If you are re-making someones work then it seems important to know that work inside out. However knowing Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne in not such a deep way seems sufficient. Why? Perhaps it is that by re-creating this piece for the May challenge I only need the basics. Perhaps it is because the voyeur role requires minimal information. Perhaps it is because too much information would over complicate my own actions. What ever the reason my research has not been as extensive as I would usually attempt, and for some reason for this piece that seems acceptable.
Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne conjures romanticism and lust perhaps the settings of Paris and Venice go some way towards this. I am increasingly feeling that the notion of following some one, or perhaps stalking as it would be known today has a romantic edge. Although the prospect of following someone until I am sussed is a terrifying prospect to me I realise I can approach this from another angle, a rose tinted one.
My initial thoughts were to follow the post man / woman, however this new perspective makes the postman seem more comical than is necessary, but taking a romantic stance on the situation makes it some what more sinister instantly.
Unlike Calle I would never have the budget to go to Venice just like that, so I think there needs to be some ground rules defined by budget and time, although by setting these rules I dont want to under state the challenge. I am also thinking that perhaps my residing city is not the place to begin this challenge … so where. So many questions, and as of yet not many answers.
I started getting all my challenges together for other people this week (well they have been in development for some time). I decided that because it was the April Challenge, being the fourth month of the year I should create four challenges. The challenges were influenced by religion, advertising, Danny Wallace and popular culture. I decide to look at things that I thought were challenging to people. The religious fast interested me, its purpose, use, and the effect on the people undertaking it. I then took advertising, the challenge and persuasion in a set of words, a phrase that could make decisions. As general “research” for the 2010 Challenge I have been reading a lot of Danny Wallace, and I took a lot from The Yes Man, it only seemed appropriate to make others try. Finally I looked at popular culture and challenges we are familiar with, this led to the Guinness Book of World Records. So here are the four challenges:
1. Live off a food and drink budget of £1 per day for two weeks. This can be a combined budget of £7 per week.
2. Just do it!
3. Say yes to every opportunity, invitation or question that requires a decision for 31 consecutive days. To be started in June 2010.
4. Beat a world record.
I thought it was probably appropriate to challenge some of the people who had previously challenged me, and alongside them I would give them a counterpart, another person to complete the challenge with (this person hadn’t previously challenged me). Their counterpart is kept a secret, neither person know each other, but they attempt the challenge. To this end I have created four teams one for each challenge which is as follows:
Challenge 1: Orange Team
Challenge 2: Salmon Pink Team
Challenge 3: Blue Team
Challenge 4: Yellow Team
I decided not to ask the participants whether they would want to be involved or not, so its a bit of a gamble, to see whether they accept the challenges or not!
Never the less they hit the post this week, all I can do now is wait and see.
It would appear there is an underlying challenge to this project which evolves around time and capacity. I am ridiculously busy with other freelance work at the moment so am getting slightly behind in the challenges, I think the set back really started in January though!
Never the less the March challenge is almost complete, the evidence is here: http://www.ameliabeavisharrison.com/2010challenge.html
Nottingham Castle were very kind and let me release 20 apologies attached to balloons with the word sorry printed on them. The act was a part of the public statement that Tom Duggan set as a part of the challenge. I also have apologised to two people in a more direct way with interventions that will hopfully make them smile and feel thought of, even if they dont understand the appology. Many of the apologies are trivial and for those that are less so the relevance of them is far gone.
There is one appology I have yet to make as I have discovered the person has moved to Australia which make the challenge a little more complicated. The wonders of indirect Facebook searches have given me a certain amount of information but it still needs more work.
I have begun creating the challenges for April …. more will follow …….
For May I accepted the following challenge:
‘I challenge you to re-make a piece of work in true Hollywood style. Namely Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne of 1979 which is now 31. You should follow someone you do not know at all or only vaguely (you can adopt a disguise if you require) for as long as it takes before you are rumbled, you must go everywhere that they go in this time.Along the way you should take images discretely. These should be exhibited somewhere printed in black and white. I accept no ethical responsibility should anything sinister arise from you doing this.’
Challenged by Andrew Bracey
I chose this challenge out of all the challenges as it made me feel the most physically uncomfortable! For May I had an amazing response and some fantastic challenges, it was hard to not accept more. I can say however one of my good friends has re-submitted her May challenge which is great because it’s the first re-submission and also its a fantastic challenge.
