Session 5: Performance and the every day

In this session we looked at performing in various places around Stratford. I had been absent from university that week so was not able to participate but I watched all of the group performances of my colleagues. Here are my observations:

Westfield stairs

The first group I saw was Leanne, Sherelle, Jessica and Dasha. They looked at socking which is an exercise we had done in class similar to fishing. It involves moving in a similar group formation to fishing but with the person at the back of the group coming to the front, and this is repeated throughout. They performed the socking exercise on the stairs of the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. The reaction of passers by appeared to be mainly confused and intrigued. A lot of people became interested in what was happening and stopped to watch. What i liked about this performance was the use of levels. The stairs were a very helpful part of the performance as it allowed them to experiment going up and down, higher and lower rather than just performing on one level. They also experimented with movement, rather than just walking to the front of the group they would use big over the top movements with really helped the performative aspect and made it very interesting to watch.

The second performance by Shanice and Dil also took place on the Westfield stairs and was a variation of the stick balancing exercise we had been doing in class. This group used a rope to replace the stick and worked with the same type of movement as the stick exercise to travel up the stairs. The movement was interesting because rather than just walking in one direction, they would weave in and out of the barriers on the stairs and they also experimented with pace, trying out fast and slow movements. The movements I saw were much more relaxed than the stick exercise where it was at times quite rigid. The way the piece flowed easily and gently made it seem dance like and graceful. I would like to explore how I can use movement with others to create a dance-like performance in future.

Another group performance that used dance-like elements was Jenny and Bennie's group. They performed on a small platform outside Stratford Circus and looked at moving up and down the platforms in ensemble, performing different movements. They swapped positions with each other quite often while experimenting with pace and direction. I liked how these performers were so in-tune with eachothers movements and they really looked as if they weren't just performing as individuals but they were playing off of eachother and reacting to the movements each of them did.

Reflections and ideas I would like to consider

-Experimenting with levels

-Dance-like style

-Group ensemble

-Stylised movements

Practitioners

Bobby Baker- Kitchen

One example of a contemporary performance we watched in class was Bobby Brown's kitchen performance. She used food to represent her emotions and would express different feelings by doing different actions with the food. An example of this would be when she's angry she would throw a piece of fruit. The performance felt as if it was a mockery of some kind of cooking show and reminded me of Nigella Lawson.

Bobby Baker- Shopping

Another performance done by Bobby Baker had strong themes and showed her stealing a tin of fish as instructed by the Lord, and following various commands he give to her. This felt somewhat comical and also had a theme of satire. However from another point of view this could be seen as an expression of her faith.

Lin Binyuan- Internal affairs

This performance looked at performing every day tasks such as brushing your teeth or shaving in public places. I liked the idea of taking something so ordinary and using location to create a performance out of it. It would be interesting to explore this idea in Stratford city perhaps around the shopping centre or on the tube.

Michael Landy

In this performance, Michael Landy destroyed all of his posessions to convey the message that we are too concerned with material items. It has strong messages about society today and felt very culturally relevant.

Reading: Banes, S (1993) ‘Equality Celebrates the Ordinary in Johnstone, S (2008) The Everday-Documents of Contemporary Art, London and Massachusetts: White Chapel & MIT Press pp. 113-119

In this reading, Sally Banes talks about the celebration of "the ordinary" which relates to the work we have been doing on using every day life to create a performance. One of the pieces she talks about that celebrates the ordinary is "Living Room Music" by John Cage. This was performed in 1940 and showed Cage using various household objects found in a living room to create music. This reminds me of Bobby Bakers kitchen performance as she uses household objects to create a performance that celebrates every day life and the normality of it. This module so far has led me to question- why shouldn't the "normal" life be created? Why does performance have to be dramatic? about something exciting? I believe that every day life is something we all have in common, and it is something that unites us. Therefore, we should respect that and it should be used in performances.

Another example of this type of performance talked about in this reading is "Acapulco" by Judith Dunn which showed normal activities such as a woman ironing a dress, people playing cards, and a woman brushing her hair. These every day activities were performed in slow motion which transformed them in to a dance sequence. Banes talks about how artists who perform in this way are "ordinary people" and that relating to the audience through the normalities of life such as watching people "walk, run, eat, sleep, make love, tell stories and smile" is "the most worthwhile thing an artist could help a spectator to do".