Music is around us all the time, particularly in media and it just felt comfortable having music in the background.

Along with our stills, shots of buildings and voice overs we included a sped up journey of steep hill.

This to me was the perfect ending to our piece, it showed a journey. In fact it showed our journey from downhill to up, from the urban to the historical, from the students to the elderly.

Our feedback for our film was positive with particular reference to the aesthetics of our piece. I think the all black worked well as we were almost engulfed in the space and the story we were telling. However Conan was not a fan of the music we had chosen and felt we did not need any music at all.

This was an understandable point as the music was there to give atmosphere not to take away or distract and sadly he thought it had leaned towards the latter.

Intriguingly through research I found an idea of “site” that was completely different to what I have come to understand through this process.  In Site-Specific Performance Pearson suggests  “Current perceptions of site have moved ‘from a physical location-grounded, fixed-actual-to discursive vector-ungrounded, fluid, virtual (ibid., pp. 29-30), effectively relocating meaning from the art object to contingencies of context” (2010, p.12).   So this to me speaks to mean that the importance now is reflected on the idea of something being out of the ordinary and challenging the space rather than the space itself. It does not matter if that space is not a solid building or a street corner, it could be the internet or the air we breath in. It’s about the unexpected and crossing the boundaries of conventional performance.

Works Cited

Pearson, Mike (2010) Site-Specific Performance, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan

In the music video for Rise Against Make it Stop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4clbHc4Xg (about 3 minutes 6 seconds in) Tim Mcllrath the singer of the band gives a name and age and it flashes to the teenager they mentioned speaking their own short message.  In this case it is a statement used for the “It gets better” project. Although they used the participants to be in the video and we would just be using a voice over of their stories, I still found this video useful in opening my mind to a different kind of performance, using real messages from participants.

This reconstruction has caused me to delve deeper in to what Site-Specific really is. Although Pearson suggests it is difficult to define it rigidly, I feel the following thesis from Pavis gives a great outline. In Site Specific Performance Pearson suggests,

“In 1998 Patrice Pavis Proposed:

This term refers to a staging and performance conceived on the basis of a place in the real world (ergo, outside the established theatre). A large part of the work has to do with researching a place, often an unusual one that is imbued with history or permeated with atmosphere: an airplane hangar, unused factory, city neighbourhood, house or apartment. The insertion of a classical or modern text in this ‘found space’ throws a new light on it, gives it an unexpected power, and places the audience at an entirely different relationship to the text, the place and purpose for being there. This new context provides a new situation of enunciation…and gives the performance an unusual setting of great charm and power. (Pavis, 1988, pp.337-8)” (2010, p.7) .

In relation to our performance I can strongly agree that the places we have used are in the real world, outside of the established theatre. Our sites our unusual as we have included such a wide variety from Primark to the excavation. Additionally we have used very historical buildings such as The Cathedral and The Castle. The Castle has a strong atmosphere. Due to the Prison Chapel that resides within it we are confronted with quite a disturbing history. The darkness of the rooms, the cold air and the representational manikins trapped in the chapel really give a feeling of being lost, confined and claustrophobic, it is very eerie. Our text on the found space does throw new light on it as it causes the audience to think about emotion and memories in relation to places. To see space as more than a place to occupy, but as a part of your life.  It causes one to think about the purpose of place and our relationship with it.  All of this combined does give our performance emotional power, bringing a sense of charm.

Works Cited

Pearson,  Mike (2010) Site-Specific Performance, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillian

Rise Against (2011) Make it Stop, Online:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4clbHc4Xg

How does our performance challenge the relationship between the audience and performer?

The performance challenges the conventional relationship between audience and performer because the performance is about the audience rather than the performers, thus the audience become the performers and we are there merely to facilitate. Our entire performance is governed by the audience, their responses and participation within our documentation.

How does our performance challenge space?

The performance challenges space in the respect that we were encouraging the public to look at Lincoln differently. To reflect on an emotional attachement to the place. Additionally to apply their own memories and stories to the site. It gives the space a meaning and a emotional connection to everyone involved.

One person we asked to participate kindly said as we finished “Thank you, I’ve never thought about Lincoln that way.”  This reaction is what we want to achieve.

How does the architecture of Lincoln affect people?

I feel that the architecture of Lincoln has a profound affect on people (particularly those who are not from Lincoln) when it comes to formulating opinions about the place. For example, I work as a student ambassador and one of my jobs was to ring potential applicants for Lincoln University encouraging them to attend an open day and answering the questions. One particular question I was asked was the following, “What’s the social stuff like? Do you have like clubs and stuff? Cos I was looking at pictures and there were all these really old buildings and just looked boring.”

How does Lincoln itself affect people?

In Site-Specific Art: Performance, Place and Documentation Kaye suggets ”If one accepts proposition that the meanings of utterances, actions and events are affected by their ‘local position,’ by the situation of which they are part, then a work of art too will be defined in relation to it’s place and position.” (2000, p.1)

From this quote I can gather that both people and art are affected by their local position and so I would suggest that people who live in Lincoln are too affected by their location.

In the same way that the society we live in is reflected in our environment. We are a part of both our society and environment; so you could easily perceive that being a part of those things affects our behaviour, emotions and attitude. We can see this emotional side from our footage of the public telling us their stories and memories of Lincoln and this affects their attitude. Good memories and stories about Lincoln will create a positive attitude towards Lincoln and therefore Lincoln gives them a positive attitude. Consequently positive attitude creates positive behaviour.

What kind of performance are we creating?

I also came across some interesting research reading Theatrical Presentation: Performer, Audience and Act where it displayed the subtle differences between a performance and a show.In Theatrical Presentation: Performer, Audience and Act Beckerman suggests ”Presentation-the inner dynamic of a show-has it’s origin in the art of giving.” (1990, p.2) From this principal I would perceive our performance to be a presentation. This sense of giving comes from the following: A chance for the audience to give their ideas and opinions freely. a chance for the audience to effectively become the performers, an opportunity for them to govern our performance and finally to have the opportunity to think of Lincoln not just as a place but of an emotional attachment and being reminded of good memories.

Works Cited

Beckerman, Bernard and Beckerman, Gloria Brim (1990) Theatrical Presentation: Performer, Audience and Act, New York: Routledge

Kaye, Nick (2000) Site-Specific Art: Performance, Place and Documentation, London: Routledge

  Title of your Project:“Somewhere you have not been before”

  Please describe your proposed work in no more than 50 words 

A site specific performance located in different areas of Lincoln, with the city of Lincoln itself and those residing in it; as the theme of our piece.

  Tell us what you plan to do and provide a sketch of the ideas behind the work(250 words) 

We plan to interview members of the public of different ages, cultures and backgrounds to discover what Lincoln means to them. We will use the tools of postcards to help us collect their ideas and carry a large canvas to display all of this information. We will also photograph willing members of the public holding their postcards. This information will be gathered by spreading across various areas of Lincoln for diversity including the high street and cathedral quarters.

All of this will be filmed and edited showing a process. Additionally we plan to incorporate physical theatre in to our work. The physical theatre will reflect the ideas of the public, using our bodies to demonstrate movement and maybe even spell out some of the words they have used. This physical theatre will be performed in relatable locations of Lincoln.

We plan to show our work at a public place such as Tower Bar or The Shed for a communal feel, on one of their large screens. Encouraging the audience to join in with the postcard idea at the end of our film, adding to our canvas which we will have brought with us.

We are also considering filming more footage on the day of the screening but that idea is a work in progress.

  Tell us about your target audience, and how your work will interact with them(150 words) 

Our target audience is a whole variety of the Lincoln Community, including an assortment of different ages, cultures, backgrounds and occupations.

Our audience for the filming will range from locals to students. All the postcards will contain data of their age, occupation and where they are from. We feel this data will help us to get a wide range of material for our film and physical theatre.Furthermore their differences will make the film interesting.

Our audience for the screening will mostly be students and some lecturers, but also other members of the public partaking in the tower bar/shed for food or refreshments.

As for interaction with the filmed public, we will be talking to them, gathering their ideas and filming and photographing them where applicable. Interaction with the viewers of the screening will involve collecting their thoughts to add to our canvas and perhaps including them in further filming.

  When and where do you propose to present your work (location, date and time)A public place that is accessible to students, such as Tower Bar or The Shed

No specific date and time as we are unaware of our groups allocated day/time

  Provide a project timetable detailing key targets and actions between now and the presentation of your work. Include Permissions, Materials, Health and Safety checks where applicable (250 words)

• Every Monday we plan to do Site Specific work for the entire day and wherever else we need to add in more rehearsal time.
• We need some footage to show by Monday ( 5^th)
• We want all our filming to be completed before the Easter holidays.
• When we return all editing will be completed in time for the performance.
• All materials and equipment we need have already been bought.
• We will require permission from Tower Bar/The Shed and are unaware of other permissions needed.
• As for health and safety generally taking care while moving around the city centre. Carefully choosing physical theatre movement so that it does not surpass our skills or strength.

  List the equipment and materials you will need to deliver your project (and how you will source them). 

• Canvas-bought
• Postcards-bought card, cutting and printing Cassie’s design on to them to be done.
• Marker pens-bought
• Tape-bought
• Camera-sourced from media building (we also have Casey’s digital camera as a back-up if needed)

  Give details of your project budget (though be aware that there is no Module budget so any expenses will, unfortunately, have to be borne by you alone).We don’t have a specific budget and have already equally divided the cost of what we bought previously.

  Audience suitability: is there anything in your work we may need to make audiences aware of (eg. Swearing, nudity, flashing lights etc)?We may have to warn the audience of swearing depending on the footage we capture of the public.

  Include a brief artist’s statement that describes you and your work (100 words).Our work is all about seeing Lincoln through the eyes of a diverse public and what it means to them. It is about looking at Lincoln with fresh eyes and exploring the great parts of the city. The public are a central piece of our performance and our direction to follow in terms of the physical theatre. The physical theatre is to highlight these thoughts and feelings and to add some excitement to the film. Our work is multi-disciplinary providing a combination of film, photography, physical theatre and documentary. We hope the viewing audience will question what Lincoln means to them.

  Provide any images, plans, maps or other materials that support your proposal. 

• What is a performance?
• Is life a performance?
• Do you need an audience for performance?
• Is a repeated task a performance?
• Can animals perform?
• Is a ritual a performance?

In Performance Studies Schechner suggests,

“Performances occur in eight sometimes separate, sometimes overlapping situations:

1. in everyday life

2. in the arts

3. in sports and popular entertainments

4.in business

5. in tecnology

6. in sex

7. in ritual-sacred and secular

8. in play (2002, p.25)

We also watched some inspiring video clips from Conan Lawrence’s Prezi on blackboard. I particularly liked the video set in a Spanish shopping mall. In this video members of the public were given headphones and told to do unusual actions for the expected behaviour when in a shopping mall. I really liked this idea of contrasting expected behaviour in given circumstances and viewing that as a performance in itself. Additionally bringing some joy to the locals.

Following the lesson our group had a meeting and finally fixed ourselves on our performance.

We began with this idea of film and physical theatre and tried to think of what in Lincoln was important to us and what Lincoln meant to us. Then we realised the best way to gather such information would be to gather the ideas of a variety of people living in Lincoln: locals of different age groups, students etc.

The basis of our idea is to give individuals a postcard on which to write what Lincoln means to them and photograph them holding up their postcard. We want to begin with people we know and ourselves so the public feel more at ease seeing others have already completed the task. Additionally we will video some of this process. We also thought of getting these words down on to a big canvas we would take with us, as this would draw the public’s interest.

The plan is to incorporate all this in to a video and we would use some of the ideas from the post cards and canvas to govern our performance. Furthermore we will use physical theatre to act out these ideas in locations that would suit e.g. if some suggested something like “quiet and peaceful” we could video ourselves in the library doing a physical theatre performance of reading a book

We would show the finished film as our piece, possibly on one of the large screens in tower bar. The idea was that it would bring fresh eyes to many sites of Lincoln using the ideas of a variety of people obtain this different view points and opinions of Lincoln.

Works Cited 

Schechner, Richard (2002) Performance Studies: An Introduction, Oxon: Routledge