Month: March 2014

Where to Now?

Following pitching my idea to the class I have now been thrown into a dilemma.
The visuals I proposed and my idea of intertwining script and lyrics seemed to cause the most interest and would really help with transitions. My pitfall appeared to be linking the songs of Pulp together to make a story compelling enough for this module. Furthermore, the aspects I included from Pulp Fiction seemed to come across as redundant and distracting. I believe if given copious amounts of time, my idea would work and the desired charm of the piece could be pulled off but at this stage in the module I think I need to reassess.

As music has always been something I wanted to include in my final performance I think I will have to figure out a different way of including it. One approach is to strip things back to just writing a story and then applying songs that will fit the themes and direction of it whilst it is written. The story needs to be as compelling and charming as the use of songs. Another way might be to take the story of one song and find a way of extending it to last 10 minutes. I could potentially interject verses from a single song into the story similar to what I had planned for the several Pulp songs. It would then have a stronger flow as it would be from the same song. In addition to this I could change the style of music to reflect the emotional state of the story throughout.

My options are still open, and there is still time.

How Should I Start My Show?

I want my show to begin with a big statement. This will be done via lights and sound bursting in together. But the issue came in how I should do this. Because I want to use a few audience members I have been exploring ideas of selection, first randomly and then by myself.

The idea I had was to use a seating plan of the performance and mark off four random seats which would represent the four random audience members that will be used in my performance. I would project the image of the seating plan on the back wall of the performance area so the audience could see.

Simultaneously, a spotlight would flick onto the audience member corresponding to the shotgun marked seat on the seating plan, accompanied by the sound of the shotgun;

I would then proceed to take the audience members who were lit and place them one in each spotlight.

This would include the audience in the performing destroying a barrier at the beginning in a similar way to Tim Crouch. Eventually as the play developed each audience member will be used as a prop. Hopefully awkwardness will drift in and out as the selected member becomes conscious they are on view even if the focus is not on them. Also starting at a high energy will engage the audience from early on, which I believe in such a short piece is vital.

The problem with this idea is that if the piece was not sold out and the necessary chairs were vacant, there would immediately be an awkward flow to the show.

As a sold out show cannot be guaranteed, I now need to find alternatives to ensure I have an impact at the start to my show.

Practitioners That Will Influence My Performance

As the research period of the performance is drawing to a close I think it is time to take note of which practitioners/performances that have inspired me and how they will influence my final performance and production process.

Eric Bogosian – When producing his monologues, Bogosian records himself talking in a sub-conscious state. Then he writes down what he thinks is interesting and repeats until eventually turns it into a script. This technique will be very useful for me as it will allow any ideas that I have not been able to formulate into words to be produced through whatever character I am channeling during the improvisation. Although it is written down and then regurgitated in the actual performance, I feel this way of devising a script is far more organic than sitting down at a computer trying to make a point with each line.

To take this technique further, I am playing with the idea of improvising the monologues I do in the actual performance. I will use Bogosian’s technique to discover what points I need to make in each section and then make sure I hit these marks when I improvise freely during the performance.

Chris Goode – In The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley, Goode tells a story of self discovery. He created a warm and comfortable atmosphere and told a tale with a nice ending. I want to tell a story. I want the audience to recognise, and maybe in some way associate with, what emotions I am going through as the character/s, but also as a performer.

I want the audience to be part of it, in a similar way to how Tim Crouch suspends the distinction between the audience and the performer. The audience will be part of mine throughout without having to directly do anything. Even if they are not directly involved with being on stage they will constantly be thinking “I’m glad that is not me” but not in a weird Marina Abramovich way, but more of a not being part of the action kind of way.

Tim Crouch with an oblivious actor on stage with a script and instructions in front of him.

Tim Crouch with an oblivious actor on stage with a script and instructions in front of him.

In Dog Years I’m Dead – I want to encapsulate the same sense of charm in my performance as in this show. Despite being on my own, hopefully relationships with characters, and the audience, will still be able to be shown. Also, the performance used props throughout to represent certain things. I do not want my performance to be too prop heavy but if I do use any I want them to be versatile representing different things throughout.

In Dog Years I’m Dead

On a recent trip to Dublin I was lucky enough to stumble on this little gem. Bewley’s Cafe on Grafton Street has a small theatre on the top floor which accommodates an audience of 50. In Dog Years I’m Dead is a beautiful two hander which tells the story of two friends of a friend coming together at a party in whimsical costumes. Although the story was nice and charming, it was the structure and the elements used that interested me the most.

The play spanned 50 minutes and used the two character’s friend’s birthday party as two bookends to the story. Throughout the narrative the scenes were accented by various different eighties songs which relate loosely to the scene ahead. This is an idea I am expecting to play with. Doing these songs acoustically added to the charm, which is something I want to create.

What is Art? Can I make it? What is an Artist? Am I One?

Art? Is That You?

Although a dictionary is maybe not that best place to start when trying to define something so subjective, it does provide a good starting point and something to work from. The Oxford English Dictionary defines art as:

the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing beauty of emotional power.

Traditional Theatre  along with other forms such as physical theatre, can obviously be classified as art as they are an amalgamation of all the criteria stated above. There are countless other things can be classed as arts like paintings, sculpture, dance, drawings, films and even buildings as they too coincide with the definition. So that in order to discover “What is Art?”, we must first find out “What is NOT Art?”.

Leo Tolstoy suggests ‘Every work of art causes the receiver to enter into a certain kind of relationship both with him who produced, or is producing, the art, and with all those who, simultaneously, previously, or subsequently, receive the same artistic impression’ (Camp, 2006). Many argue that art has to have a purpose or an intention. The more abstract pieces  of art are able to be classified as art due to the intention behind the piece.

Damien Hurst is a prime example. In 1991 he produced The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, which was a shark in a box filled with formaldehyde. A cynical look at it may be “its just a dead shark in a tank” but the title clearly offers more that there is more to it than its physical attributes. I Believe that art should  visually be quality as technique is something that can be universally recognised as oppose to taste. Or is their is no skill, such as painting, sculpting or acting, obviously shown, like in this case of Hurst’s piece,  it must be psychologically stimulating. If an artist has an intention then an onlooker will find one, whether or not they are the same.

Taken from: http://www.damienhirst.com/the-physical-impossibility-of

Taken from: http://www.damienhirst.com/the-physical-impossibility-of

But What is an Artist?

Referring back to the dictionary, an artist is:

A person who practices or performs any of the creative arts, such as a sculptor, film-maker, actor, or dancer.

None of which particularly apply to, self proclaimed artist, Matt Chewiwie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yJPZfFOrsc

Despite this, in his statements he defines the criteria that enables him to call himself an artist. Taking that entertainment is subjective and cannot be proven, what Chewiwie produces coincides with what he claims his art is. Then he must be an artist, even if only by his own perception. But maybe this is where being an artist comes from. When you give yourself permission to think of yourself as an artist, then you become one and ultimately what you produce must be art.

Works Cited

Camp, J. (2006) “What is Art” By Leo Tolstoy. [online] California: California State University. Available from: http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361r14.html [accessed March 23 2014].