


reception desk- a common curved shape coming out from a room beyond


lots of health and safety signage, fire and security alarms- bold graphic imagery, flashing lights

seated area behind a curved wall


opposite reception- art work framed, toilets

display cabinet of recommended course books


curved white wall opposite recepetion- display opportunity?

information on freestanding display unit right as you walk into entrance

Been accepted for East End Collaborations!

hurrah! (in)visible exchange that i performed at the nunnery (MA interim show in February) has been accepted for East End Collaborations run by the Live Art Development Agency - an opportunity to show my work to artists, tutors, promoters, students and get feedback and support on developing my work. please do come along! tickets on the website.

here's my proposal- will need to consider how to refine/adapt this piece once made site visit and in light of the space-in-between performance (also performing the photogram process but in a different context) with laura yesterday;


EEC Platform Proposal 2008

(in)visible exchange

Preferred space: Small, light tight closet type space or small space that can be made light tight and into a photographic darkroom. Ideally around 8 foot by 3 feet but can adapt to space given. Using an existing working closet with side bench or shelf as found would be particularly ideal (moving some items if necessary to accommodate myself and participant)- mops, buckets, screwdrivers, old equipment etc welcome in the space. Possible wall space or space for a display board would be good outside the room.

Duration of work: Durational, intimate performance for one at a time (approximately 10 minutes per encounter)

The number of artists involved: one (Just me). May need an usher depending on the space given- I can provide. This can also work with making appointments in advance/on the day- am flexible over how it is thought would best work with the other performances.

Description of the work: In (in)visible exchange, people enter the closet through knocking on the door, and are invited inside. Stories are told in the closet through objects from my own pocket, and if the participants would like to share, their own pockets. The objects are laid onto photographic paper and exposed and developed- they surface momentarily through a photogrammed memory of the object but are not then fixed. The closet idea is about referencing those tucked away spaces maybe under the stairs, amateur darkroom in the attic, child’s den, inventors quiet paradise to be able to sit and consider one’s thoughts, make new discoveries, or share secrets. The fleeting exchange of memories between two strangers is, as is the problem with photography, of the moment that has passed. This performance thus culminates in marking this fact through the death of the photographs created, as either to become treasured relics, art objects or to emerge carefully under the door of the closet denoting the end of a period of togetherness as two strangers then leave one another.

(in)visible exchange explores theories in the work of Roland Barthes and Tino Sehgal, the first for his theories of the ‘mortality’ of the paper based photograph as an ‘impossible’ record of ‘now,’ and the latter for the fleeting materiality of his art works. I am researching principals of non-matrixed theatre and audience participation through the subversion of time based media practices. I am experimenting with pushing the temporal nature of performance through marrying with the temporal nature of photography, placing the process of image making intrinsically at the heart of an intimate performative experience.

ARTIST INVOLVED:

Harriet Poole

Education:
Foundation in Art (Chelsea College of Art and Design, 1994,)
BA (Hons) Fine Art (Staffordshire University, 1997)
PGCE Secondary Art and Design (UWIC, 1998)
PGCERT: Innovation in Education (Warwick University, 2006)
Currently studying MA Theatre: Visual Language of Performance at Wimbledon College of Art (2007-8.)

Live Art Performances:
Examples of work can be found on my blog www.harrietvizlang.blogspot.com

December 2007, Too many Cooks, One night event of a collective project in which I was exploring storytelling, video and participation, Wimbledon College of Art.

February 2008, (in)visible exchange in Approaches to what? MA Wimbledon College of Art Interim Show, Nunnery, Bow, East London. Closet performance for one at a time performed across 3 days exploiting photography through intimate exchanges and storytelling.

26 April 2008, a (de)constructed exchange, 55 Leroy Street: Further investigations. Collaborative project with Laura Bean, working with site-specific performance art to explore the fictive and real histories surrounding the derelict light-industry site at 55 Leroy St. We will be deconstructing factory processes whilst simultaneously exploiting photography in a performative manner. Audience members are to be invited to participate and surrender unwanted home furnishings/ clothing to help facilitate the performance and leave new traces of occupation.

Previous work has seen me creating a photographic installation exploring invisible performances in a commercial setting. In Give me a new look in August 2007, I asked shop assistants at stores on Oxford Street to give me a new image based entirely on their perceptions and to photograph with a disposable camera the outfits for me, posed as though requesting them for my partner to see how ‘good’ I could look. Other work has included collaborations fusing my work with other arts practitioners be it creating illustrative or interactive visuals for sound art, music, movement, spoken word. I have had a range of visual commissions including for large scale visual-music-theatre work, Sedna Stories, composed by Kerry Andrew, and a collaboration with voice (acapella group, juice), ensemble and electronica artist Paul J Abbott which premiered in York, in 2005 and then Cargo, London June 2006. This work embodied the theatricality of Inuit folk tales. In July 2006 I created a visual score (film) for silent improvisation for Hausmusik (Claudia Molitor – Klangsieben and Sound Source series for spnm - Society for promotion of new music) In September 2006, I created a film played live to sound art performance Solar Noise Generation (SNG- Ash Sargant -!PLOVA) screened as part of Wormhole Saloon at the Whitechapel Art Gallery London. In March 2007 I created live visuals for Gobsmack, an experimental vocals night at The Spitz, London.

I am also involved in arts education, with a variety of experiences in directing, teaching and collaborating within local and international schools, colleges and communities, championing visual and performing arts projects.

REFEREE:

Douglas O’Connell, Course Leader MA Theatre: Visual Language of Performance

TECHNICAL:

Creating a staged light tight darkroom providing own equipment being small darkroom (box) tray, photographic developer, photographic paper, red safety lights, blackout.
Ability to lock door or shut it very firmly so light tight.
Depending on room set up as to whether would need a bench or a table and depending on the height of these- chairs or stools or standing- I can arrange these where necessary.
Access to water nearby and electrical sockets in the room or very nearby.
If possible I would like to view the room in advance of the event so I can plan for the right materials, and any slight adaptations to the performance if layout of room etc dictates.

Please note- I have a lot of experience in constructing make-shift darkrooms if the above sounds horrendously off putting- and I am able to do it myself. There is no Enlarger or other traditional darkroom equipment, processing troughs etc, but would put down suitable protective sheeting as applicable. Depending on how much black out was required would dictate how long I would need to set up; if time is short I could get assistance.