Withering Tights By Kate Newman

So at this point in the process some of my classmates seem to having ‘lightbulb’ moments where they know exactly what they want to do for their performance and can visualise it. I’ am still in search for my light bulb moment, but i still remain in positive it will come. One of the very first exercises we did in class was to try to imagine walking into our own solo performance and then writing down what we saw (See Oh leave me something to breathe) This was my very initial idea, and since then I I’ve tried to put it at the back of my mind thinking ‘come on Kate you can’t go with the first idea you create.’ So, so far I have been brainstorming and have come up with the following two ideas;

Fantasies.

– I am currently writing my undergraduate dissertation on digital technology in contemporary performance and though since I’m learning so much about this topic, It might be useful to create a solo performance along side it. The idea came about because of my love of Kate Bush and how sometimes when I’m alone I pretend to be her, singing her songs into my hair brush, and back combing my hair simultaneously to create the ‘bushy’ look. Being Kate Bush is a fantasy and one I can’t for fill in the real world, as alas, i am not Kate Bush. However in the virtual world it is not a problem. This idea of playing out each and everyone of my fantasies in the virtual world, (through the likes of The Sims, or Second Life) is an interesting idea. Especially if I juxtapose the virtual world with the real world. I think there is great potential for humour with this idea.

Rubberbands.

– The other idea floating around at the moment is to do with rubber bands, and using rubber bands as a metaphor for bouncing back from setbacks in your life. I have chosen to link this with another idea of mine, the ritual of washing clothes and the connotation behind ‘airing out your dirty laundry.’ This piece would go something like the following. An old lady, dressed in her many layers of clothes. Takes of one garment off and begins to wash it in a bathtub, she then hangs the piece of clothing on the washing line. The clothing has a word written on it, the word refers to a story that the old lady has ‘bounced back’ from. As the old lady strips the younger she gets, and reveals story’s from further in her past.

 

These ideas are still possibilities, but something is calling my to the breathing idea. Especially now, I feel I could link it to a nuclear fallout, and the story of a baby in the womb whilst the mother’s body is polluted by the toxic chemicals in the air. For more on this idea, watch this space…

Bless me father for I have sinned…

Iam afraid it has been three years since my last confession. I stopped coming to church after I left home and I confess my family too. I just.. I use to have this overpowering feeling to do things. I don’t know things I couldn’t do because of my religion. I just felt, you know, I would finally feel free, if I did them. It started to consume me, I kept thinking about all the things I wasn’t allowed to do. That’s when I started wearing make-up. It was a lipstick first, my mum had thrown it out because she had worn it down to the end. Only i could stick my little finger in and still get the last dregs. I remember how it felt on my lips for the first time. Silky… oily. My lips waltzed with each other as I spoke. It was bright red the colour of raw meat. I remember waking up the next morning. My right cheek burned against the coolness of my pillow. As I got out of bedI heard a scratchy, scattering sound as the individual beads from rosary necklace hurtled to the floor. I went to the door but they had sealed me in. They left me there for 2 days. I never understood why until I left. He’d hit me. Oh i knew that, I knew dad had hit me. I’m lucky thats all he did considering. Now that I know. That I’m different. Not normal. Messed up. I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia last year. It was relief to finally put a name to what was wrong with me. The doctors said I would be fine, all i have to do is not wear make up. Turns out make up to me is like heroin to a junkie. I can’t stop myself from using. I promise you father, I still have faith, its just she doesn’t. I feel ashamed, what that passage in Mark, chapter 4, verse 43? ‘If you hand causes you to sin, cut it off. For it is better for you to be crippled, then with 2 hands go to hell.’ Well what if you had 2 pairs of hands? Tell me that father, what would god do then? You know its ironic that women put on this makeup to look beautiful or whatever. When i wear it, thats when things start to turn ugly.

Born 1946, Serbia.

– Called herself the grandmother of performance art.

– Her work focusses on the practices of everyday life. Exploring their simplicity and latent power.

– Her work is inspired by body artists such as Orlan and Stelarc, who are pioneers in cyborg theatre and exploring technology attached to the physical body to create performance.

– Some of her work has pushed the boundaries in terms of audience/performer relations. Such as Rhythm 0 (1974) which invited audience participation to use any item in the room on her. Including; Lipstick, scissors, matches and a loaded gun.The performance was stopped after 6 hours after an audience member held a loaded gun to her head.

– She often challenges her own physical endurance in pieces such as Freeing the Voice where she screamed until she lost her voice. She has whipped, cut and repeatedly hit herself all in the name of art.

– Abramovic’s long term partner, Ulay often featured in her work and help explore the notions of pain and the endurance of time.

-She uses her work to make political points, such as Balkan Baroque (1997) which featured Abramovic sat on a pile of bones and scrubbing them with disinfectant. The piece directly referred to the ethnic cleansing of recent wars in her homeland.

-One of her most famous pieces is The artist is Present, where she didn’t eat or talk for 12 days but allowed audiences to sit across from her and exchange in a ‘energy dialogue’. She later explained the piece was in direct response to 9/11.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/oct/03/interview-marina-abramovic-performance-artist [Accessed 18th February, 2015]

I thoroughly enjoyed Victoria Melody’s performance of Major Tom, It was captivating story. Amazing how a whole hour and half performance can come from the everyday stories of someones life. Victoria mentioned the importance of documenting, and it was from that, that she was able to create her performance. It makes me wish I had documented my life, maybe kept diaries or videos of my life. I am perhaps a bit to cynical when it comes to that sort of thing, the past is the past and thats where it should stay. I don’t like the thought of re-visiting it. Although perhaps if I thought differently I would have more material for this upcoming performance.

The workshop the next day was good fun, I particularly liked the concept of The Performance Pack Performance DIY Performance. Breaking a performance down to its key elements. Artist/Audience/form/content/location/duration and documentation. The workshop in essence taught us how to visualise the world around us with the conceptual tools of an artist. The artist becomes the body, and the body the blank canvas for performance.

My own Performance Pack Performance was this;

Artist: Stacy Makishi

Audience:  One to One performance.

Form: Exploration of technology

Content: Spectacle

Location: Chosen Location

Duration: 60 mins

Documentation: Trace.

 

 

 

In a session last week, we were looking at using jumping off point to create new material and ideas. We were asked to visualise walking into our own solo performance and writing down what we see. These were my first ideas for a potential piece.

 

Beginning lines: Just Keep Breathing. 

Stop breathing. You right now, don’t you dare breathe.