Month: September 2013

Notes from:

Making a Performance. Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices.

By E. Govan, H. Nicholson, K. Normington, London,  Roudledge, 2007, pp: 59-72

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Autobiographical performance:

A non acting tardition of the modernist avant-garde.

• Space of sharing private stories with a pubblic.
• Reflection on a personal experience.
• Relation between fact and fiction, art and life
• blurred relationship between art and daily life
• Happenings 60’s and 70’s
• Issue of self and identity
• against a masking role
• Reframing the reality

Quote: “We might view it {autobiography} instead as a unique, self-defining mode of self-referential expression”. Renza 1980: 295

Both elements of factual detail and fictional fantasy

• Employment of personal experience to explore sociopolitical situations
• Feminist point of view: the personal is political and employs autobiographical narrative as a means of substantiating and ideological message.
• Working with emphasis on  a self -reflexive, creative methodology
• Blending autobiography with fictional narratives
• Memory: a filter: embroidered version of the real
• In relation to the audience: there is a tendency of the audience to make sense of teh narrative and to understand where the reality lies
•  Heightening versions of myself
• Self identity and performer: blurred  without the mask of character.
• Conflation between real life and performance.
• How selfhood is created?
• History and representation

Audience:

• active listening,
• active engagement,
• witnessing
• a dialogue between performer and audience within the performance
• be here and now

Confession and its performative elements

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p.96

-performance Birdie!> The performers occupy an ambiguous position on stage which is neither “non-matrixed” nor “characterization”. (Auslander 1985: 95). In other words, they neither perform as characters nor do they act as themeselves purely since a character is on stage.

A playground where everything can happen.

To use fragmented or multidimensional playing areas allowa narratives  on stage to be presented simultaneously. For example one viewr may select to watch one scene, while another chooses something completely different.

http://theses.gla.ac.uk/915/

 

 

 

 

During this module I was very engaged from the beginning to the end, concentrated and punctual to the date lines. I became more systematic and methodical in the way I studied theoretical material and expressed myself in written form. My blog is an explanatory and informative example of my development. It is interesting to read, synthetic and accessible to people who are not involved with the module. I learned to use different methods during my research in a productive way, although this kind of systematization in the theoretical aspects of my work is not still visible in the practical aspect. In fact there is still a chaotic element with regard to the presentation of my work, the organization and planning of my rehearsals – the steps I have to take for a clear process of experimentation in studio.

This chaotic element is sometimes combined with lack of clarity that can confuse those assisting my work. I demonstrated the tendency to take into consideration the format and to be more worried about how I deliver my work to others instead of focussing on the content behind the product of my research. This is also an indication that I want to consider all the details and aspects of my work, although the risk is to stay on the surface, lose the main point of my research and to not work on the quality of the different parts. Technology and other media like video, editing, photography, made my research supported by different tools but at times they took over without being clear to me how they could be used efficiently. Sometimes technology became the “easy” way to experiment rather than going deeper into experimentation by using what I really have always available:my Body. I could have taken more risks and challenged myself more concerning practical aspects. However I really challenged some self boundaries and I reconsidered the way I usually work.

Regarding collaboration with other people, I was collaborative, supportive,open minded, available and full engaged without losing my compass and orientation regarding my research . I was open to any kind of feedback and I always tried to reflect on it and use it in an efficient and productive way in order to go deeper and develop my work. Sometimes it was difficult to apply the theory into practice and embody thoughts and reflections after the feedback but I didn´t give up the effort. I tried successfully to adapt myself quickly to new circumstances and take what each place had to give me despite difficulties like in PAF. Sometimes I thought and reflected more than necessary.

I had difficulties finding a thread to make the content of my research clearer but in the end I managed to conclude my residency in PAF with more a clearer definition of what my project is about and the nexts steps I would like to take thanks to my spirit, complete engagement and of course the help and support of my tutors and peers.

AND NOW TIME TO GO A STEP FURTHER…

 

The Grandfather reveals as the Imaginary. A person that died when I was very little. Maybe less that five. What I have actually in my mind is one image. Of him sitting on his bed in the hospital; I see his curved back. I have the feeling that my parents didn’t want me to go and see him cause I was very little to be so close to death.

Although the last years the figure of my grandfather is present. I can imagine him as I would like. I wish I could have met him for longer time. I remember my grandmother (his sister) speaking about him and narrate stories from this family with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. He  was the youngest.

Here is the translation of my mother’s narration based on my questions of some days ago:

As you know your uncle knows more because he has the opportunity to live with him . Although I will say what I know. He born in 1924. By being the youngest in the family, he had the most benefits …. He was the beloved ! He went to high school , the times that very few children were going. He was smart , sociable , warm and smiling, with lots of friends , something like you …….! He was always involved to conversations and discussions of any topic ……He was headstrong, he didn’t like to say the same thing twice ….. You had one chance to figure out what he was saying . He was listening a lot of music and he was reading read too. Any kind of book that was falling  into his hands : from comic books till banned political books . He liked the good life . Fiesta, dance, festivals and everything else then existed. He was involved in everything. I do not remember well, but he was singing as other people saying. Definitely he was dancing, indeed ZEIBEKIKO ! He was drinking the usual shells when he was going out , but he smoked a lot , though he stopped when he was about 55 years old. Regarding  the “dressing”, and in general the “grooming”, he was the ultimate definition of ” skittish person ” (Which is the male of  coquetta? ? ? Coquetto ? Haha ). He  was proud and didn’t hesitate to tell roughly his opinion in public , even if he knew that this might have bad consequences, (Regarding politics , He was about to reach a step before the exile during Dictatorship …. ). He was getting angry and he used to curse , but his anger was lasting little . At a young age , and before marrying he suffered y vertebral- arthritis, which created to him a curving back in pain and neck stiffness, thing that  complicated the movement of the head , neck ….. He was a farmer, and for many years was butcher in the village. Favorite food I doubt he ever had ; he was eating very little. Food was not his first concern …. When I grew up , I discovered that there were many people who admire him , I do not know exactly why , but they were seemed proud to have been friends of him. Even now there are people to say that…… and one of them would be glad to talk to you ( His friend Ferla ). Since I was kid, people were used telling me < Nionios , stubborn head > Why? ? ? ? ?

Do you find there are similarities with you? ? ? ?

Yes I like to believe that I was similar in certain things with my Grandfather. I like to imagine him as I desire. He exists as long exists in my mind.

On the 6th Sept 2013 took place the 3rd presentation.

This time the space I choose was my actual room , where I stay the last two weeks.

I decided to use this space because of the intimacy that characterizes it. I spent as less time I could to prepare the space, remembering the feedback of not losing and waste time on preparing things. On that moment was a decision that I felt I should take in order the presentation to be a “presentation”. In the space I put all the elements that I used during the process of research> video projection, the two model-dolls, my papers and note, the boots, the pieces of the destroyed body data map, photos etc. The people were accommodated inside my bed. It was an interesting image form that moment but I knew that in this way I was creating expectations that I wasn’t probably ready to satisfy. In fact I was feeling that this was another experiment and a part of me was observing me and on the other hand I was trying to concentrate on my action. The clear thing to me was that I was not  clear yet. While the presentation was taking place It was projected on the wall a video

Scanning from Foteini K on Vimeo.

In some point I finished the presentation and I started to speak about and analysed declared that the real presentation was starting from this point.

I made clear about my tendency to be interesting about the format, the way that I present something. On the other hand inside the realm of improvisation I was trying to put myself in an uncomfortable space. and a part of me was observing how I was proceeding.

I could feel that the presentation was one more time out of my complete control.

Too much improvisation doesn’t make it a good improvisation.

     

FEEDBACK>

IRENE>

It is interesting, funny and intimate that you chosen your room as a place to present.

I could see your effort to clean up and make order in the chaos, that u think while you see.

I liked the idea about “Satisfaction”. Need to be explored in many ways.

I became confused on the way.

Frustration ans Anger 

Why do you have an obsession with the “penis”? Do u want to have one? Are you afraid of it? Makes you angry?

The interesting thing is what you don’t want to be in order to find what you want. 

Throw what you don’t want. Clean up the process.

From  April I think you don’t show also how fragile you are.

VAGIA> You use the substractive method.

What is left was real for me.

The video is not defined yet. Why this research? Do u really want to define the Gender? Also not define the gender can be interesting.

What do you mean as satisfaction? Do you have to cover it from all the points.

Seems that personal needs are related to satisfaction.

Chaotic. After a while I lose the point.

I didn’t understand your question. Another way to help you?

PAVLOS>

It is clear that there was a SCRIPT.

The first Part is about Mannerism and Representation. The second part is “real”.

Both are problematic because they are not consistent. Which are the modes and the things that you really throw away, that you want to get rid of them?

How do you embody them?

What makes the difference of the first part from the second one? I don’t see an essential difference.

Can you speak about the dick as a metaphor?

Participation of the audience. I can see your struggle and the conventional mechanisms like giving paper to the audience to write ideas.

I was pissed off with this experience.

For me it was  a step back/ 

You thing too much about the format than trying to understand what you have.

Definition through negation can be  a method but I miss elements.

The way to throw things from the room is still manneristic.

Mannerism versus content.

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