Getting back into the studio
I had my first afternoon in the studio on Wednesday since having my baby and I really enjoyed having a play with materials. I also needed to buy some props to start building my lo-tech set for In the Making…Who knew it was so difficult to buy bamboo sticks, apparently they are going out of season. Although I did manage to find long plant pots, these will provide a base for my bamboo structure. Instead of using soil in the pots I sourced white material cushion filling that is fine and dense. It is important that all my props are mono. Inside my bamboo structure I want to nestle cotton bud forms which I quickly made from cosmetic cotton balls and wooden pegs. My props are very simple, although its how they are performed which builds the complexity in the piece. I filmed myself making the fake cotton buds. The making is a simple task but enough to keep your attention as I softly hold and shape the cotton together. I have been considering whether to use the image of the collapsed Primark factory in Bangladesh. Will people watching the performance know what the image is? Does it really matter? It is clear that the image is of some sort of disaster. I really want to emphasise the link between shopping and disasters, seems flippant right? Although I do feel that this is how people can be with absolutely no idea as to where or how things are made anymore. This includes myself. I need to create enough of a spectacle to get peoples attention by styling and dressing my set like a shop window. I recently had the idea of using shopping baskets instead of plant pots. I wanted to use a roll of paper to document viewer’s responses to the performance. I have now changed my mind and think large tags would work better as they can be tied onto the bamboo structure.
