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.

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.

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

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].

Taken from : www.w3art.com

A typical Rachel Rosenthal performance can consist of ‘A bald woman with long, black gloves, wearing a fluttery gray-green silk tunic, raps, chants, sings, and screams to the sound of an amplified violin’ (Lampe 1998, p. 170), or anything that can symbolise and express one of her thoughts or feelings. After watching several of her clips I did not know what feelings to feel. This was an aspect of her work that would like to pay with as I believe that good art leaves you with an unclear feeling.

She achieved this by putting pure passion and strength behind each action, each word and even each clip she used. No matter what subject she was addressing, you knew it was her behind it and strongly believed.

She believes that in the process of making a performance you must ‘Take risks, psychologically and physically. Generate your own stuff. Think of everything you do as if it is the only chance in life that you have to do it: now, here, in a particular way. You will never have the chance again’ (Lampe, 1998, p. 170). I am apprehensive of indulging in an aspect of myself, because it may not be interesting, plus if the audience are like me they will not care.

In her performances Rachel Rosenthal has ‘explored her personal life’ for example creating a performance based on her ex- lovers. In contrast to this, she has created performances that ‘focus on social issues which are not specifically feminist (but which are clearly informed by her feminist sensibility)’ (Auslander, 2003, p. 265). I would like to play with the idea of combining the two. Perhaps expressing a feeling I have about myself, or my life, and finding a way of projecting this as an aspect of society. The difficulty will lie in finding something I am prepared to share and that I can be truthful with.

An aspect of Rosenthal’s performance style which I enjoy is how it is highly theatrical in effects and presentation. Aspects of her work resemble Berkoff which is a style of performing I have enjoyed in the past and would like to experiment with.

Performance videos worth watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KdleN0vtUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtoH2RxbpZc

Auslander, P. (2003) Performance: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. New York and Oxon: Routledge.

Lampe, E. (1988) Rachel Rosenthal Creating Her Selves. The Drama Review , 32 (Spring) 170-190.