Workshop 1 Report

My first workshop took place yesterday, Monday the 8th of October at Crawford College of Art and Design main campus in the Photography Studio. There was six participants present including four females and two males.

Prior to the beginning of the workshop I had prepared a process method schedule, a short choreographed warm up, meditation dialogue and calm music. The reasoning for this was to ensure the smooth running of the workshop. All lights were set up in a very comfortable way. The room was very quiet and all that could be heard is the piano music playing softly in the background. This was playing before people entered the room. Six chairs were laid out in an equal positioning allowing space for the movement exercise and also allowing each participant to be present in the frame of the camera.

Participants arrived at different intervals between 6.50pm and 7.05pm. In the future, I will wait for everyone to arrive before they can enter the performance space.

I began the workshop with a little introduction whilst keeping the grounds as vague as possible. Each participant signed a release form. I described the schedule of events up to the end of the dialogue meditation.

I then continued with the exercise. The goal of this was to relax the body and its muscles and zone the minds of the models into a comfortable and blank canvas focusing them for the following exercise.

I found that as I was speaking in the same tone from the very beginning, the music was uniform and the lighting didn't change, concentration was kept and the progression was smooth and effective.

During the course of the dialogue there was very little movement and even less sound. Through the distressing parts of the dialogue reaction was minimal however I will inspect this further with the recording.

On awakening the models all gave me the impression that they were totally zoned out. The time went comfortably and reached about 7.35 at this point.

I then gave out a blank sheet with a crayon of their choice to every participant and gave them a few minutes to draw anything that came into their mind. After doing the exercise I asked participants to turn them face down and passed them along to the end.

Thereafter I cleared the room and began the improvisation part of the workshop. Everyone left the room and individually I gave characters to the participants concluding in a family structure. I began with small scenarios to get the building of the characters and it developed greatly with the evolution of time.

Maud Cotter's - ' ..solution in the room'

Upon entering Maud Cotter's 'A Solution in the Room', though it was raining heavily outside, I felt like I was walking into spring. The installations created by Cotter are very delicate looking sculptures that were built to encapsulate the space of the Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork. The main feature of the 'Sieve' stood in the centre of the space lying on the floor. To the naked eye it looked as though it was an object of that nature in that is gathered material however for me it retained the beauty just like that of an actual sieve; it sieved away the badness. Without looking at the notebooks, the works spoke simply to me with a smile.

Tutorial development 1

IAfter a very positive and constructive tutorial with Jessie Jones last week, I went off to get something cohesive on paper. After disaster with the booking of rooms in college, my scheduling went up in a heap but all I can say is that everything happens for a reason. I now have scripted a concise dialogue for my first meditation workshop. The aim is to develop the dialogue throughout the workshop in acknowledgement to the ongoing motion and body language of the participants. The workshop will be recorded - the camera will remain static at all times with the lens open to allow a full focus of the entire body.

After this workshop I want to experiment with the dialogue and see if it worked well. I want to eventually experiment with the combination of the scenarios in actuality and the silent response brought forward by the participants at the workshop.

Thematically I will be dealing with the concept of family relationships. The language of the script will be very ambiguous. It will be driven by emotional triggers.

Having has a follow through tutorial with Tony McClure, I am now in a good position to go forward with my first experiment and look forward to having something visual by next week!

Understanding the Bodies Natural Emotive Responses

[IN PROGRESS] 

Over the past number of years I have been interested in the form of the body and how, without verbal interference, one can interpret a figures emotion through language of the body and its expression.

When we speak, we sometimes do not know what to say. Especially when we need to express how we feel. We also do not speak honestly of our feelings or so it is a tradition in the mentality of the human to hide and secure our emotions. In everyday life we can hide our emotions though to the people we are closer to, the acknowledgement in the differentiation of our body language and expression can be identified clearly.

(End of draft one)

Historically dance is a creation of bodily expression and performed it can display a narrative as clear as any play. However contemporary dance movements have successfully achieved very translucent experiments without a chronological narrative allowing the voyeur and performer alike an entry point and personal interpretation. 

(End of draft 2)

http://www.historyguide.org/europe/dio_apollo.html

'Modern Families'

I am feeling rather refreshed after my recent visit to the Lewis Glucksman Gallery at UCC this week. The vast exhibition of work accurately curated by Chris Clarke and Matt Packer. Upon landing the steep staircase we are greeted by a family of mirrors levelled by Nevin Aladag to match the height of a five person family. Throughout the exhibition variations of such were presented illustrating simply the many forms of families that exist in the midst of our culture.

Nevin Aladag

Another striking artist for me was Eulalia Validosera and her work 'Family Ties II'. The work presented very large scale photographs individually depicting yet again the variety and complexity of family structures with fastidious choreography. I found her language to be very accessible in that one could interpret easily, the dynamic of the particular families. Her concept spoke clearly on the impact individuals made to the formation of the family unit and how their actions effected the dissection and penultimate, eventual break down. I found the structure and technique that drove her language so clearly would be helpful in my own work and I will certainly experiment with this. 

Eulalia Validosera

[Side thought: Two people brought together to become one together and to form another being, through love or otherwise, begins the life of another being and thus their entire future is dependent on the actions that will transpire within the initial pairing. Throughout the entire lifespan of this new being, their mentality will always come back to their very conception and the time in between.]

Short story festival at the Triskel

Last night at the Triskel, Cork, graphic novelists Carol Swaine and Etgar Carret featured their sketches live, in an experimental presentation.

In a short Q&A with the artists, it was stated that these comics did not fit in tbe mainstream of graphic comics in which appreciatively  was acknowledged by the collective audience. A general consensus between the artists agreed that the writted word was best at a minimal due to the power of the illustration in the telling of the story.

Carols work was presented very structurally which she said had little reasonings on her behalf however personally I think it identified well with the filmic style that she uses. This style is shown clearly by her illustrated perspective. It allowed great interpretation for the reader and growth for the characters.

Etgar's work on the other hand featured great narratives, it was very cleverly written. His culturally light weight themes were well balanced with subtle acknowledgement of reality [clearly featured in the story about the Child and the Piggy bank] making the story very interesting to readers and again, like Carol giving the reader an entry point or role in the story.

The contemporary form brought forward in the styling and storytelling of these comic bring an acknowledgement to the broad spectrum of art forms. The conceptual approach hinted amoung the stories advance the traditional mechanism of comic making.

Notes:
Carol swane:
Fiod boy
Invasion of the mindswapers

Etgar carret
Graphic novel to film
Imaginative
Canne film festival prize winner
Voice if next generation

4th year, how ar' ya'?!

**TYPEWRITER SOUND**  -DAY THREE-

The first week back in college, mixed emotions I must acknowledge. I am very excited about this semester, getting back into the swing of visiting art galleries and exploring new artists - how could one not feel good. Nervousness is also a brewing feeling;  but I'm sure that will filter down!

I had my first thesis meeting of the semester yesterday - I am all hyped up to get started. I am basing it on the term 'Screen Dance'. My studio tutors asked to define it today; yikes it's complicated was my response, however I'll break it down for you:

SCREEN
Contextually, 'screen' refers to the filmmaking aspect. Though cinematography is a rather new process, rules and boundaries skim the perimeter of the process. Fine Art Film breaks these boundaries and pushes the commercial and Hollywood characteristics away breaking into the third wall and using the camera like paintbrush to paint an abstract painting. The camera becomes another entity.

DANCE
Anything that has the adjective 'Classical' in the fore of a discipline generally means there is a technique  and method to be followed, surpassing these creates a new experimental and contemporary form which evolves to becoming a part of the fine art medium as it becomes more interpretative and expressionistic. In music John Cage broke all rules imaginable in his compositions. As did ballet; Vaslav Nijinsky, admired as one of the 20th Centuries greatest male ballet dancers. He evolved ballet to become thematically bolder and too broke the traditions of classical ballet making it a new form.

Together the montage of music, dance and film form the perfect 'Screen Dance'. I'll come back to this again soon. Off to see 'Modern Families' at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery now.

Toodle pips!