sonic illuminations proposal- King's Cross lighthouse

here's the outline of the idea for the proposal;

Kerry Andrew and Harriet Poole Joint Application to Sonic Illuminations

overlooked
a helter-skelter history of the King’s Cross lighthouse

Most people, heads down as they fight their way across Gray’s Inn Road and Pentonville Road in the jostling heart of King’s Cross, won’t notice it: on top of a thin curved building sits a derelict lighthouse. Bizarrely out of place, it is a genuine mystery; there is no record of who put it there, when and why. Suggestions have included that it was erected by 19-century teahouse or oysterhouse owners who once plied their trade beneath, or that it was a clocktower, a camera obscura, or even a helter-skelter salvaged from a local funfair.

We propose to produce a 5-minute film/sound/performance event that explores both fictive and real histories of the lighthouse and its immediate area, using a mixture of historic and contemporary film and photography techniques, live and recorded vocal music and sound design. The piece would begin by introducing the lighthouse with interweaving stories, both from real suggestions and fantastical, invented ones. A middle section would turn to today: we would go to the site and interact with the transient community there, filming them, showing them the lighthouse and recording their thoughts on its purpose. We would also use traditional and digital pinhole images of contemporary King’s Cross in response to the camera obscura idea. Finally, we would film the development of the pinhole photographs, and as they swim in liquid, the contemporary ideas and stories would overlap, disperse, and transform into an sonic evocation of the sea. This project would be a development of our collective interests in storytelling and myth, social engagement and site-responsive work, combining vocal (spoken and sung, live and recorded) looping, playing on the musical qualities of speech, and potentially including a live art aspect. We would be keen to work with the Camden Historical Society in investigating the area and lighthouse further.

sonic illuminations proposal- photos of site visit- King's Cross lighthouse

sonic illuminations is a competition for sound artist/composer and filmmaker to make a 5 minute piece exploring the history of King's Cross, to be presented at the opening of King's Place Arts centre in October. some info on the lighthouse is here- urban75 website, plus flickr site. we went to the camden local study centre archives and found an illustrated article entitled, 'A light at King's cross,: The 'lighthouse' building: fantasy and fact,' by David Hayes, in Camden History Review, Vol 23 (1999) David Hayes is part of the Camden Library Services. the article give a good survey of the known and guessed history of the lighthouse, similar 'follys', suggestions about it being a camera obscura (hence why i like this site!) helterskelter, dispensary, lookout.



the fish and chip shop maybe found in a lighthouse's normal seaside location

the-space-in-between- first performance planning visit-EVEN MORE photos- of office ceiling

Ceal Floyer- Light Switch- 1992-99, Tate modern collection. The images below reminded me of this artwork- i like it for its visual illusion (Tate website )and witty qualities- appearing before you in the correct siting on a wall is a picture of a functional device that as its virtual is in fact functionless. wit, satire, i think laura and i have agreed we are both interested in this in the project!

the depiction of this image from the Tate website clearly show the device to create the image is part of the work- the technology is not hidden, in fact the projection is given considerably less weighting in studying the image as its so small- when i was prompted to remember this artwork by my photos on this post i did not even remember the projector but the simplicity of the idea of the light switch projected through light, onto a location in reality (the wall) it might exist (although problematic as this is an art gallery where light switches of this domestic one switch kind are not really used)


projecting a feature of the office ceiling- a smoke alarm or speaker i think- back onto the ceiling. these 2 photos make me think about framing- not in through the lens terms like here but in the performance- how much of the image does the audience see, why and how do you ensure that? eg use of door stop limiting how much a door can be opened, peep hole. the bottom image for example has no real functioning item with it- its abstracted- does it lose its context too much for example? my age old (in)visible question...



possible other thoughts- is there anything in the (purposeful) bodily interaction with virtual office features to push the redundant nature of the space (nothing works anymore) or is the image merely within our possible performance to establish a sterotypical context and offer an aesthetic juxtapositon to emphasise the now derelict office?
in working into this project laura's current research ideas of past and present lives i think we will be working with imagery in a way that fittingly contributes to this notion

the-space-in-between- first performance planning visit -more photos

another google found image through typing 'office' (quite like this method of finding images as we have no idea what the space here actually ever looked like through the years) looks quite date, generic, devoid of bodily presence however signs of life- the signage don'ts- the token pieces of pleasing artwork-nice touches. thinking about the content of the image, which parts to use within the site to create meanings/interesting aesthetic

ok so virtual sterotypical office now projected in delapidated, redundant office- bright and colourful, cheery with plant and picture on the wall contrast to the actual dingy, dirty, dusty space



joke action - although this may be the participants means of gaining entry to the performance- and also the issue with the projection is on the door rather than inside


love this image again with the old vent in this stifingly small space and virtual generic artwork. the angle of the projector allowing parts to become dominant and others receding into the wall. we were trying out the moving the projector back so far that the images were life size for consideration of how this might impact on other exhibits in the final event


use of corner and across the window- getting to know the size and layout of room in relation to the scale of projection


again the matching of architectural forms and the non-descript generic artwork blurred further to obscurity through the damp, torn wall paper.

more on ideas for the space-in-between...

ok- so now laura and i have decided to go for it with a short sharp collaboration, very experimental (the nature of the site for everyone wokring on art projects over this month), testing out some of our research ideas and different styles of performance/exhibition and just see what happens. the draft we have submitted for the press release is;

Laura Bean and Harriet Poole are working with site-specifc performance art to explore the fictive and real histories surrounding the site. They will be deconstructing factory processes whilst simultaneously exploiting photography in a performative manner. Audience members are invited to participate and surrender unwanted home furnishings/clothing to help facilitate the performance and leave new traces of occupation.

26th April 2008
3- 5.00 By appointment- please email harrietpoole@gmail.com to arrange.
5-5.30 Performance open to all
5.30-6 Installation

The idea being we can play with the 3 hours event in 3 parts- part one- explore the breakdown of goods produced by light-industry businesses/ home furnishings 'from' future housing occupation, through participatory performance (more non-matrixed),in which we are subverting the norms of manufacturing in generating temporal photograms. part two- devise a performance we are both in (live/mediated?) and watched by the audience, and, part three- create a final installation with experiments with projections.

more to think about- tomorrow we spend the day in the space playing with site, ideas and technology.....yipeee

from the local studies centre- on the-space-in-between....55 Leroy St, Bermondsey

News article on the st, 1964


1976- Annette Display wigs ok, so my trip to the local studies centre in borough wasn't as useful as I had hoped in that small businesses had very little written about them and very few photos existed of the site/street- would need to contact the businesses direct for records although most out of business and impossible to track.... I have a list of the nature of the light industry firms including the following (from Linda Duffy, thanks, from Post Office records );

1893-1900 – Sowle Thomas, wheelwright
1908 – Million Advertising Novelty Co Limited
1912-15 – Simmons W F and Co under-clothing manufacturers
1916-17 – Newey Brothers Ltd hook & eye manufacturers
1928-9 – Barclay, Roberts and Co Ltd trouser press mfrs
1937-39 – Stanley and Woodward Ltd coathanger mfrs
1947-9 – British Novelties (Model Manufacturers) plaster figure mkrs
1970 – nº 51/55 Frederica Display, figure manfrs.
1973-83 – nº 51 Annette Display, Wig Co. Ltd
1983 – No 55 H&M Fashions, ladies’ fashion mfrs
1988 – nº 55 Stacey Ltd. Ladies fashion manfrs.

The ~H& M Fashion may be of interest- is this the current high st retailer? Like the range of businesses listed.

Am also interested in the fact that the article above is talking about reportedly appalling housing conditions on the street with 'dangerous, dilapidated landings,' when this currently dilapidated site at end of April is being demolished and becoming contemporary appartments- there may be material in this.

objects and atmospheres- non-verbal workshop with geraldine pilgrim (part 7)

george segal




body in space exercise- out of visual create a narrative- reference-george segal sculptures


exercise- text as a visual landscape- not developing character (although appearances yes, feelings not so) but body in a site. physical placement of the body of one person by another within the space- floor/wall, (addition of an object in my turn.) the person in position once set has 30 seconds to think about how their body is placed and a possible site it could be in....then the rest of the group asks questions to which the placed person responds to begin to tell a story.

my photograph above of the position i was placed in- (you can't quite see my thumb is extended upright from my beyond hand) i was asked to look at a chair beyond and then another person in the group placed the camera in my site line- at first, intriguingly with the camera lens pointing towards me and then with me looking through the viewfinder.

rough recollection of the questions posed to be and my responses....

• where are you? i'm in the attic
• where's the attic? my parents house in croydon
  
• why are you on the floor? i'm listening
  
• to what? my parents arguing. i'm waiting for them to stop.
  
• what re they arguing about? me- mum has grounded me and dad disagrees
• whats in the attic? dusty old trunk locked full of my secrets, bare boards
• where's the key? in my pocket as always
  
• what are the walls like? old peeling floral paper one side, breeze block the other
• whats the temperature like? its cold, breezy
• what are you looking at? through the lens at the boy in the house next door. he's undressing.
• is there a window in the attic then? yes
• what's the boys name? orlando
• what's your name? harriet
• how old are you? 16
• what are you wearing? my escape outfit
• what's your escape outfit? pink shoes, jeans
• why are you escaping? i've had enough
• what happens next? i'm giving the signal to my brother who is next to me that the arguing has stopped and they have left the room for us to escape.i'm going to take one last photo of orlando before i leave.

this exercise i found a very insightful way to consider where you can visualise being taken to through placement of body and engaging in conversation to build a narrative. you imagine that everything is moving around this frozen body.questions were to centre not on the feelings but on the sights, sounds, smells. the gaze was crucial to the narrative. elements on this may verge on past life regression(!) which the activity was not intended too- i suppose the choice of being in croydon(not sure why i said this) made me want to take an exotic sounding name for the boy next door- orlando which was the name my brother was almost given and was the name that popped into my head. one person in the group after they did their story said 'where the hell did all that come from?'

in relation to my current investigations- generating stories through visuals- centering on the sensory elements and the what happened next - this was very useful exercise. i also was struck by the use of the camera- the story would have been completely different with the camera lens placed towards me (who was to photograph me, why etc)

thinking about it now- i feel a little confused about separation of character from landscape- although not centering on description of feelings clothing, age shapes an identity? as well as the fact that i was wearing my escape outfit....

objects and atmospheres- non-verbal workshop with geraldine pilgrim (part 3)

second lot of photos of body sculpture expressing an emotion (?!).....

objects and atmospheres- non-verbal workshop with geraldine pilgrim (part 1)

this site-specific workshop at toynbee studios on saturday 29th-sunday 30th march (two full days) was bloody brilliant for many reasons- tutor, participants, activities all worked well together with purpose and series of learning outcomes. It also massively developed my understanding of non-verbal performance, use of doing nothing, pause, gaze, exploring relationship between photographic tableau and theatre tableau, creating visual landscapes concerned with the body in space and less about character, and most importantly gave me confidence and feedback on the use of my own body in relation to site.

i have pages of notes on this workshop and so am thinking about the most relevant parts to me to put on here.

geraldine pilgrim workshop leader and artistic director of corridor performance company,(where photo above is taken from) started off talking about her career path, influences, her relationship between art and theatre heavily influenced by Edgar Gordon Craigs 1890s book, on the art of theatre discussing how should be able to do everything in a piece of theatre or at least have attempted and understand it as no one part is more important- everything equal. i guess this is the route i am on now- a far cry form where i thought i would be on this course at the start- the total theatre/live art experience maker rather than the multi-media designer that collaborates that i had thought i would be. geraldine has undertaken courses across both theatre and art- from foundation art course (taken twice- the first she was expected to be experimental and freaked- second time she became organically experimental- a phrase i like as i do think i forget about the easing on through the traditional especially in my teaching and expect students to just be up for it) geraldine talked in detail about her projects- from more ange taggart commentary on public norms of behaviour (20 people buying the guardian form the same newsagent one after another and entering a station very precisely repeating each others stannding reading actions in a station) to use of different entry points for two audiences (that don't know about the other one) with different characters as tour guides in her site-specific work and how they meet across a glass hallway. geraldine also talked a lot about working as a lecturer, plus also theatre designer and how she calls artefacts used in performance very much objects rather than props, saying how actors need to rehearse and devise actions with everything from the start of a show which invariably doesn't happen as the design and the rest of the show work independently until the tech rehearsals start where the two often collide.(rough gist of what was said only)

work then set about for a series of exercises in pairs;

1 express anger through objects without speaking
2 express loss through objects without speaking
3 express joy through objects without speaking

the activities involved 2 or 3 people and one person being in a room and another out of a side door. first person sets the table, 4 chairs, cups, saucers, cutlery, tray as wishes, person two then enters with a suitcase and you improvise with each other.

1. my first time on ANGER was hard- using pointing at the tea cup to try to get the other person to sit, and feeling uncomfortable with being stared at for long periods of time, avoiding gaze and busying myself doing too much. i sited the telephone i was given not in clear view of the audience who had no idea i was repeatedly staring at it.

2.the LOSS exercise i felt much better with. i sited myself on the phone in the room head buried in hands at the table which i'd half laid. when the 2 others burst through the door with their suitcases i had set the scene of something that had already happened, we persued a series of long gazes at each other, head holding, looking down, until i handed the phone to one of them, leaving the other person still not knowing and still baffled. when the phone went back on the receiver i then busied myself finishing the table, as though in denial of the phone conversation, cracking in dropping the tray and then again holding gaze with the person who had just replaced the receiver, before mistakingly busying myself reading the paper and then getting up and finally leaving with the two people just left holding each others gaze.

you had to be there to fully understand, but i learnt quickly the importance of doing nothing and the gaze, body language are crucial, way objects are handled, where placed, etc.

3. i only watched this but it was cringeworthy as there's only so much joker style smiling and hugging you can do without words! point proved- negative emotions easier for non-verbal communication.

consideration of the stimulus (what about silent disco) and narrative that's expressed.

enough now- onto the photos from the next workshops....