Last week I joined a fabulous masterclass with Richard Layzell on Performance Art. It was a really mixed group of students from Philosophy, Art, Media Art, Time Based Art,Fine Art and me from Animation and Visualisation masters. We started out with a mix of warm ups which I enjoyed and which were good as starting points for those new to performance, and also for me to remind myself of where I come from! Richard was good at choosing warm up material for such amixed group. It was a pretty hectic week for me so I spent some time deciding whether it was relevant to me at all, but was assured by Pernilla and Mel that it would be a great experience for me. They were right!
As a dancer/ choreographer I have spent many hours putting together performance, but performance art is something I had not fully engaged with, except for a day as a clown at the launch of a Dundee exhibtion many years ago!! I know I needed to think about a different approach for my Masters project so this was a great way to begin.
What struck me first was Richard's presence. He is very gentle gentleman! He has a wealth of experience which he only touched on in day 3. And he has an air of timelessness...he could be from the 20s 40s rather than present day. One of the films he showed on our final day reminded me of one of the actors Norman McLaren used for Neighbours. It also turned out Richard and I know many of the same people around dance and theatre.
Quite quickly on day one he had us all doing a short sketch about our surroundings. I was amazed at the speed with which Richard facilitated this with non performers- a tribute to his ability as a workshop leader and his individual qualities. I was also really impressed with the fantastic ideas generated by the group.....and so was Richard!! We commented on it later.
Day 2 saw us all out in public making a filmed performance piece. I had decide I would dance...tho the task was risk taking so I had to find a risky setting...I ended up inside and outside the overgate shopping centre and sang as well as danced. In some ways the risks I perceived did not actually exist in the end. A bit like the adrenaline rush before a show.I am used to putting myself into another 'head space' when I perform and I am able to shut out the outside world..but also to interact at the same time. In fact my dance piece became really interesting when an old man stopped to stare then started asking me if I was doing this for charity....do we somehow have permission to do MAD things in public if it is for a good cause?? interesting debate to be had here!!!So I had to both stay 'in the zone' and interact with this guy....
In terms of my own project, McLaren would have been intensely shy about performing, but at the same time I believe, able to be in that zone too. It felt like a very McLaren thing to do somehow....I can't explain why yet but think it will become clear.When the group saw back my film they could not believe what I had done.
It has always amazed me how different personal comfort zones can be and what people find to be 'scary'!
On day 3 we worked indoors to create a third piece based on all our work in the previous two days.
My idea was based around my dance piece...which involved a symbolic throwing off of clothing items....trying to free myself...The group I worked with helped develop this into something the whole 12 or so of us could do as a performance.
I also had wondered what would happen if we all turned to look at the audience and turned them into the show. So we combined these two ideas......and that ran well into the next group's piece.
All in all it was a brilliant experience and as I reflect on it I know it will find a way into my final work net year!
No comments:
Post a Comment