I was excited to be introduced to the book Hyperdrawing at the start of the term. Reading more about performance and drawing indulged my long standing love of lines and gestural marking and I hoped might give me the chance to consider this in the light of my other experiences of embodied process and performance.
One of the things about studying as a mature student is that you have an opportunity to re-appraise past learning and loves through new lenses. I have been keen not to rely on past learning as a default or defence against the new – and have concentrated on reading about ideas I haven’t come across before – now in my second term I want to work towards being more explicit about how I can integrate new learning and previous experience.
Here I want to consider about how my Alexander Technique training is influencing my approach to drawing and walking and performance.
The Alexander Technique is at its most simple the study of thinking in relation to movement – or more particularly how we direct ourselves in activity. How we direct ourselves in activity influences every aspect of our being. Actors, musicians and singers have traditionally been interested in the technique as a method towards improved performance – however all performance – from the complex as in singing or drawing or the more simple sitting or standing can be explored through an AT lens.
There is one idea that underpins the whole technique: The poise of the head in relation with the body in movement is the key to freedom and ease of motion. Arguably if we develop a capacity to pay attention to this head body relationship and to the relationship of body parts to body parts as we move – we can utilise Alexanders discoveries – and learn to access increasing freedom of movement and mind in all of our activities throughout our lives.
Learning to teach this technique involves learning about Alexanders work through his writing, learning anatomy of movement and learning the use of hands as well as use of self in communication. Interaction with a pupil in a lesson requires careful observation of movement and how this reveals conception. A teacher needs to come to a lesson without anticipation of outcome but with a capacity to use a flexible framework for enquiry. A lesson comprises of further interactions lead by the student and directed by the teacher – which are all at once and together about body and mind – a conversation with words and hands – where there is no imposition – but potentially considerable challenge.
I hope the connection to an arts practice might be beginning to make itself clear here.
I have been wanting to use my Alexander Hands ( as it were ) to draw. This means accessing a kind of attention that is at once broad and focused – that is both thoughtful and embodied, it means accessing a way of using my hands (connected to a marker) that does not cling to one idea – that responds not reacts – that stays with the moment – that asks not tells – that doesn’t impose and doesn’t anticipate outcome.
My first walks were drawn using a concertina sketch book – I bought several of these last term because I though they were fantastic objects – I wasn’t sure what I might use them for. As soon as I thought of walking and drawing they leapt to mind as they offered the possibility of ending up with a long continuous record. I soon saw that the folds broke up the drawing – in my tutorial we wondered about refolding the books for each journey and also about using a roll of paper in some kind of drawing contraption.
I played with these option for my month of walking – the folds in the concertina provide contrasting containment and flow – and they are small enough to carry easily. My contraption was initially furnished with very cheap paper – the continuous isn’t quite continuous as the roller can get stuck – – it’s thinness provided a transparency and temporary feel – and it’s easy of crumple might provide interesting ways to display – eg in a huge pile of a tangle. The thicker paper in the books offers more resistance to mark making and more texture.
I first used wax in the paint workshop at the start of term – I loved its texture its softness and capacity to layer up and still hold some transparency . I mixed it with acrylic paint and enjoyed the feel of it while using a palette knife – it seemed good to capture flow and energy – to keep the gestural marks of the line. At this point I wasn’t sure how I might use it in my work.
A few weeks later I was buying oil stiks – and bought a stick called a blender – which turned out to be like a very soft and oily wax crayon. I used this as an experiment in one of my early walking drawings in the concertina sketch book. I was interested to see what it was like / and what happened when I made marks that I couldn’t see. The wax marks were a second layer over a 6B pencil – and I could see some of the marks as the blender smudged the pencil – introducing more movement in the lines – it was freeing not to see the marks and the blender slid over the pages very fast and easily – so I got to the end of my book more quickly than previously. The next layer was another experiment this time with water colour and a large soft brush. The choice of colour was arbitrary – what I had close to hand as I set off – and the challenge was more one of control than anything else – as it was hard to manipulate the colour washes while walking – some of the wash revealed the wax underneath – but this wasn’t the intention – the intention of the coloured lines was to capture my looking and experiencing as I walked and drew. The last layer in this book was another colour wash – I chose colours to contrast with the previous layer so as to see each journey – it was very windy and I was losing control of the refolded book. In some desperation I decided to forget the intention of making more journey marks and made a wash over most of the pages to reveal the rest of the wax marks. I became interested in making and revealing my marks.
My next experiments with use of wax and colour was with a new set of journey transcriptions my walk to the bathroom at night – night moves. I chose this after a discussion with a tutor about experimenting with rules – it was more practical to try out rule making with a nightly journey than the one to college which can be affected by many other contingencies. These journeys I planned to mark with a thin black ink pen – tentative sleepy maybe stumbly steps in darkness. I decided to use the wax to make a first recorded walk – my responses to the dark. I washed over the wax with thin grey water colour to reveal the light and shadow and allowed that to dry before using the papers to record my nightly journeys. These recordings are ongoing. The rule is to record every night until my birthday in April. I trace my walk while not looking at my drawing – I have 7 pages – one each for the night of the week.
More recently I used the wax blender over my first recorded walked drawing this time the marks were made not as transcriptions but as a response to the marks already on the paper – the concertina sketch book. I then used a colour wash to reveal the marks. The choice of colour was like Dennis the Menace – I just did it – I was of a mind to use red and orange. In my tutorial with a tutor he asked me if I was intending ‘decorative’ – I am not – yet there is a tension for me between just making and transcribing – being in the process which is my intention – and being curious to see the images and lines that emerge – what I am looking for is lines and images that connect with lived experiences which speak of life, energy and movement – breath and rhythm – these emerge most fruitfully when my attention is on my own attention to my use in movement ( not on the drawing) while I draw.
Notes made at time of planning walks
I will use transcription during activities ( walking and observed performances) as my main sources of marks – my main starting points – in these activities I can fully engage with process and be least concerned with outcomes. I will use oil stiks as these are soft enough to reveal textured marks as I move them across a page – yet they are more permanent than charcoal marks – and as I refolded the papers I don’t lose the lines as I can with the charcoal – losing some is interesting – but losing too much and I end up with a muddy nothing ( so I do want something from the marks after I have made them- I do want to convey a journey a traveling / and movement in the marks and lines ).
I will use the wax blender to respond to transcript marks and then use colour washes to reveal the wax marks – responding with the wax – means you can’t immediately see the wax marks which helps me stay with process and immediate response. I will experiment with layers of journey and response.
The question I have been posed is – ok where is this going – and I haven’t been sure. So I have been thinking about other ways to bring movement and journeying into studio and looking at a whole new set of artists and literature – its only this week that I have begun to read about improvisation in an arts context. I have experienced ‘improv’ workshops in the past as these skills are important for Psychotherapists and Alexander Teachers – I am excited to think about how I might be able to utilise this with my Alexander practice in my art work. Instead of using my skills solely as a responder I will need to think about how I respond and then share the response as a work. This is a key theme for my current practice.
