lady with cat + authenticity + autobiography

from flickr


if i told you this was my nan, you'd believe me, right? seems a contemporary colour photograph, roughly the right age to be my nan, very fondly looking at these cats in her lap. my dissertation research into roland barthes in camera lucida looked at how barthes was struggling to 'see' his mother in any of the photos he has of her following her death, even if in fact, visibly the woman in the photograph was her, he couldn't connect the frozen snapshot of time of, for example, the presented facial expression,disposition,context,her as a child- its didn't seem to be really her to him. now taking this further, in how by, for example, verbally narrating, we bring a picture from the past into real time. or even by how putting it in a frame on the mantelpiece gives it a status and thus implied personal connection if on my mantelpiece. i draw connections here to the tratchenberg family slide show players who create narratives of strangers lives depicted through slides, in performing songs about car boot found images (my previous post here.) who are these people? those lost treasured moments of the past 'rekindled' inauthentically momentarily in the present?

i have also been looking through old photos of my blood father who passed away recently. we had a selection of them out at his wake from different points in his life to connect to all those people present from across his life, start conversations, recount memories. many of these photos i'd not seen before. there's two in particular, one of him aged about 6 months in a christening gown i think in 1928,with his older brother and sister, pretty standard british photo of that time so fairly non-descript, could be any baby, but it isn't as i've been told otherwise. i'm finding it hard not to look at it, it represents him at the start of his life. the other photo is of him as an artist in his studio in the 60s taking a photo of himself in a mirror surrounded by his ceramics and paintings.this photograph i would imagine was how barthes felt looking at his mother in an age he also didn't know her, a sense of awe and loss but also a sense of wonderment about that time in their life, a time that may well remain unknown.for me, a sense of the artistic person i wish i had known, or how much does this photo actually represent that as my father would think? all so subjective, the "that-has-been," as camera lucida discusses at great length. photos in light of these circumstances of a life passing for me are proving quite challenging to view- and has made me consider the level of honesty i actually want to share so publicly. so when doug said during the july scratch performance, have out a photograph of me and my nan to set the scene, due to that scene developing in ways away from a direct autobiography with the addition of the granddad section, i'm not sure i want to have my pictorally real nan. however, this begs the question then, am i theatricalising my work or am i merely embellishing it like storytellers do?

i was thinking about spalding grays life as a performance and the ideas surrounding autobiography- how truthful am i being already and am i to continue to be? how much am i inventing and continuing to invent? i have a suitcase of cat related object and image possibilities i am collating and weeding out bit by bit, many based on nanny's own tastes but are some things too hyper real, too inauthentic? is it possible to be making a point about this? if i pulled out a photo album with the lady with cats at the top of this post in, and then talked about her, the natural response would be its her. however, if i pulled the image out of a lady smiling and clearly loving her cats, from a pile of old photos in a rubber band and then framed it and placed it in front of the audience to tell the story would they still think she was my nan? or could it be perceived that i wanted this to be my nan? or that this was how i saw her?
am i making a different but good point about photography here, alongside the others i am employing in erasing the image, not fixing it , temporal obscura image?

i inherited a few lovely items when nanny passed away, a beautiful lamp and old electric heater. nanny had mixed taste and a few choice cat items in amongst her living breathing pussies, including a cat calendar, but also some what i would term very tacky, chintzy ornaments. so the items i am collating seem plausible to the autobiography.

is the cat lady photo or one like it another photographic twist for the MA show? i think i will try a photo in thursday's scratch.

another scratch on thursday....potential part one revisions thinking about spalding gray

spalding gray from here

ok- so am setting myself the goal of a 15 minute part one- big shed to work towards. this is good for me to get to professionally as everything i have done to date has overrun and this part especially needs to be tighter- so, identifying what's my priorities in this half, and how to test out for thursday?

there are a few key things which have come up from watching dvds/interviews of spalding gray;

• Gray turned his life into a performance

• low-key starting, everyday voice, but builds into unstoppable mania

• imagination playing against memory

• reacting to previous telling rather than original memory, based on audiences reaction

• "words expand the imagination, images confine it" sits with glass of water and key headings on a piece of paper, simple projections interspersed
  

• workshopping himself retelling all the time

• listens to audio books rather than reading books for inspiration- get the tone of voice etc
  

so thoughts connected to this:

1. presentation of self- back to post grad forum with choice manic moments. does each story need to be exactly the same?

2. non-verbal push this up more with objects/images at the start- think back to the preciousness of the ordinary items in the matchbox in (in)visible exchange. minimise the verbal painting a picture of cat obsessed nan- lose my relationship to the cats prior to wreath (cat hair etc) as its adding time and irrelevant to the photography actions

3.use new cat objects selectively. work with cat photographs/postcards/suitcase carefully- what is revealed/concealed/hinted at.does the choice i make each time affect the story differently? my work differs greatly here from spalding gray- and i must allow the obejcts/images to stand alone without narration where appropriate, let things sit with the audience.

4. ensure there isn't too much time spent getting things ready (eg opening case, takings things out) rather than parts connected to narrative- practice this, pfaff only with purpose ;)

thoughts from stand up into live art

Specifically on the storytelling front:

• I really need to practice telling stories, and the mood I want to create to draw people in and keep them there- pacing is crucial.
  
• The naturalness side is bugging me massively in what I have set myself up for in the 2 shed MA show- need to look at this in the storytelling live and then via walkie talkies- how the transmitting the story changes it when I'm not physically present- this is the weakest side of the show to work on over the next month. When am I telling a story too falsely???? Need to be more self aware- video, dictaphone, my new friends : ) to put trials on my blog for feedback.
  
• More Spalding Gray et al research. Analyse live examples more like i did on the stand up course - style, techniques, not just his writing.
  
• Devise a plan for some experiments and re read autobiographical storytelling works.
• When to use humour or when not? Am I trying too hard to be funny in the MA show- to push the eccentricity?
  
• Where does the non-verbal fit into this- manipulation of the objects, gaze.I really enjoy handling objects to bring alive key moments
  
• Can I do the first shed part much more through the photo album imagery and objects- like i'm telling story through the object? Or writing? Thinking back to Julia Bardsleys Trans-Acts where live self was entirely non-verbal yet you read a narrative- maybe there's a middle ground- but basically i do think in the shed i say too much.
• Can I devise the same story but through object and image and then find the mid ground? But also need to be tough on self about Nanny's story- some of its not interesting- opens up issues of authenticity and autobiography. be critical of self for the story- take it apart, what does each part add to the performance?
• How then, does the story work with the photographic elements.
• research more on family album use, content, layout, labels, 'create' one from flickr??? use own photos??
• consider more critically the relationship between image and word- the idea of 'a picture speaks a thousand words.' what do i not need to actually say by showing???
  

first ever stand up gig 23rd july- chapel bar, angel

so...here's the set i did and the photos of the floral tributes i discussed in the second half (i think this was definitely the best bit)- they are in the order down this page. more to follow on reviewing this experience post dissertation and what it offers for my MA work! images thanks to flickr.

from here

from here


from here
from here

from here

stand up evening class at CSM- work in progress

i think its useful to put this on here for how i tell stories in different ways. although the outcome is different from stand up to my live art work, i need to reflect on how i work with material that's scripted and that's more spontaneous- this feels like its flows more in the description of nanny's cat objects than in my live art MA work, but i got caught up in projections (the floral tributes are via photos on a screen) and holding internet printouts and holding mic- too much pfaffing. seeing how it feels in saying it rather than writing and re-writing. i have a dictaphone now to help me explore this-all good :) i feel more comfortable, more me working with personal material-keeping nanny, and the floral tributes images form flickr (this is thought of as my best material) back to previous material to explore about being dressed in swimming trunks rather than a swimsuit as a kid, and family trait verging on OCD of being a serial checker-of-things. however, what is happening in being on a taught course, is i'm finding it difficult weeding out comic devices that suit my persona- but i guess unless you test you won't know. but, the thing i really need to address is that i feel i sound more interesting to listen to, i feel here, that i did in the scratch? where's this fit with the past grad forum? comment at the end i like are about getting back to being more deadpan, like at the start of the course (oh to unlearn) and to ensure we all feel we are all right there, in the moment....

listening to this over again, needs to be faster, sharper, more contrasts! wedding cakes- to go- try printing out images A2 to hold up rather than projecting, with written info on the back?- or do i need the images- is the mental visualisation better?

MA Scratch Show Two- 10th July-granddads story

Ok- have decided that I don't want to put the video on here for this part as it gives the game away too much about use of the walkie talkies. It was fantastic for me to be able to review though as i wasn't physically present and saw the other side of the performance.

some points;

• people really liked the use of walkie talkies-nice playful surprise
• possible technical issues with use of the devices- get the balance between instructions and the story told
• use of light to see the device- bigger/another one?
• use of shelves/wall mounted elements
• possibly open the lens cover outside myself? rather than fiddling with blinds?
  
• difficult to find me on the ceiling using the mirror-reconsider how this is carried out/where images projects- this will be re-staged anyway in new shed, but needs careful consideration of inverting image and seeing what i'm doing outside
• hard to hear some things on walkie talkie
• interference from site staff's walkie talkies- added to it. however, what if this interferes so much you lose my use of it? needs investigating
  
• push the nostalgia/quirkiness of the whole piece
• doesn't matter if i need to come back into the big shed to help use walkie talkies- adds to the natural nature of the work
• embellish granddad story more with details about his shed/activities/magic image- visualise the change now from the campfire presence with me in the room, my secrets shared, to the removal of me and mediated story, as though hearing secrets now from granddad's shed, granddad's secrets, where i have 'gone to'
  

MA Scratch Show Two- PART ONE- cat wreath story- PERSONA OF SELF

ok- so this time more natural persona from tuesday scratch one, but story bit muddled, bumbling along. need to really focus on persona for the final show, and look at non-matrixed ideas, autobiographical self, conversational self, spalding gray. what to take from stand up- yes, elements of polishing up the story itself, but not the way it is told. work on developing and rehearsing a more structured script, editing some areas and more details in others, recording self over and over again so it feels entirely natural. the problem i'm having is its not the first time i've said it and its losing something in the re-telling; in places i think i sound bored even in places , too many, 'er, em', if I try to script it I can build in some of these elements. It was pointed out that I was more natural in the flower story part two (photograms) that's probably because it flows in natural, spontaneous real time, I'm not remembering lines or worried about saying the wrong thing, I just respond directly to the participant- i feel much more comfortable with this in this situation. Would it help me if the part one was less me speaking uninterrupted? The 6 to 1 ratio is also harder to work with- eye contact was something I didn't do very much and it was picked up by most people in the feedback. So, script development and practising into a dictaphone. The post grad forum cat wreath story was still the tidiest storytelling, easiest to follow and less tangential and hyper....it shouldn't be perfect and should allow for natural flaws in delivery but still be able to conjure up an atmosphere of round a campfire, enticing you to keep listening. i'm wondering if its a bit too formal in this part- especially the opening- 'my nan's last wish was...' and think of a more relaxed first line?

• possible use of photo of nan in album to introduce the photo album at the beginning which is brought out later for the cat wreath erasing? is this too obvious though- i quite like the mental visualising. Try it and see!
  

i feel caught up in my approach to writing stand up- a few key headings and the sequence to tell them, and then just improvising naturally as it feels, keeping it entirely fluid, although hyper. need to find a happy ground to keep it fluid, engaging, yet appear unrehearsed and natural for the MA work, to keep it fresh.

THE BIGGER QUESTION IS; DOES THE MOOD NEED TO MATCH FROM CAT WREATH STORY TO FLOWER STORIES?? THINK BACK TO SHED AS A VERB/NOUN/SAYINGS- SHED LOAD OF LAUGHS AND SHED YOUR TEARS??

stand up storytelling & martin parr

above images from Signs of the times, a portrait of the nations taste, 1992, Nicholas Barker & Martin Parr. The blurb on the back of the book states, "A photographic comedy of manners...both hilarious and serious." I particularly like this work as a very wry look at people's personal lives, in the most intimate space- the home, association we have with objects and calls into question taste.

martin parr- new brighton-from here


ok- so as the MA scratch approaches need to shape up on the storytelling side of things-think about how i possibly want to work with stories- make them more engaging? this is not the actual stories themselves but their style,structure, devices, ways of working with the audience. am finding lots of good ideas and material in looking at stand up comedy- which very much focuses on being in the real moment between audience and performer. following the one day course i did in april which got me started on the idea that comedy for me brings martin parr's witty/sharply observational style of photography to life, i started another this week as an evening class for 4 weeks resulting in a show (yikes- but all good practice for the MA show in september.) stand up by its nature is intimate, spontaneous, and the style i am enjoying exploring is conversational, observational, autobiographical- the autobiographical, being yourself, a key feature of the non-matrixed performance style i employ. i am interested in how this use of humour (the darker the better- thinking about shredders in my MA work-haha!) can work as a marked contrast to my photographic process where images are erased, mortal, die, gone.

this new class is giving me lots of new ideas for ways of working with material, and how important is really in the way you present things to the audience- hooking them into my world. i haven't yet thought about which bits are going to be good for my MA work and which wouldn't work- we'll see :) i have over the two classes so far tried out a range of devices for telling stories, particularly thinking about jack dees style, techniques.

Things we have talked about;

• Use of mime- drawing pictures through gesturing
• Sound effects- of things breaking, exploding (this i'm not into particularly-naff)
  
• Anthropomorphism- human voices or attitude to animal, machine etc (again not sure in my MA work)
  
• Use of detail- incredible detail to the overlooked or insignificant and less so to the important things
• Direct speech-taking you right into the situation
• caricature- simplifying, exaggerating people
• Is like- this is like that -arguing with partner is like arguing with a barrister
  
• superimposing eg family situation is like being in the courtroom, or superimposing things/devices used in work onto family situation (or me- eg proforma of the office worker in leroy st, onto the exchange of personal items)
• bathos- build something as really important that collapses into the trivial
• Questions- opening up communication between you and audience-helps you relax?
• Repetition- of phrases
• Framing- starting with a frame of association that may connect you with your audience?
  

I developed a story i told at the start of the class about a situation that keeps repeating itself, suing the above. I worked with a really annoying inherited family trait I have- being a serial checker, verging on OCD, working with extremes of contrast and the above ideas- useful for me to find what styles/devices I like.
Feedback I got;

• fabulous energy-hooks you into my world straight away
  
• very detailed- eg wedgewood pot where i'm supposed to keep my keys
  
• scene was set well, framed well
• strong use of mime- drawing a picture- felt very visual
• strong use of mixture of fast and slow, loud and quiet to keep you interested
• very likable
• make more eye contact
• interesting use of lists
• use of swearing was good- very funny.
• possibly not moral ending- keep it ending on a strong visual picture
• strong use of anthropomorphism

we also talked about how to write stand up- from scripting and learning the whole thing, to jotting down key points and heading of an order, or to do it all ad lib, in your head. i think i sit in the middle on this :) allowing room for responding to the audience.
and next week we have to look outward not inward which will be a good challenge for me to compare- am thinking about the floral tributes found on flickr-maybe working with using the visual image directly- and see how this alters things for me. this will help as in the post grad forum, the showing the cat wreath image was said by some to spoil the way i'd built up a mental picture and almost then ruined the punchline? what about now if i start with these- what happens?-will the image need little verbalising and speak for itself or verbally can i offer a marked contrast to what you see- eh superimposing something? more performative lecture?

am feeling that this class is giving me lots of confidence but that possibly many of the devices might not work in my MA context so well- but all great experience and lots more to learn and play with. the extreme contrasts between image being erased/fading and funny anecdotes , yes. its just a matter of finding a style that i feel best works without feeling too constructed and still natural, still me :) i think i continue to work on a set for the stand up gig and a story for my MA show and see how they link up. once i work out the story in relation to the camera obscura- need to consider situating the audience within it- active/passive etc, does it actually become a conversation?

Post Grad Cross-MA Forum 19th June

Ok- so tried out a mini-performance of work-in-progress cat wreath story (video here of the first half- youtube only permitting 10mins, this is the first time I have really been able to view self as not recorded self performing much before )

here’s some points from the feedback:

• Drew connections to spalding gray- performative presentation

• My outfit (floral, vintage, colour ) harmonised with the objects and the story

• Choice of objects, suitcase, washbag all very fitting, like stuff left when your gran died- simple objects to manipulate during story.

• The way the story was told was beautiful and had was it real/fiction issues but doesn’t matter- the universal issue of tragic news, behaving inappropriately in formal occasions, and the not knowing how to behave

• Liked the temporality of entering and leaving with all the objects- BUT should have done this with everything- i.e projector as well- need to find a more portable projector for this though, in a suitcase? Performance felt too tech heavy, rehearse to keep it fluid or lose stuff!

• Photographic process simpler with the erasing image than the digital- need the digital one?

• Some felt it was disappointing to see the cat wreath image- I had formed a mental picture and seeing it spoilt that (oh, I didn’t think it would look like that), almost like showing the punchline.

• Seeing it thinking it fake (would I really erase a family image in an album?) calls into question the authenticity of the story. Taking the photo out of the album, you can see its thin paper, not old- either use older thinker paper, or disguise this- no take it out? Erase, then close the album, back into the suitcase?

• Positioning the projector- hard to see to left of me- reconsider the staging- should have been sat on the floor with audience- proximity too far to see all objects/image, and needed longer to see it. Project image behind me the whole time of the sunprint?

• Good sense of intimacy and the personal in the story- people had a story like that

• Liked being in the light- some too scared to go in the closet darkroom- does this offer me a two phase performance- my story to a group, then invite to the shed if they want to come and share their stories? If too prepared with props/objects etc then this could put people off?

• Liked the magical in seeing the sunprint trace begin to disappear although very gradual- increase strength of light/proximity to fade it quicker?

• Thought old lady glass bottle was going to contain a cat smell! They could smell the nail varnish 2 metres away

• Possible dress the space- wallpaper, clock, etc- although it was also said that this makes it too theatrical

• Tension and aggression in the destroying the image no needed- too much- keep it calm and keep being self. The darkness juxtaposition to the humour in the story- find more sophisticated ways to present this

• No need to tear up the images. Retain the cat wreath photo in the album once erased?

• Other ways to create instant temporality- like the shredder?

• Discussed erasing other funeral images- erasing people- no. liked the idea of erasing the cat wreath photo as that was the thing that I want to forget, that caused the embarrassment at the funeral. Erasing the memory, erasing the joke

• If a two part performance- just use erasing technique, then save the photogram for the shed one-to-one

I'm really interested in the idea of a 2 phase performance-in daylight in a group and then one-to-one and in the dark, needs more consideration of the WHY and HOW, so all can witness my show, and willing participants come to the shed (follow me out of the door with the suitcase?) Also- performative self. Need to ensure its not verging on theatrical- keep it true to the EEC and nunnery- I AM ME.

How does this piece work in the space outside theatre? Or if it goes elsewhere -where? And the use of the origianl idea of overlooked? .....

pecha kucha- 17/4/08- D&AD 20 people, 20 slides, 20 seconds lecture

the falling man, 9/11

this D&AD (design and art direction) lecture was mostly fantastic- read this guys (not sure of name) blog and photos. in my current work (so many facets to research- doh!) wanted to see how people talk about slides, the kind of slides people choose to talk about when its up to them, what's said and what's just looked at. this night was for designers, presented by designers, i would very much like to now see david gale's peachy coochy performance art equivalent night....the presenters skills on few parts of this D&AD night were very dry

some of the the clear common things were;

plentiful use of flickr
photo of self as a child and/or own kids
nostalgic reminiscence for old atari console games
thematic- eg- blank piece of paper- wasn't sure what to do for their presentation so themed it like that, or one slide ended on a description that then led into the next
lots of talk about likes or loathes of second life
snippets of own design practice
bad logos/signage- hilarity factor

the most poignant image of the evening is at the top of this post. the last presenter, sanky from all of us, was very amusingly discussing and layering photos of bad signage over bad signage getting the audience really aroused for his first 18 slides, the air is very lively. the moment this slide comes up, a deathly silence comes over the room- like the blink of an eye when everything changed. those 20 seconds the slide was up, like a memorial service when silence is requested to remember the lives of those lost. someone clapped at the end of this slide. the power of the iconic image that needs no explaining, we all know what it means.

stand up workshop- a new departure- or always been there?!

image above-with thanks to flickr

my CSM evening in class stand up was cancelled...and still raring to dangle a toe into the murky waters of comedy to either help simply boost my confidence in my performance persona or develop some new humourous storytelling ideas...i found a one dayer on saturday 19th april with bull comedy, run by brian luff and georgina sowerby....so having walked into the room a nervous blob (everyone i spoke to about this said, my- you've got balls...)i then found myself sitting shiftily waiting to have to go up and simply say my name into the mic and get others to guess what i do for a living, at the weekend, car i drive (!), based on my appearance(usual floral vintage dress), body language and voice. this was really revealing- first guess drama teacher and second person said- no- she's pretty geeky, i think she's a librarian! also- nah, she works in fashion, or advertising.
pretty interesting, huh! i like the librarian idea...hmmm. alter ego? the point of this was in considering your BRAND- either dress neutrally so everyone has to visualise entirely by your voice, story/body language or set the scene as it was, through your walking on stage. we talked a lot about mic technique and had to practice coming on stage (running), on the wave of the applause as it was to keep the momentum high, and tell a joke- i was so nervous i told my what do you call a sheep with no legs joke, (a cloud *if you care*) which fell flat as it is asking a question directly you walk on stage...ooops.

anyway, the rest of the morning analysed a range of comedians styles and brands, and how brian felt the best type of acts were confessional, anecdotal, observational, as well as tips and techniques for writing material.
we talked about tools/formulas to try out;

• comedy lists- like cheese shop scene in monty python;

• use of opposites; mad man v sane man, noisy v quiet man, big v small. old v new- it was important to think the more extreme opposite the better- eg ancient v latest modern.

• PAIN- people love watching other's pain- so getting to build to this is good. laughing at other people's torture.
  

• substitution- remove the most important item in a story and substitute it for the most extreme opposite- eg big train; taking out the buffalo replacing with jockeys
  

we were then asked to develop a story based on something we wouldn't tell our mothers. having talked about my nan's unfortunate cat floral tribute at her funeral to others recently, i though this might make a good subject to start with, to develop using the tools we had discussed. we had to take it in turns to come on stage and tell our story. am debating whether to record mine and post on here..hmm, would be good to see what i looked like- i think this has always been my problem- i get so nervous and feel like am really shaking but to others this might not be apparent.it roughly went like this;

brian as compere bigs up the crowd, and brings on a chair at my request (partly as i asked for it due to wanting to be more intimate and was feeling faint!), announcing me, and everyone applaudes. i calmly and slowly walk on, sit down and take the mic, sit still and look across the front row. i then say;

my nans' last request was to have a cat wreath for her funeral. nanny had 14 cats....

and then i go onto talk about this story, embellishing with intricate details, using lists, subversion, opposites, building the story with an unexpected twist. and people seemed drawn in and laughed with the story. i felt even light years away form my nunnery story telling- i love humour and had found some tools to tailor it to suit me.

the feedback was really great and i loved sitting there telling the story. the story worked, it was quite bizarre, eccentric even. and i feel that i found a potential brand i like;

CONFESSIONAL
INTIMATE
QUIRKY
NOSTALGIC

stand up gave me a very confident voice for my obsessive loves with subversive-ironic-star-martin-parr and minute-attention-to-mundane-detail-douglas coupland!! i have been thinking for a while about the jilly cooper novel, harriet poole (i used this in a leaving speech from a job 7 years ago)...might be good material for some kind of ironic playfulness? brian luff did however say i reminded him a lot of the comedian josie long- so need to be aware of this; any thoughts? (i'd never heard of her); i also think that photography is very important to me so incorporation of this would be different;





i need to think about what i got out of this and the direction it takes me- i now have a real interest in stand up and think it would be good to persue two different practices, with tools and formulae for story telling to feed into my live art MA work. i can see the georgina starr photo still clearly in my head in either worlds, projections of photo (flickr is a great source of ideas for a performance slide show lecture style set) . i also think the funny thing is so much about the relationship between what you say, the way you say it, body language, timing, and non-verbal- devloping ideas purely on gesturing with body/objects to generate humour could be funny (mary poppins bag pulling out the very long lampshade )

i have (nervously) booked a stand up open spot in a pub ( 5 mins) in august and entered a competiton in june. but i won't post where yet...yikes. that'll be the test i guess.

Image manipulation workshop- images PART TWO

lena and invisible friend


laura was capturing this slide projector image at the bottom left side on paper

mixing old and new projectors- lumens differences!



mixing projected and held photos- when to sue which?

as i mentioned in the previous post i didnt really explore concepts but layering possiblities, use of live feed and still image, workign between 3 interconnected projectors split from one laptop signal (need to find out all this equipment)

Image manipulation workshop- reflections and images PART ONE

just a few things to comment on how i felt my workshop went and what i learnt from it....

whose workshop was this? what was achieved? how could i have worked with this better? the main thing i felt was that technology dominated the experiences and that my attempts to have worked with concepts with technology should have followed a tech-know how workshop which everyone really needs- from image resolution to outlining hardware and software and what they do. lauras workshop in the afternoon brilliant tackled one easy use of technology and I want to do more of this. For example, i got very interested in the how isadora software works myself and sidetracked away (but i should have intervened more) from my group working on their own stories for example resulting in some fair attempts to explore projection through stories told in photos- I lost focus on what I was trying to achieve seduced by the technology- doh!.

However, i liked the idea of invisible friend as a virtual projection which lena inadvertently came up with very much. sally's performative lecture requiring a still image she pointed at met with doug persisting in moving the image around;) playing with the software demonstrating what isadora can do, when in her story a powerpoint slide would have been enough.

so what does this teach me...um, that i've led many many workshops before and that this wasn't all that successful for conflict of interests in it being carried out , as well as putting too much in to it myself, and the suggested introduction of text into the workshop part way through which contradicted the intended nature of my workshop....the story text was to come from the images. however I have some interesting images from VLPers to explore related techniques and really want to bring in isadora in my experiments with projections.

bobby baker box story 2001

Taken from DAILY LIFE SERIES: 5

2001

Remembering Pandora, Bobby delves into a selection of boxes unleashing the ills of the world and attempting to conquer them with hope and unsettling humour. Eight exceptional singers, performing music especially composed by Jocelyn Pook, accompany her on her quest, providing a touch of irony to her valiant but vain efforts.

“Box Story felt good from the start and is one of my favourite shows. While I was writing the first application I was a resident in a crisis house. The show is about misfortune and I felt overwhelmed with the bleakness of it all. One of the staff, Bill Briscombe, told me the bit of the myth that I had forgotten – that Pandora finds Hope left in the box. Hope became my sharp knife to get out with.”


bobby baker box story video

again in looking at development of performance persona- use of personal stories in performance- and how referential to spectators lives stories can be. in my girl scout story at the nunnery in feedback many people said how connected they felt to it- for example then remembering their own defining moment of loss of innocence in their own childhood.

stuck with storytelling from objects......

from a self help website(!)

(haha its come to this)
needs to be slower, more engaging, colourful, less anxious, put participants at ease....find a rhythm that suits.

nostalgic, comfortable,secure? what's the tone i am setting in this intimacy?

"Here are a few storytelling tips for mental fitness, better relationships, and healthy brain aging:

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 10 minutes Here's How:

1. Get excited Storytelling is a performance and you need energy and enthusiasm to tell a good story. Get passionate, even if it seems silly.
2. Smile You can hear a person smiling. When a person tells a story with a smile on their face, subtle intonations in voice change. If you are smiling, you will choose different words. Remember, storytelling is entertainment -- it should be fun.
3. Practice Pick one story every morning that will be your story for the day. When someone calls or comes over -- you will be ready with your story. Be so excited to tell it that you are just bursting. Your listener will look forward to visiting with you and hearing your stories.
4. Make it Short Stories can go on and on -- keep yours short and punchy. A good story does not have to be long.
5. Lots of Details Pay attention during your day or while remembering an event from the past. Include details like the clothes people wore, how they moved, and what things felt like. Don't say "She seemed upset" say "She had fire coming out of her eyes." Liven things up with detail and description.
6. Use Emotions Don't just stick to the facts, they are usually pretty boring -- tell the emotions you were feeling. Talk about why you felt that way, what memories it brought back. Emotions are always interesting subjects.
7. Have Characters The check-out person, the mailman, the plumber -- all can become characters in your story. Learn to notice and appreciate the wonderful quirks that everyone has. Describe these people, thinking about what they must have been thinking.
8. Don't Think It Isn't Interesting Anything can be interesting if it is well told. Don't worry that no great drama has happened to you lately -- storytelling is more about how you tell something than what you are telling."

Learning Agreement- re-thought: STORYTELLING

OK- so too much is filling up my sketchbook/ head and not enough in this blog, hmmm......

here goes next attempt to try to help me make a sense of the chaos i am feeling and so have come back to the learning agreement; am very excited about the storytelling idea as a way of exploring photography, my practice needs cementing and to become less tangential;)

so, back to the dreaded learning agreement....
1 Aims ( outline the purpose, scope, visions and ambition of your plan of work)
Overall aim at this stage-
To examine the relationship through the theme of storytelling, between photography and participatory performance.

• To explore what photography is to me and can become- photography existing entirely as process, and also as a process in which a created photograph, as documentary evidence, survives the live action, existing as an aid memoire or evidence it took place. To communicate ideas through experiences utilising photography, through adding visual interplay.
• To examine the relationship between traditional and digital photography, when to select which or a combination of methods according to concept, for example in exploring the experience of the process of forming a photographic image as a performative event in a staged darkroom.
• Exploring the role of time based media in the collapsing of audience-performer boundaries through audience participation in the telling and re-telling of stories.
  
• To take my visuals for performance screen based work to a much more interactive and less illustrative level within performance, where photography can become more about subject, performer, action, and less backdrop, decorative tradtional 'vj' object.
• To test the water at this exploratory stage by creating a series of experiments around storytelling and other narrative means, both individually and in collaboration with others.
• Developing greater knowledge and expertise about performance theory and ideas to make more purposeful connections with my photographic and moving image practice.
  

2. Objectives (The expected objectives leading towards the learning outcomes of the unit)
Carrying out a series of experiments. To look at what’s possible in photo-performance relationships and work with other’s whose practice has perhaps been more live art/theatre based to this point so that project work is mutually beneficial.

Part 1.STORIES

• Explore history and use of stories in culture, what makes a good story? What makes a bad story? Story telling methods, arenas, urban myths, fables and fairy tales, legends, personal stories told from the heart, the embellished, the old wives tale, the deceitful, the extract, the ear-wigged or overheard, the out of context, fictional, factual, manipulated, rehearsed, spontaneous, etc. Use of stories in historical and contemporary performance. How do we pull in the listeners intimately or unwittingly, and also leave them tetering on the edge of a cliff hanger..... Contextual references- Bobby Baker, Cindy Sherman, Julia Bardsley, Caroline Smith, Stand up comedy.
  

Part 2. PHOTOGRAPHY AS PROCESS AS PERFORMANCE.
WORKING PHOTOGRAPHIC METHODS TO EXPLORE:

• Developing darkroom processes into performance- using footprints created by the audience stepping in moisturising cream, through process of traditional darkroom based special effect- photo-batik, as well as torches for light trails, photograms. Use objects and participants in the process that tell and re-tell stories.Contextual references- Julia Bardsley, Man Ray, Moholy-Nagy, Sigmar Polke, Adam Fuss, Scott McMahon.
• Exploring using time based media as a device where high and low technology (traditional and digital photography/video) and performer/spectator interact directly. Build into staged darkoom work using objects and participants.Contextual references- OFF 2006+7, Zach Lieberman, Golan Levin, Theodore Watson, Caroline Smith, Curious (re)actor2- performers, No-Domain, Paper Cinema, Plan B (Berlin)
• Exploring pinhole cameras as hidden surveillance cameras- e.g. objects with a non-camera identity, eg suitcase camera and an (invisible) performance as a storytelling (or photo-story capturing) prompt - telling story whilst doing the act of recording using pinhole - or tool hidden in an everyday happening, re-told later. Try this in the old school butchers in Morden Hall road? Or radiators as cameras?? When is the camera a participant- telling stories to camera either explicitly or secretly, camera is implicated within the story. Contextual references-Barabara Ess, Adam Fuss, Stephen Pippin, Justin Quinnell, Scott McMahon, 'What the Butler saw'.
• Sourcing stories- Exploring hidden camera in camcorder headset linked to portable multi media player, and camera phone- looking like texting for example, maybe as research or as a starting point for later re-telling. Try this in Laura’s Tube performance. Look at online performance possibilities. Contextual references- Surveillance manuals, Merry Alpern, ?? others?
  
• Photography within Participation project- how do others behave and react to cameras, process of making work as the work itself, removal of author, collapsing of audience-performer boundaries, democratising performance? How can the work be created.Contextual refs- Marysa Dowling, French and Mottershead, Spencer Tunik, Ann-Marie Lequesne, Gillian Wearing.

MORE CONTEXTUAL
Read and gain more knowledge about theory of performance work, go to shows exploring site-specific / technological/storytelling approaches- Masque of Red Death, Water, A Disappearing Number, Matthew Barney, Playback theatre.
Books- e.g. Camera Lucida by Barthes, Ways of seeing, Berger, Participation by Whitechapel Gallery. Responsive Environments: Architecture, Art and Design (V&A Contemporaries) by Lucy Bullivant.

3. The Plan of Work describing the principal stages and timescale of the work
1. PHOTOGRAPHY AS PROCESS
Devise series of workshops, developing around the theme of storytelling. Testing ideas on members of the VLP group, using the Observatory space in December.
Utilise methods explored in Participation project with French Mottershead, working technniques to get audiences participating in the work


blahblahblah the planning bit always stumps me...the how to do it, tbc