ARTISTS TALKING

# 23 [26 April 2010]

Take a trip to the stars

I have been getting on with some new work, which is based on a sign I saw in Bristol for the Planetarium. It was a simple piece of signage that reads,  ‘Take a trip to the stars!’ Sounds amazing doesn't it? Followed by, ‘Ask at the information desk for more details’ which takes the shine of the whole thing. I created a red and white plastic sign on a website and should be getting this in the post in the next few days. I love the convenience of using the Internet to produce work quickly. On twitter I saw an opportunity to submit video based performance work which will be curated into an online video festival in June, follow this link for more details:

http://contemporaryperformance.com/ 

I have submitted my plane video and the documentation of me singing ‘It’s Now or Never’ in the Bosa Novas bar. At the moment I am playing a bit of a waiting game with another video piece, which is based on the Chinese New Year, Gala TV show. There is footage of this material on You Tube but there is a break in it so I really need to get it on DVD. When I watched the show in China there was an English computerised translation over the top it which really undermined the performances as it sounds devoid of emotion, I found this amusing and I want to re-create this particularly the magic trick sections of the show.­­

# 22 [21 April 2010]

Film Critique

Last week I presented my plane videos at Project Space Leeds film peer critique, which runs once a month. There were three artists showing their work and we used a projector in a white cube space to view the films. It was really nice to see my video being projected larger scale instead of just seeing it on a laptop. On reflection I feel the video needs to be larger so it offers a more immersive experience. I showed two versions of the plane video firstly the fast forward version and secondly a shorter sequence in real time, which then reverses and is accompanied by a soundtrack. Some of the comments I got back were;

I prefer the real time version as I can focus on the details within the image.

There was something about the quality of the atmosphere sound in the room with the video, which complimented the piece.

Conceptually there is something about going forward and backwards, never reaching your destination, never leaving and taking off.

I found it really helpful to get feedback on my work from people I didn't know and for me to reflect on what really interests me about the video. I have enjoyed experimenting with the sequencing and speed of the footage; although now I have re-looked at the real time full-length version I feel it is the strongest piece. When I watch the real time version it takes me right back to Hong Kong airport and reminds me why I filmed it in the first place which I simply want to share with the audience. I know that 20 minutes is a long time for a video although I feel that the piece has a hypnotic quality to it or you could look at it leave and then come back to see the end. I have had a hang up about the reflection in the video as it is filmed from behind a glass window, however the quality of the film looked good and conceptually I like this idea of the viewer looking from behind a surface at the work which you may or may not be aware of. I want to get into the studio to see how large I can scale up the video and experiment with emphasizing the atmospheric sound in the space. If you are interested in showing your work at the crit follow this link for more info: 

www.projectspaceleeds.org.uk/i_can_still_see_you_%7C_events_unid7282_page.aspx

# 21 [12 April 2010]

Wang Jun open studio

When I was in China I met the artist Wang Jun who has a studio at 501 Artspace http://yyyiii.blogcn.com/index.shtml#. He is now the artist in resident at the Chinese Arts Centre and he has been here for two months the residency will culminate in an open studio show in which he has sent out invitations to artists to respond to his work. His concept for the open studio project is the ‘Paper, scissor, stone’ game and he has made a rock inspired piece which I went and had a look at last week. This is a new way of making work for me and I wasn't really sure what to do although Wang Jun asked me if I wanted to interview him about his residency. This is something I started when I was in China I recorded discussions with Chinese artists who have made work abroad as a way of creating dialogue and learning about artists working internationally, although it is my intention to publish them. On Saturday I interviewed Wang Jun and Ying Ying translated for us I found it interesting how he has constructed this process, which I feel has similarities with curating. I asked questions such as how has he found living in Manchester, what has he personally learnt, and how he plans to pull all the submitted work together for his open studio. Wang Jun suggested that the audio discussion could be an exhibition piece with the headphones hanging from the ceiling for people to listen to. Reflecting on this idea of the ‘Paper, scissor, stone’ game I have been looking through some found images and I was particularly struck by an illustration of how a prism works in the photography process. When I look at this image I think of Wang Jun projecting himself through a rock shape around a space. Wang Jun open studio preview is this Thursday, 15^th April at 6pm at the Chinese Arts Centre, Thomas Street, Manchester.

# 20 [7 April 2010]

Reality of the daily routine

Since being back from China I am really appreciating the time I had there and how I did not have to worry about money and the daily routine. As I work from home it is so easy to get caught up on the Internet, fill out a funding application, putting on a load of washing, and cruising the net for paid work. I did get a cheque in the post from the BLOP event which although was for a small amount still contributed to my travel and amenity costs. I need some paid work and have been looking at shop/cafe work to more unusual jobs such as training as a mobile spray tanner. I really enjoyed working at Paperchase over the Christmas period and I do find the whole customer service experience fascinating so I feel that I am well suited to a retail environment. There were a couple of shops in town I want to apply to so that's what I will be doing today, and tomorrow I will get my glad rags on to hand in the applications in store.

I have had the post show blues a bit after the BLOP event. It seems strange to say but I always forget how raw I feel during and after making the work especially when there are mixed messages in the performance. When I am intervening myself in a public space I feel every look and dismissal which comes my way. The most successful bit of video footage I have got is at the end when I am clapping and singing Take A Bow in the main foyer as the crowd come out of the theatre. It’s funny as at the time I felt this was the weakest performance but on reflection I feel it is the strongest. When I watch the video documentation it makes me feel uncomfortable, as I know it is a stronger piece of work because I am being openly vulnerable and unspectacular which is hard for me to accept that my weakness is my strength. This experience has shown me how important it is for me to have video documentation to reflect on after the event to learn more about the work.

# 19 [31 March 2010]

BLOP event

The Arnolfini is an amazing building and really helped frame the intervention based work. It was nice to see the audience looking around the stairwell and in the foyer areas to see what was going to happen next. For my piece, My Tunes I decided that I did not want to have my performance times published or announced, as I wanted to blend into the crowd and appear as if I was not part of the official programme.

My Tunes, Part 1, Foyer, 11.10

At this time there were not many people around and I started to sing ‘Ride like the wind’ which on reflection is the weakest song, which effected how I was feeling, weak. As the music changed I started to move around the space and as I was singing to the leaflets someone came out of a door. I decided to take my shoes and socks off to add to the strangeness of what I was doing. I peered into the café singing ‘This is the modern way’ and a child sat on the floor looking at me while her dad clapped along. The people in the café kept looking my way and the gallery staff looked confused. I moved to the wall opposite the staircase and sang ‘Don't you want me baby’, putting emphasis on ‘Don’t you want me’ in the direction of passers by, some people walked straight pass me others looked at me and smiled. I moved to the automatic doors at the entrance and sang a few lines to the street again people looked and kept walking by as I turned I started to sing to the glass automatic door which kept sliding sideways at my command. I lent on a column singing to myself holding my shoes and socks and exited down stairs to the basement.

My Tunes, Part 2, Foyer 2/outside toilettes, 2.45

I found this space more interesting as it was in-between two official performance spaces so there were a number of people milling around. The simple act of taking off my socks interested people and they were trying to deliberately ignore me. There was a man hanging outside the toilettes taking photographs of a pretty woman against the white walls he was noticeably irritated by my singing and kept staring at me. I moved to the balcony and sang over it then just turned and posed by hanging out there with my arms stretched out holding the railings and staring through the window opposite me. Occasionally I would look at people but I was really focusing on the music and I started to click my fingers. I moved across the space and stood on the ledge of the window singing and clicking I stepped down and sat on the ledge. There were two young girls one came near me and I started to clap her mum came later she looked a little worried, and kept asking her daughter if she was OK. I moved to the edge of the doorway and sang as loud as I could and the staff kept looking at me from time to time I think they were not sure if I was really performing or not.

My Tunes, Part 3, Foyer, 5.45

I was waiting for the theatre performances to finish so I could start singing and clapping to, ‘Take a bow' but they were running late, which started the nerves going. As the doors opened I sang nervously clapping my hands with my rucksack on, people looked at me and either went for the exit or made their way to the stairs nervously or dismissively looking at me. The more nervous I became the better it got as it clearly made people feel uncomfortable, a little annoyed and a bit sick of this person trying to get their attention in such an un-spectacular way. I felt like a negative magnet pushing people away but I just wouldn't stop and I was going to sing my last two songs even though it felt really uncomfortable.

To see a video clip from this performance please follow this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJYYR1gPOto).

# 18 [18 March 2010]

Airports

I have uploaded my plane video on to You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-oJh8FDmtU which is such an easy website to navigate and manage video content. I am trying to get in contact with fact TV who host video and film work which has been a slow process, I’m just not sure whether anyone can upload videos or whether there is a selection process it’s not clear on their website http://fact.tv/. I keep thinking about the plane video and how this could potentially translate into an installation as the video is best shown large scale so you can see the details within the frame. Airports are such strange places particularly Hong Kong airport which feels like a never-ending labyrinth of corridors with a vast selection of luxury boutiques such as Gucci and Channel, I couldn't help but notice how the more expensive shops were deliberately placed near the International departure lounges. On the evening of my departure they were playing some sort of sophisticated, ambient lullaby music, I find it fascinating how airports are designed from the sound, lighting, soft furnishings and carpets. Waiting for my connecting flight felt like being temporarily suspended from reality, a vacuum within space and time, knowing nobody and nobody knowing me.

My next departure will be Bristol for the BLOP event at the Arnolfini and I have been busy selecting songs to sing in the semi public spaces. I have found it difficult to find songs with relative lyrics and within my voice range. I have been getting the lyrics for the songs from http://www.lyricsmania.com my favourite tracks so far are Absolute Beginners – David Bowie and Ride like the wind – Christopher Cross. I really don't want it to sound too karaoke and have been thinking about ways to blend in with the crowd for example being in the audience at the end of a performance and then start to sing as people are leaving. I could incorporate using isolated stances such as hugging the base of a table/chair, being hidden or even using a prop like a leaflet display unit. As I will be performing up to four times throughout the day I feel that it is important for me to build the work up from discreet to more visually obvious performances, I have thought about hiding in spaces and trying to get people to clap along to one of my songs. As I will be using my ipod to guide me through the lyrics I need an invisible earpiece, which I have been researching on the Internet, I hope to have this ordered by tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the event and the opportunity to meet new artists and see more live art. 

# 17 [11 March 2010]

Return to Manchester

I returned back to London early Thursday morning after a 12-hour flight, which I slept most of the way through. It was so cold at 7 in the morning and funny to hear London accents again. When I got back to my Mum’s house in Shepperton she was pleased to see me and eager to ask me lots of questions about my trip while I enjoyed a cup of tea and bacon sandwich. The jetlag started to hit me around 3pm and again at 9pm although I did manage to get a good night sleep. I got my return train to Manchester late Friday night and was greeted at Piccadilly train station by my husband. It was strange being back in the warm flat and how the normal everyday things at home didn't feel so normal anymore. I didn't think about what it was going to feel like being back I just thought it would be the same as before I left. It's taken me a few days to settle back into some sort of routine and in some ways it has been like moving in with my husband all over again.

My art head is returning and I am planning a performance for BLOP – Bristol’s Live Art Open Platform event at the Arnolfini­­ at the end of the month for further details on this event please visit this link http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/live/details/600. I have proposed to sing a few pop songs in areas such as the library, the café and reception as I am interested in how the audience will react to someone singing in an improvised manner in the semi public spaces of the building. I am selecting songs, which make reference to relationships between people in the lyrics, which will create a highly personal soundtrack as if I am singing the song for you. I have put the video from my Bosa Novas, It’s Now or Never performance in China at the lounge Bar on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoe0ipe_9FQ and I hope to put my plane video on the website later this week. This is all part of the second half of my Arts Council proposal, which is to share the experience of working in China with a wider audience by using video sharing sites, social networking and artist talks. I need to do some more research on how to share the artist audio interviews and how to edit them together.

# 16 [1 March 2010]

Post performance review

I was happy with the performance although I did start a few minutes earlier, which I didn't think was a problem as the moment just felt right to start. After the performance I was told that it would have been better to start later although no one had told me this in advance. I guess this is just one of those little details that gets lost in translation, although I liked the fact that lots of people turned up later and had missed the party. Dou Dou played the piano really well particularly when I was climbing the ladder. I did get stuck for a moment when I reached the top, however this just added to the uncertainty as to whether I would get over. The event really looked and felt like a strange leaving party, which has to be the ultimate temporary event. I liked how people were not sure when the performance had started or ended this includes myself for example having my picture taken with lots of people and when we were tidying everything away. I was concerned were the drinks table was placed in the corridor and this seemed to keep people hanging around in that area which kept people further away from the main performance space. However at every opportunity in my performance I would intervene myself in-between the audience and used lots of eye contact. The video of the plane being prepared looked really strong projected large scale onto the wall and retained detailed quality. On the whole I was pleased with the outcome of the event, although there are always things that can be improved.

I was happy to work with Dou Dou, which was a completely unexpected partnership, and I felt that he symbolised the youth of China learning the piano as a means to getting to a better life. I could see similarities in him and myself a young artist trying to get somewhere and the possibility we all face of making it and not making it. The bunting I used I had seen many times here as they are used as New Year decorations and I structured them as if they could pull the ladder over which created a dynamic shape and focus for the performance. The video of the plane and the shopping bags again reflected ideas of literally trying to get somewhere through travel and simply wanting to buy more stuff. The frame for my work was the private view and to use the situation as an excuse for a weird party for myself and to explore ways of engaging the audience with me and the work.

Later on in the evening we went to Zhang Xue Qing’s bar called Bosa Novas, which was in another town, she really talked the place down as this little bar she part owns. It was a large lounge bar with karaoke and VIP rooms and we had a room all to ourselves. We played drinking games and sang a few songs I wish I had my camcorder with me as it is really funny how us regular folk entertain ourselves. In the main bar area there was a lounge band playing and Zhang asked me if I wanted to sing on the stage, I was a bit embarrassed when she asked me as I wanted to make it clear to her that I am not a professional singer. However this was not a problem and she was determined to get me up on the stage to sing, as they like to get foreign people up on stage as they are seen as a novelty. The only song I could remember was ‘It’s Now or Never’ the famous Elvis Presley song. When I got up on the stage the band just looked at me and when I started to sing they struggled to get in synch with my out of tune voice. Eventually near the end of the song we somehow pull it together, what a strange performance.

# 15 [28 February 2010]

Running order for New Arrivals performance

# 14 [24 February 2010]

New Arrivals for one night only

Since being back from the New Year holidays I have been unwell which has stopped me being able to get into the studio. This has made me feel worried about running out of time to do the things I wanted here. On reflection I feel 4 weeks is too short a time to be here, and I did try to change my plane ticket but this wasn't possible. The sound blocking headphones I ordered didn't work as you can still hear the muffle of people speaking and traffic noise, although I do see the potential of this idea of giving people some peace and quite a project I can develop in the future. With only five days left until my final performance I have started to panic that there isn’t enough time to prepare. This is the shortest time I have had to plan a performance and I have become a bit frustrated with not being able to get some of the materials I need. Not being able to speak the language makes me feel like a child, not being able to fully organize things by myself and having to fully let go of the control and put my trust in other people has been a struggle. We went to a market yesterday and I managed to get my bunting and lots of balloons. I am thinking about getting a cake made which looks a bit like the ladder wrapped in bunting and feed it to all the guests at the show.

We have started to put together a flyer and poster for my performance and decided to go with the title ‘New Arrivals’ which is the message on a sign I bought in Manchester. I have decided to go with the more challenging space out on the landing area as I feel I do have the support here to make this happen. Although today I have had a panic and had a meeting with Chloe and Yan Yan about whether to change the performance space back to the studio, as it is an easier space to manage. Since being here I didn't realize how much talking through ideas is part of my process and how difficult I have found trying to communicate my feelings which I admit can sound a bit scrambled making it even harder for other people to understand me. Then all of a sudden I had 3 helpers arrive and it has been all systems go setting up the piano and the ladder on the landing area. I was a bit taken aback by all the help and again found it difficult to communicate what I wanted to be done. We all muddled through it and I feel much better now seeing the main body of the work in the space before Saturday. The piano is a powerful instrument and echoes through the building and the disco ball really works covering the walls in moving lights. I tested out trying to climb the ladder and get over the top of it, which was a bit tricky it had the desired effect on the people holding it, as they were very worried I might fall.