ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [26 August 2009]

Performance 1 & Event 1

Rub Me Up The Wrong Way 2: The Live Art Supergig

Norwich Arts Centre

25.07.09

I performed as part of other/other/other, with our SPILL-premiered piece “Longwinded in Five Parts”. This piece is about generating sounds (and notes) from a giant modelling-balloon sculpture, and refers to the history of avant-garde music, with formal presentation, and a score. It is also equally about the audience’s expectations of formal music performance, and the conflictingly ludicrous use of materials. If we had intended to explore purely sound in the piece we could have used single colour (white or black) balloons, and probably the large weather-balloon style ones, rather than the multi-coloured, clown-like modelling balloons. I enjoy performing this piece, as it is one of the few straight stage-based pieces I have done, and developing a score for the materials was an interesting exercise. However, it is primarily a collaborative experimental piece, and I am glad this fell within the start of the Escalator research period, because I can use elements of this piece to develop my individual practice. Things I may consider over the next few months include:

Lighting: can/should any of my non-stage performances use lighting more effectively?

Text: the audience were given a formal programme note; can I explore the relationship between text/publicity and event more?

Music: how much should I differentiate my practice from sound-based music?

Stage: can I develop a sound-based performance, which isn’t music, but which could be performed on a stage (and repeated?)

The other work that evening was based on the theme of “The Live Art Supergig”, like a mini Glastonbury. Hunt & Darton’s performance was interesting in terms of the uncomfortably extended phrases of sound or movement, which regularly shifted the performance away from the familiarity of the lyrics. There was brave use of a cappella singing, which felt like bedroom singers suddenly thrust into public performance: it was entertaining and uncomfortable at the same time. I was also interested in Foster and Gilvan’s use of space: they appeared during intervals and led a selected group of audience members into the stairwell to the NAC darkroom, in which they serenaded the group with a mixture of love songs and sea-shanties. It was a good-humoured series of performances, which worked well with the space. I love acoustics in stairwells, and it was nice to hear this one put to good use.

# 2 [9 October 2009]

Event 2

Toby Huddlestone: Artist Talk

Outhouse, Norwich

07.08.09

Two aspects of Toby’s work interested me in particular. The first was his ongoing series of interventions in front of artworks in galleries, filmed unobtrusively, and in most cases conducted without a live audience. They are published online, and have a secondary audience who can view them as a body of work, rather than one quick incident in a space. He said that these are composed as performances-to-camera, and that shyness plays a part in this decision. I think that the collecting of video becomes the focus of the work, more so than the action itself.

The second aspect was his piece “Walking at the same speed as people”, which was a personal intervention in a busy commuter stretch of pavement. The people he is mirroring presumably experience the work as a slightly uncomfortable few seconds, in a space in which they are forced to behave in a particular way by the architecture.

Events 3 & 4

Richard Long: Heaven and Earth

Tate Britain

Sound Escapes

Space, Mare Street, London

15.08.09

I used to love Richard Long’s work when I was at sixth form because it seemed amazing that you could turn walking and mapping into an art practice. I’d not really revisited his work since then, so it was really interesting to see this retrospective after the intervening ten years. I like his most recent work, which manifests in the gallery space as a colour photograph, overlaid with coloured graphic text, much like a film poster. It is different from his handpainted texts of the 60s and 70s: less about the hand of the artist perhaps? The most interesting piece of the exhibition was actually the room full of his catalogues and artist’s books, because the scale (like notebooks) seems a step closer to the activity of the walks. They also represent a pretty comprehensive collection of approaches to disseminating live practice through text and object, which is something I am considering during this Escalator research period. (It was also full of maps, which are a personal fascination of mine…)

Sound Escapes was a brilliant exhibition: a great balance of proper theory (from both scientists and artists), and great artworks. My favourite was a really simple demonstration of resonance by Dawn Scarfe, inspired by Helmholtz. She developed a new set of ‘listening glasses’ (with a scientific glass-blower), which you picked up with white gloves and placed against your ear: they are calibrated to resonate at specific frequencies, so they help the listener to isolate particular sounds in the room. I particularly enjoyed the delicacy and ritual with which they were handled by the public. Visually, it was presented in a fairly straight historical manner, with typeset booklets in the style of the 1863 publication, and whilst this was appropriate to the concerns of the artist, I could imagine a more contemporary presentation would be just as effective in demonstrating the concept.

# 3 [13 October 2009]

Event 5

Take a Look at Me Now

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

30.08.09

I saw a video piece by Zorka Wollny, called ‘Flee the Frame’ in which multiple screens showed the results of separate camcorder footage of a game piece in a railway station. Each of the participants had to attempt to catch the other members on video, without getting caught themselves. It was really mesmerising and light-hearted, and I liked the way the rules of the game gradually became apparent if you gave the piece enough time. I am interested in the formal gallery presentation of an intervention activity (which was also a carefully designed performance-to-camera). It was lively and inventive, and might influence my approach to using video and multiple subjects, particularly because it was another method of negotiating architectural space.

# 4 [23 October 2009]

Mentoring with Bob Levene

21.09.09

I had a really useful mentoring session with Bob Levene in her studio, having posted her a DVD of my work. We discussed problems I had come across trying to fit into particular genres, and came up with methods of making a piece of work to show in two or three different contexts (eg theatre/gallery/film festival). The most apparent one was something I had touched on in the past (but without much determination), and that was performance-to-camera. It would suit the exploratory/science demonstration elements of my work, and would mean that I had an object to send to galleries or experimental film festivals which was still performance, but didn’t rely on re-performing the same piece every time.

Another discussion point was this: I am interested in the simple physics of sound, especially in relation to human experience, and I expressed concerns that I was acting as a second-rate scientist. One of the most useful things Bob said (and I am paraphrasing: don’t quote her on this!) was that obviously art practice is also a form of research, and to bear in mind that a few hundred years ago the arts and the sciences were both forms of philosophy. We also discussed the possibility of going to talk to a scientist to find out how they formulate ideas for experiments. I might see if I can arrange something within this Escalator period.

When I arrived I noticed a pile of books, many of which I had. One in particular was “The Audible Past” by Jonathan Sterne, which I had bought a few months ago but still not read. That can be no. 1 in my list of things to do. She also gave me a few projects to look at, and then a list of weblinks. I’ll aim to look at all of them before the next meeting.

Task No.2 was to simplify my wordpress site: it does the job, and lists all my recent projects, but the wordpress bits (RSS feed, Login, etc etc) are too prominent in that layout. I will redesign it to a two-column site, and make an effort to put more of my videos on Vimeo and embed them. That will overcome the issues I have had with trying to represent sound-based work using photos and a sound clip!

I think Task No.3 can be to develop a performance-to-camera. I might re-work ‘Cans’, which was filmed live, but had an additional stereo soundtrack to turn it into a more accurate document. I could play with the scale of the screen a little more so that it was just a headshot. Part of my reason for doing this Escalator project was that I find I only have time to work on things that have a specific performance date (or financial obligation!), and that it means I perhaps don’t develop my work as thoroughly (with experimentation) in between times. This performance-to-camera could be a good start.

# 5 [11 November 2009]

I have about 12 pages of notebook scribbles that I will eventually be adding to this blog, in the form of considered comments on various events (I promise). These include the Expo Leeds (at the end of September!) and the AIRTIME Open Dialogues event I spoke at in October. However, I am performing 'Longwinded in Five Parts' with other/other/other at the ROYAL OPERA HOUSE (well, their studio theatre) in less than two weeks, and once again it has shown that balancing collaborative work, a part-time job, and your own practice is near impossible. I also now have a cold. Hey-ho.

# 6 [29 November 2009]

Expo Leeds

25-28.09.09

Friday

The first thing I visited on the Friday afternoon was the schools project led by Mira Calix at the Leeds City Museum, which consisted of upturned speaker cones being used to move piles of small objects, thereby demonstrating the physicality of sound. All very well in theory, but as soon as I turned one on, a gallery assistant rushed over and said it was far too loud and proceeded to turn it down so low that it no longer worked: the beads lay motionless on the surface of the politely-rumbling speaker. This is one of my regular concerns with the spaces sound artists are being asked to work in: staff are often either intolerant of ‘the noise’ or do not understand the material. For me, it’s the equivalent of hanging a painting in a darkened room because the colours are too gaudy.

My second major criticism of the weekend was pretty much the next thing I went to at the Leeds City Museum. There was a specially commissioned interactive piece ‘PEAL: A Virtual Campanile’, which was “a laser-triggered, computer controlled, light-sequenced emulation of a traditional church bell tower”. I mean, come on! Church bells? Really? Any other contemporary sound could easily be stretched across a midi scale and used in the same way, and would perhaps warrant a commission in a contemporary sonic arts festival. Using church bells immediately made me worry about the intention behind the piece. The combination of bland melodic sounds, and the ‘Guitar Hero’ style interaction came across as a piece devised by a composer and a community-arts leader rather than by a sound artist, and so I checked the programme notes, and that was exactly who devised it. The way it was installed also suggested this, with no consideration given to the overall effect: whilst the lighting and sculptural elements were indeed eye-catching, the whole effect was ruined by the composer sitting awkwardly in the centre with his laptop on a makeshift desk, and a long trail of leads snaking off to the wall. I expected a commissioned ‘audio-visual installation’ (which was what the brief had asked for) to be more visually considered. Why didn’t they just have a hand-bell orchestra sitting there under some disco lights for three days, and be done with it? Even the acoustics of the room seemed stacked against the piece, deadening the sounds: church bells should be at the very least resonant, and in a space like that they could have been physically overpowering.

Leaving the museum, I wandered into the Millennium Square with Tom Betts’ big screen interactive game. Nothing spectacularly innovative, but it was great seeing passers-by stopping and cartwheeling, or spiralling round on their bikes to generate patterns and sounds. It’s even better if you yourself can’t see the screen they’re basing their movements on. 

# 7 [8 January 2010]

Expo Leeds

25-28.09.09

Saturday

The best thing I went to today was Christina Kubisch’s ‘Electromagnetic Consumer’ installation. It was an extension of her electromagnetic walk pieces, but in this case the audience wore headphones in a contrived environment. It was sited in an empty shop in a mall, and consisted of metres of red electrical wires strung around the space. Visitors collected headphones on the way in and explored the pulses of electromagnetism around the room. It was beautiful, both in its sonic qualities, but also in its visual presentation: the wires were simple and colourful, and clearly related to the intensity of sound. I think this helped to draw in the passing shoppers (and there were many whilst I was there, who were not otherwise aware of the Expo taking place); the space was glass fronted, and it was obvious what was being asked of participants, which I think is a useful way to engage people with sonic work.

# 8 [26 March 2010]

Expo Leeds

25-28.09.09

Sunday

The two highlights were: Christina Kubisch’s ‘Electrical Walk’, and Paul Rooney’s ‘Thin Air: The Psycho-Vocalic Discoveries of Alan Smithson’. I’ve ‘done’ Kubisch’s walk before, in Birmingham, so this time it was easier to focus the walk on areas that I knew would be the most interesting. Photo-booths and cash dispensers were a nice surprise. The accompanying maps were very thorough, so presumably those who were encountering it for the first time would find it easy to get over the initial ‘I’m wearing massive headphones’ dilemma and find some interesting sounds to explore very quickly. Perhaps situating the collection point in the mall (rather than tucked away in the Ikon gallery) changes the public uptake of the project. I’d like to see some audience figures…

Paul Rooney’s video lecture was the main thing I have taken away with me from this weekend: it was an intriguing blur of fact and fiction, delivered authoritatively, and made me re-consider the use of text and lecture formats in my future performances. It is a successful method of delivering work about some complex (and possibly spurious) theories such as Electronic Voice Phenomena, with the ability to subvert the audience’s expectations of lectures as a form of knowledge dissemination. In this case I enjoyed the fact that the performance was held within the university lecture rooms, further blurring the distinctions. It seems a natural way to present work which is experimental and research-based, or which has sound or photographic elements which the artist wishes to present in a specific order or context. It removes the option of flexible viewing/listening which takes place when such elements are installed in a gallery. 

# 9 [26 March 2010]

AIR Open Dialogues presentation

09.10.09

I took part in a panel discussion on the theme ‘Points of Departure’. The other panellists were Dot Howard and Samantha Epps. I was discussing the re-definition of practice after a period of collaboration. Here are some of the notes I made beforehand:

Working with visual artists has helped me to address the visual aspects of sound-led work. During my BA I was often adamant that there should be ‘no visuals’ because it was about the sound, but I’ve managed to shift that assertion into a more gestalt view. Obviously, most people experience some visual element when they are listening to something (such as the room, or light conditions), so over the last few years I’ve been trying to develop ways of exploring this relationship. Collaboration has helped me explore different approaches.

Cans (April) was performed specifically so that the audience could identify the direction and sources of sounds; the lighting/black box performance was unusual for me at the time but it is something I now want to develop (in terms of how the audience behave in the spaces)

Use of video (documentation and performance to camera):

I was previously a little bit simplistic in my documentation/dissemination of work. I would be left with a great sound recording, and a few photographs, which would then have to be cobbled together for showreels. Having seen Dot’s use of the camera-as-object, and having had discussions with my Escalator mentor I feel a lot more confident in developing my work in the direction of performance-to-camera (good for the ‘physics demonstration’ elements of my work) and playing with the screen as a physical object in relating to the audience, in the same way that I use stereo headphones in my work.

Experiments: collaboration allows work to develop at a tangent to your practice. It is liberating, rewarding and distracting at the same time. I had to re-assess what I’d been doing after and during periods of collaboration in order to maintain an identity and not feel as if I was stealing ideas.

# 10 [26 March 2010]

Event 7

AURORA

Norwich

13-15.11.09

The festival highlights for me were:

1. Shezad Dawood ‘Feature’, which was an interesting Western-themed film of performed scenes, set in the landscape at Wysing Arts Centre, and using a cast sourced from very specific local groups (such as the Cambridge Chinese Community Football Team). A performance to camera, in the most public sense, this film conveyed the complexities of the process in its final manifestation.

2. The panel discussion about distributing video work on YouTube, the pros being access to out-of-print films, the cons being lack of control over screening context. One speaker proudly stated that he hooked up his plasma screen to YouTube. I wondered about the beautiful abstraction the pixelation would do at that size.

3. Ben Rivers ‘I Know Where I’m Going’, which was as much about the filmmaker’s process (a deliberate attempt to get lost on a British road trip to the Isle of Mull) as it was about the people he found. It made me think about Richard Long again, and other journey-based live art: it’s often close to fiction, as it requires the audience to imagine the distance, route and duration. Only a tiny part of the experience can ever be communicated to an audience, and I liked Ben Rivers’ choice of presenting encounters with people and stories.

4. The communal spirit: eating meals with international filmmakers is the best sort of networking.

Live Art Development Agency Study Room

London

19.11.09

I went to London to perform ‘Longwinded in Five Parts’ with other/other/other at the Royal Opera House, and after the technical rehearsal I had enough time to go to the Live Art Development Agency Study Room. I’d never been there before, and I would strongly urge anyone who is interested in live art to make a visit. There was so much material, but everything was catalogued and easy to find, and there are brilliant artist-produced study guides to help you navigate by theme if you are just browsing. I knew I wanted to look at the FrenchMottershead guide: ‘Making it your own? Social engagement and participation’, and so spent a while looking at work on DVD and VHS that I would never have looked for otherwise. I also read Luke Jerram’s ‘Art in Mind’ book, which is great for anyone interested in perception, and creating artwork in spaces at the edge of consciousness. Brilliant. I have since bought it, for future musings. My favourite quotation was: “I expect much of the research in your project area was done in the 60s and 70s. Research was more flamboyant then.” Dr Alison Diaper (p37).

I also listened to all of Janet Cardiff’s ‘The Missing Voice (case study b)’, although technically I should have walked down to Whitechapel and done the walk for real, but I think it was cold outside and I was feeling lazy. It became an interesting exercise in listening to site-specific work out of intended context, although she has released the piece alongside publications, so perhaps the interaction with the physical space isn’t so important. Anyway, I was interested in her use of voice and stories, and the disconcerting feeling of having those stories whispered into your ear. The obvious mixing points between two binaural recordings also helped to turn the otherwise straightforward field recording into a fictional space.