Final changes, experiments and influences…

Leading up to our final piece, the group created many varying experiments, an influence for the ‘sweet’ experiment was ‘Cut Piece’ by Yoko Ono which was first performed in 1964 and was a show of Destruction in Art Symposium, the ideology behind this ‘was to focus attention on the element of destruction in Happenings and other art forms, and to relate this destruction in society’ (Tate.org.uk, 2013). She achieved this state of destruction by requesting audience members come up on stage and cut away at her clothing until she was naked. I feel that this is interchangeable with the concept of vulnerability and exposure within our piece, and I feel the simplicity of ‘Cut Piece’ should be visible within mine.

‘Cut Piece’ has helped inspire one of our main experiments, in which we invited the audience members to come and take a sweet from 3 bodies showing various stages of nudity and in turn various stages of exposure and vulnerability. I wanted the piece to highlight to the audience that the vulnerability shown through the body effects the decisions the spectators make. The atmosphere felt within this experiment, is something I want my final piece to exude; a highly charged atmosphere. After the performance, the reactions of the spectators were recorded and there was a significant similarity throughout all of the recordings, that being that they took sweets from the naked person. This was because they felt sorry for her, highlighting how her vulnerability affected the way they acted throughout the piece. This idea of creating a reaction towards my vulnerability is something I want our piece to exhibit.

A second influence for me would be SNNG’s ‘Untitled Flesh’. Within this performance four girls are naked, and are seen to be vulnerable through their nude state. However, it can be argued that they are also strong through this vulnerable state. The strength within our performance will come from our vulnerable aspects, the strength to become vulnerable. Much like us they have ‘insisted that there is more than one layer to ‘nakedness’ (Cheng, 2002, p.253.) Focusing on multiplicity, like this group my performing naked is tantamount to exploring the process of vulnerability and exposure within society.

Much like a change in ideas, our performance space has changed direction from a public space to a theatrical space. However, I don’t want to use this space in a theatrical manner, I want to produce an piece of live art within a theatre and change the audience’s role to that of a spectator, free to interact how they like in a simplistic installation piece. Shaughnessy explains that ‘The role and experience of both the spectator and the community in which the art is produced is central to the re-evaluation of efficiency in these relational and participatory practices and encounters’ (n.d, p.xvi.). Taking this on board, I want to change the perceptions of theatre, i want the space to become a place where a ‘real’ portrayal of vulnerability is possible. While portraying my real vulnerabilities, i also want to create an aesthetically pleasing intense and intimate environment in which a clock image is used to indicate to the audience that something will occur during the two hours. This will therefore create a sense of anticipation and an atmosphere that will be intense and focused on the piece.

Clock example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY0qCaMkO0Q

While creating an aesthetically pleasing piece, it became apparent that the use of the space is essential in the final performance, the piece will contain six girls, with each of us breaking down barriers to reach our individual states of vulnerability. Furthermore a projection of the six girls reaching mental vulnerable states will intensify the atmosphere. The audience within the piece will be free to walk around and sit down. In terms of props, there will be an inviting settee. However, the audience will have to walk through an uncomfortable setting to reach the one comfortable element within our piece, that being the settee.

Works cited

Cheng, M. (2002). In other Los Angeleses. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Shaughnessy, N. (2012). Applying performance. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tate.org.uk. (2013). Art & the Sixties, exhibition themes, Destruction in Art Symposium | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/art-60s-was-tomorrow/exhibition-themes/destruction-art-symposium [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].

What would you change about yourself if you could?

One of our experiments during the process of our performance was to strip down to what you feel most comfortable in, this went from being fully clothed to naked. We had to write/draw on ourselves lines on what we wanted to change about ourselves and then with an invited audience which were all girls they had to do grab a pen and write/draw on our bodies of what they would change 0n our bodies to make ‘the perfect body’.

There is a lot of pressure on the ideal body especially amongst other girls, they look at airbrushed models in magazine that claim to have this perfect body with no lumps, bumps, stretch marks or scars. Additionally, women and girls want “to look like the models on television or in maga- zines) predicts the development of weight concerns” (Tiggeman and McGill, 2004, pg. 24) this is the case for me i feel vulnerable in how my body looks and if someone was to know how much i weighed or what close size i was , it would make me feel vulnerable especially if it was for the public to see. Additionally, in relation to the piece i will contribute a memory of me trying to kill myself which brings to light how media and magazines have influenced how i see my body today, and by sharing this story it will hopefully start making it easier to come to terms that my body isn’t as bad as i think it is.

photo taken: 13/11/2013

During this experiment we asked the people taking part if they would rather be drawing or to be drawn on and 50% of the people taking part would’ve wanted to be drawn on so not to offend people. Additionally, what made the experiment easier was that we all had our eyes clothes so we didn’t know who was drawing on us at what time.

After the experiment we thought that if we did this again we should invite an all males to participate as they could have a different concept on how they see the female body and what makes the female body perfect from a males perspective.

Tigemann, Marika and McGill, Belinda (2004) The Role of Social Comparison in the Effect on Magazine Advertisements on Women’s mood and Body dissatisfaction, Journal of social and Clinical Psychology, 23(1), Pg. 23-44.

Exposing our Mental & Physical Vulnerabilities

Mental:

In order to transfer our own personal mental vulnerabilities to the space, we developed one of our past experiments and integrated it into the piece. The Experiment consisted of asking other people to write a question based upon when they felt most exposed and vulnerable. After doing this, we then at randomly picked a question and answered them honestly. No one knew at the time not even ourselves what kind of questions and answers we would gather. Questions such as ‘When was the last time you had sex?’ and ‘What dress size are you?’ were picked out and answered truthfully. In reflection to the first time we did this some questions did not make me personally vulnerable but others did. For our final piece, we then decided to integrate the idea of showing our mental vulnerability through simple questions therefore, we got together a selection of questions from the experiment and questions we wrote, sat down in a vulnerable space and filmed them.

The most interesting thing for me was how much I personally would let people know about my life. It was one of the hardest things I have done. It was challenging, to answer questions that truly made me feel Vulnerable. For instance, a question that hit a nerve was ‘Have you ever been mentally or Physically abused?’ As I read the question, I was visibly scared. No one in the room knew what I was going to say, I myself never thought I would be even talking about something that happened so long ago. Its not a question of me answering it. The whole project is about what makes us ourselves feel vulnerable and exposed. This question did. Physically I was shaking as I spoke, mentally as soon as i spoke the words there was no going back. I had to explain the whole story. It was a challenging thing to do, but at the time of be sharing my ‘secret’ made me the most vulnerable I have ever felt. The reasoning behind putting it into the main performance was because we were exploring our own vulnerabilities. I like all the members in the group have exposed so much of our lives, for everyone to see. Although on the day, I know I will be more conscious that other people hearing one of my worst memories to date but I would like to think it will translate that we are all human however big or small our problems are. Something that makes me feel exposed and vulnerable does not necessarily mean it would be the same for someone else. In my eyes it represents what we are trying to portray in the piece. The more you expose yourself through your thoughts and insecurities and you breakdown every boundary, only then you can be truly feel vulnerable.

Physical:

How can we make ourselves physically vulnerable? We conducted an experiment at the beginning of our process where we looked at our insecurities and marked on our bodies what we would change about our physical appearance if we could. We then invited people in to honestly draw what they would change about us. Some as expected were more honest than others. This was testing in its self because we had to expose as much as our selves as we could. Personally I could only get into shorts which came to my knees and my bra because consciously I couldn’t bring myself to take of anymore clothes. One participant in the reflection at the end even said they would have rather have been in our position than theres. Which I find the most interesting. We exposed as much as we possibly could at this stage. At the time, I thought that was all I could do it was more of my mental boundaries stopping myself from taking off any other clothes. I felt exposed around some people I knew, so at that stage I was feeling anxious and vulnerable even before we got the date of our performance.

The next question was how could this be translated into the space? The answer, through live performance. On the day, we shall make ourselves, in front of an audience the most vulnerable and exposed we can be. This will symbolise physical vulnerability, we shall take our clothes off and expose our barest and most exposed forms. The idea of getting ‘naked’ in a studio for a performance in front of an audience can and is daunting. But for us to physically show exposure and vulnerability ourselves doing this is essential. As six twenty something women, all representing different body shapes, exposing our bodies to a 21^st century audience could not be more nerveracking. Each person with their own insecurities in one place at one time, pushing their own personal comfort zones. Exposing their physical imperfections and dislikes is very rarely seen within society.

One main influence for our physical representation of exposure, comes from Vanessa Beecroft. She created a performance called VB45, in which she had many models and actors exposing their bodies to an audience. ‘Most of the time, these women are naked, wearing shoes and make-up only, to appear as if they were stripped and wear a naked uniform, rather than being naturally nude and free. ‘ (Shapiro, 2008) This links into our performance in the physical representation as it looks at what it means to be physicallyu vulnerable. By the end of our performance, we do not know what our physical representations will be. But hopefully by pushing ourselves, we can physically show our vulnerability. This should also been seen through our body language.

The piece like Beecrofts will be unrehearsed. ‘Without rehearsal, the women always address the audience in a conscious way’ (Shapiro, 2008) The permance essesscial relies on our personal representations of mental and physical exposure and vulnerability. We have all the right materials on the day we will be ourselves and it depends on the atmophere we create in the space. We will will not be actors, every reaction in the final perfromance is our own emotion.

Works Cited

Shapiro, D. (2008) VANESSA BEECROFT Interview by David Shapiro. [online interview] http://www.museomagazine.com/VANESSA-BEECROFT[Last assessed 11 December 2013]

We Discover Simplicity

In our tech, we went through the lengthy process of explaining to the technicians that we wanted six microphones, six spotlights, numerous audio clips, video projections in which we would show all the previous experiments, and photographs. We were planning on having a script, speaking in unison and reciting vulnerability in different languages and we were each going to represent a previous experiment.

Initial idea of the Performance space

Then we discovered simplicity.

We realised that if we included all these technical aspects, we would be able to hide behind them in the performance, and would therefore be ignoring our original aim of making ourselves vulnerable. It was therefore decided that we needed to strip back the superfluous additions in order to achieve any sense of exposure. It was stated in a previous experiment that an audience member decided not to take part, because she was able to hide in the large area around the performance space, and therefore felt distanced from the piece. This led to our decision to split the room in two using flats, and creating a smaller space for the performance to occur in.

Final Performance Studio Space Layout

We then decided to dismiss the idea of having a spotlight on each member of the group and replace them with a general wash. This also meant that the piece became less about ‘us’, and more accessible as an audience member, as we were all occupying the same space, in the same lighting and we decided to keep the video projection, but simplified it so it only contained the questions and answers mentioned in ‘We Tell the Truth’.

Through the simplification of the performance, we are able to definitively portray both mental and physical vulnerability. Mental through the video projection, and physical through our being in the space in the final performance.

We also decided to include a projection of a clock, counting down from 1:50:27 (the length of our piece) because having that as a constant reminder that we were running out of time would encourage us to push ourselves as much as possible in the time frame provided.

Much of our decision to simplify the performance is similar to numerous ‘Tableaux Vivants’ or Living Pictures by Vanessa Beecroft. Beecroft uses collections of girls, often wearing nothing but stiletto heels, all similar in height, build and appearance. In VB 45, Beecroft de-sexualised the girls by making the appear ‘vulgar’ in an attempt at critiquing the fashion industries objectification of women.

Fig.1 vanessa beecroft, vb45.007.dr, 2001, c-print

Though we do not share similar aims, the use of the naked form in a non sexual and simple manner is common .

Fig.1 available from http://www.museomagazine.com/#VANESSA-BEECROFT

Time and Performance Layout

Time:

With our piece showing vulnerability we needed a substantial idea to bring everything together. As the piece we want to create will be durational therefore the idea of time was always in the back of our minds. By adding a countdown clock to the piece it will give us as performers and the audience the feeling that something will to happen within the time frame of 1 hour 50 minutes and 27 seconds. The task is to make ourselves as vulnerable and exposed as we possibly can within the time frame. The Countdown will be projected beside our mental vulnerability video. The piece will last 1:50:27 minutes, although this is not a very long durational piece, I do believe it will give us hopefully enough time to explore and expose ourselves in a room full of audience members. By having the clock projected for all to see it should in essence capture the audience and make them choose between staying in the room out of curiosity of what will develop within the set time frame.The idea to make the piece a durational piece was influenced by our work in class, as we were replicating Marina Abramovic’s The Artist is Present. Although we are not going to do our piece for as long as Abramovic, I have learnt from the experience that the longer you are left your thoughts the more you personally expose your thoughts therefore in theory if we are left with the key themes of vulnerability and exposure we will delve deeper into our own thoughts, and insecurities.

A Development in appearance:

The performance space has changed somewhat from our original idea. During our tech run we had realised that it had lost some of the concept of vulnerability and exposure. We were hiding behind microphones and spots and we had seemed to have created a barrier between us and the audience. This was not what we wanted at all. We want the audience to feel vulnerable, and be part of the performance space. Therefore we made the decision to split the space. By halving the studio it transformed our piece, it automatically creates a more honest, vulnerable and intimate relationship between audience and ourselves. In order to break down even more the audience performer barrier we are going to add a sofa for audience members and ourselves to sit on. This will be situated in conjunction with the door on the opposite side of the space. This giving the audience members the opportunity to walk through the space and sit comfortably. Having the sofa strategically angled in the corner means that the audience will be more exposed to the space around them and at us. We shall be moving around the space, standing amongst the audience, in front of them or even far away as possible from them throughout the piece. Spatially with us changing the layout, and having the mental vulnerability video playing simultaneously with the timer on the back wall I feel it is essential that the free space in front around the projections will add an atmosphere, and will give us more of a special awareness and relationship with the audience, other members of the group and the space.

Initial Idea of the Performance Layout:

Initial idea of the Performance space

Final Performance Layout:

By having essential objects in the space and two simulations projections I feel the piece has taken a good and needed transformation from our original setting. The simplicity of the space, I also think will increase to a degree the relatable relationship of exposure and vulnerability between us, the audience and the space. Through making the space more intimate, it in theory should make the audience feel more vulnerable and maybe perhaps uncomfortable as the performance will contain nudity and content that some may find upsetting, the fact that we are choosing to make the space smaller gives the audience no room to dodge anything said or done. They can only be distracted by their own thoughts. It will depend on their own choice.

This is similar to a Marina Abramovic and Ulay collaboration entitled Imponderabilia. In which herself and Ulay stood naked in the main entrance doorway of the museum, facing each other. As the public entered the museum they had to pass between them. In an interview with Paula Orrell, Abramovic stated that ‘Each person passing has to choose which one of us to face’ (Orrell, 2010). This can be echoed through our choice as performers to make the performance space more intimate. The fact that we are making the space smaller gives the audience a choice of where and what they want to engage with. They can choose to look at us taking our clothes off, choose to watch the video or even choose to walk out.

Works Cited:

Orrell, P. (2010) Marina Abramovic + The Future of Performance Art. London: Prestel Publishing Ltd.

Nuditate

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Performance Ideas