Costume Cupboard Mamma

W.A.V.E. 2010 Private View World Art College Vision Exchange

2010-09-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

W.A.V.E.(World Art College Vision Exchange) has been celebrating excellence in art & design by administering a number of exhibitions, conferences, and worshops to exchange Visual Art and Culture experiences and thoughts of Art & design students and professors in Korea and England since 2005. W.A.V.E. is now into its 6th year, providing a showcase of work from students and staff from four participating institutions, EWHA Woman's University, Seoul, Cardiff School of Art & Design, University of Alberta, Canada and Camberwell,Chelsea Wimbledon Colleges (CCW), University of the Arts London. This year will see CCW hosting the exhibition to be held at Wimbledon space in September 2010. The exhibition will include work from all four particicpating institutions. The theme for WAVE 2010 is Borders and Edges.

This picture 'Greed' was rescued from the bin I originally made it for the Red Road exhibition and not liking it threw it onto the scrap heap. My friend came round picked it up and said how much she liked it convinced me to keep it. I did reluctantly, and put it in an out of the way obscure place in the exhibit. It is now on it's fourth exhibition and is the most talked about and admired piece from all of my pictures.......just shows you don't through your crap out. I find also when making costumes it is always the costume that I dislike making the most that turns into my best work. This has made me think about the outtake concept all the stuff that gets thrown.... has a life of it's own.

Transitional Identity (Daytime)

2010-09-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Doing Transitional Identity in the daylight was a very different experience. It seemed to work much better in the night, more atmosphere especially in the gateway lodge the darkness enveloped you and made it feel more cosy. One comment on the night was that I had created a moment for people to experience. People's experience in the day was that the wind added to the audio of a native legend being played inside. Made them feel like they were really in the forest.

Transitional Identity

2010-09-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Transitional Identity was an ettempt at exploring by bringing people's attention to their daily cultural influences around them. That struggle with the delicate balance of crossing influences from one culture to another, without misrepresentation, creating a unique fusion of transitional identity within my own creative practice.

The audience became the performance by merely being in the space. Being exposed to different cultures simultaneously from different foods, snacks, smells of cooking. And then watching clips on dvd of other goings on from previous days.

Then finally having an experience within the gateway lodge, transporting them to another time and place.

John Trudell

2010-09-01T16:35:00.001-07:00

‎"We must go beyond the arrogance of human rights. We must go beyond the ignorance of civil rights. We must step into the reality of natural rights because all of the natural world has a right to existence and we are only a small part of it. There can be no trade-off."
-John Trudell

Johann Hari: How much proof do the global warming deniers need?

2010-08-28T01:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-much-proof-do-the-global-warming-deniers-need-2063077.html

Some pics of progression for 'Transitional Identity'

2010-08-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is my back kitchen, and these are the happening that have gone on in the last few days, thought I would document a few as part of my performance and also the starting of another project.....well it's a bit like Euston station my house the amount of people that pass through on a daily basis, is phanominal, all rich with knowledge. Some not realising what knowledge they posess until you highlight it by showing interest and bringing it out. Others like Longmore who is overflowing with a lifetime of knowledge and happy to pass on the traditions he's learned...thats what it's all about for me, that interaction between people on a basic level. Learning about what is around you and appreciating it. We all have these grand ideas when we are young, we're going to do this and that and tend to forget, not appreciate what is at hand, at the end of the day its about your family & friends, that's what counts and they are the memories you'll keep for the rest of your life and cherish.

India blocks Vedanta mine on Dongria-Kondh tribe's sacred hill | Business | The Guardian

2010-08-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

India blocks Vedanta mine on Dongria-Kondh tribe's sacred hill | Business | The Guardian

Batchewana remains return home

2010-08-22T01:08:00.000-07:00

Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers (right) carries a box containing remains of six Anishinabek who were returned by the Smithsonian Institute, onto the shore at Bellevue Park on Thursday.Michael Purvis Sault StarThe remains of six Batchewana First Nation ancestors returned home Thursday after a 135-year absence.

Chief Dean Sayers said the return of the remains from the United States marked a "moving forward," for Batchewana.

"We want our kids to have good memories," said Sayers. "This is one of those good memories that they're going to be able to tell their children and their grandchildren and their grandchildren."
A crowd lined the St. Mary's River as a box containing the remains of three men and three women was paddled from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., to Bellevue Park in a 20-foot birch bark canoe. The remains were then loaded in a vehicle for transport to a traditional burial ground at Batchewana's Goulais Mission reserve.

Thursday was the first time the Smithsonian Institution has been involved in transferring human remains back to Canada.

The unidentified Anishnabek as well as four associated funerary objects, had been unearthed from unknown cemetery sites at or near Sault Ste. Marie in 1875 by the U.S. Army surgeon at nearby Fort Brady for the purpose of scientific research.

The skeletal remains, believed to have been buried 50 to 100 years prior to being unearthed, were forwarded to the U.S. Army Medical Museum in 1875 then transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1898 – where they were stored and forgotten for over a century.

The Smithsonian, as well as all American museums and institutions, as a result of federal legislation over a decade ago were mandated to take an inventory of their Native American cultural items and human remains for return to their respective peoples.

Cultural and other items have been returned to tribes in Canada in the past, but never human remains, said Eric Hollinger, an archaeologist at the Natural Museum of Natural History, where the remains were housed.

"We have worked with cross-border situations like this before, but this is the first time human remains have been transferred in this way," said Hollinger.

The existence of the Batchewana remains was discovered during a transfer of remains to the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians on the Michigan side of the border. Sault Tribe learned of additional Anishinabek remains and contacted Batchewana.

"The United States, unfortunately, doesn't recognize Canadian tribes, they only recognize Native American tribes in the States, so the Sault Tribe was instrumental in helping us, in sponsoring us, in supporting us through this whole process," said Sayers.

Sayers said it was important that the remains be conveyed across the river in a traditional birch bark canoe, and that they be properly received on the north side.

He said the First Nation took great care in preparing for the burial ceremony at a traditional Batchewana burial ground in Goulais Bay.

"The elders wanted to make sure that our ancestors stayed as close to the earth as they could throughout this whole trip home," said Sayers. "There's comfort with our mother, the Earth, and they feel that and they want to return there and they want to feel that support."

The significance of Thursday's repatriation was not lost on Verna Sewell, who made sure to usher her grandchildren to the river's edge, where they could witness the event first hand.

"It was pretty emotional, it brought back memories – not that I would have had, but of my father and my fathers before that," said Sewell, 54.

She said the river crossing and its symbolism were important nods to a past when her ancestors would have freely travelled the St. Mary's in canoes like the one used Thursday.

The birch bark canoe used to transport the remains from the U.S. to Canada was specially commissioned for the repatriation.

"An elder from the Sault Tribe of Chippewas built it and taught a whole group of our youth," said Sayers. "Our day camps, our men and some of our women learned how to make the birch bark canoe right from scratch, how to pick the birch bark, where to pick it, how big the sheets are, the cedar, the spruce roots."

Hollinger said no DNA or other destructive testing has been conducted on these remains.

What is known about the individuals comes from what was written at the time of their exhumation, the remains themselves, and from four objects – three nails, believed to be from coffins, and a lead ornament that may have been a pendant or other adornment of one of the individuals – which stayed with the remains.

One of the individuals was said to have been killed at Batchewana, and the others likely came from the Whitefish Island burial ground.

"We aren't sure exactly where they were exhumed, except that they were near Sault Ste. Marie or in Sault Ste. Marie," said Hollinger.

Article ID# 2720479

Four Directions

2010-08-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Four Directions UK undertakes research and works with indigenous people to locate human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony in museum and private collections and, where requested, to assist with their disposition or repatriation. For more information go to www.fourdirections.org.uk
This is a group that I have recently become involved with. They are doing great things and I'm really excited about being involved.

A Radical Profeminist: Niyamgiri, a test case for the defense of our fore...

2010-08-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

A Radical Profeminist: Niyamgiri, a test case for the defense of our fore...: "photo of Dr. Usha Ramanathan is from here What follows is cross posted from *here*, at Navdanya, Dr. Vandana Shiva's blog. Press Release ..."

Gateway Lodge Progression

2010-08-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

My willow lodge is coming along nicely. It's been growing for a few months now. We haven't had alot of rain or sun this year so it doesn't seem to be growing as much as I thought it would. Hope it's filled in by performance time....lol. Even at this stage it is so tranquil sitting in there. I am so glad that I decided to make it, my little sancuary. Deciding to do my performance in my own house & garden has been a good thing it has made me do all those little jobs I've been ignoring because of lack of time so the jobs I would usually do over summer break are still getting done. Feels like I'm killing two birds with one stone, like my mother used to always say. But it also has the worry of I'm taking one step forward and then two back. As all the little jobs I'm crossing off my list are quickly getting undone by my children and their mates. So I've started delegating and making them all pitch in. :)

Buffalo Robe update

2010-08-14T11:43:00.001-07:00

After the initial performance to make the robe with my fellow MA VLP class. Unfortunately it fell apart in places when I boiled it...lol...so had to felt it some more. Hard work on your own and once it was wet, was like trying to move a dead body the wieght of it....Found out after the fact that yellow wool is the hardest to felt takes much longer, typical, you learn by your mistakes!!!

Yurok Indians exult at return of sacred cache

2010-08-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F08%2F13%2FMN0O1ET3EI.
Yurok Indians exult at return of sacred cache Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco Chronicle. Friday, August 13, 2010

The Smithsonian Institution has returned a trove of precious artifacts to the Yurok Indians in California in what is one of the largest repatriations of Native American ceremonial artifacts in U.S. history.

The Yurok, who have lived for centuries along California's Klamath River, received 217 sacred items that had been stored on museum shelves for nearly 100 years. The necklaces, headdresses, arrows, hides and other regalia from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian are believed to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. "It's awesome. It's a big thing with our people," said Thomas O'Rourke, chairman of the Yurok, a tribe that lived next to the Klamath River in far Northern California for 10,000 years before Europeans arrived. "These are our prayer items. They are not only symbols, but their spirit stays with them. They are alive. Bringing them home is like bringing home prisoners of war."To celebrate the return of the items, the Yurok will hold a Kwom-Shlen-ik, or "Object Coming Back," ceremony today in the town of Klamath. The returned artifacts were sold to the museum in the 1920s by Grace Nicholson, a renowned collector of Indian art, who owned a curio shop in Pasadena in the early 20th century. Ceremonial Indian regalia was in vogue among wealthy Americans at the time.The sacred cache is part of an ongoing effort around the country to return Native American burial artifacts, ceremonial items and remains taken by white settlers from Indian villages and indigenous sites. Repatriating belongingsThe 1989 National Museum of the American Indian Act transferred stewardship of more than 800,000 Indian artifacts to the Smithsonian and required the institute to consider repatriating them to federally recognized tribes. Among the items claimed by the Yurok were finely woven baskets, wolf headdresses, eagle and California condor feathers, head rolls made from pileated woodpecker scalps, white deer skins, obsidian blades and flint, all of which have been used for centuries in sacred rituals and dances. "If we were to study or use scientific methods for testing we could probably come up with some rough dates, but generally they are made of materials that aren't readily available anymore," said Buffy McQuillen, the repatriation coordinator for the Yurok. Many of the items, for instance, are woven together using fibers from iris, a local plant that is now rare in the area. Also difficult, if not impossible, to find today are woodpecker scalps, condor feathers and white deer skin, apparently from rare albino-type deer, McQuillen said. "They are definitely old," she said. "They were acquired in the early 1900s, but they were in use and practice many years before that." O'Rourke said the items will be used beginning Aug. 27 in the tribe's White Deerskin Dance, a ceremony designed to give thanks for what nature has provided to the people. They will also be used starting Sept. 24 in the Jump Dance, another traditional ceremony that asks the creator for balance and renewal. The dancers perform nine abreast in full regalia for 10 days, primarily inside a traditional redwood plank house."We are getting (the returned items) ready to dance. They are going to work," O'Rourke said. "It's been a long time since they've heard their native voices and native songs."Largest tribeThe Yurok is the largest tribe in California, with 5,600 members. O'Rourke said most of the tribe members live within 50 miles of the reservation, which encompasses 57,000 acres, including 44 miles of the Klamath.At one time there were more than 50 villages in the tribe's ancestral territory, which covered about 500,000 acres and 50 miles of coastline. The Yurok, who called themselves Oohl, or Indian people, were renowned for fishing, canoe making, basket weaving, story telling and dancing. The Yurok were first visited by the Spanish in the 1500s and later by American fur traders and trappers, including Jedediah Smith, who raved about the abundant wildlife in the area. In 1850, gold miners moved in, bringing with them disease and violence. The Yurok population declined by 75 percent, and the remaining Indians were forcibly relocated to a reservation in 1855.Javier Kinney, a tribal leader who was one of four Yurok selected to go to Washington, D.C., to pick up the ceremonial regalia, said the returned items signify a new beginning."Our responsibilities are to preserve our culture, our language and our religious beliefs not only for us, but for our children and their children," Kinney said. "This signifies a new day for the Yurok. We're not a people of the past that are only in history books."The returned items make up 30 percent of the National Museum's Yurok holdings. E-mail Peter Fimrite at pfimrite@sfchronicle.com.

ABSENCE OF BODY

2010-06-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Allan Kaprow Household, women licking jam off of a car, 1964

Happenings, a term coined by Allan Kaprow in the late 1950s, define an art form in which an action is extracted from the environment, replacing the traditional art object with a performative gesture rooted in the movements of everyday life. No spectators, only participants.

As Kaprow writes in his essay, '"Happenings" in the New York Scene', "Visitors to a Happening are now and then not sure what has taken place, when it has ended, even when things have gone 'wrong'. For when something goes 'wrong', something far more 'right,' more revelatory, has many times emerged"(New Media Reader, pg. 86).

The art defines itself by the fact that it is a unique, one-time experience that depends on audience response. While it includes everyone present in the making of the art, the form of the art depends on the engagement of the audience, for they are a key factor in where the performers' spontaneity leads

In my own performances I have been bringing different peoples together ie the audience which then become the performers & performance. Does this then mean that there is no audience once the performance starts as they are involved and engrossed and to some point unaware that they are the performance. Completely unrehearsed, improvised, only prompted to start a discussion about culture & self.

They are participating in a communal task & discussion and the aim is to realise an end communal based product, they have all contributed to, so the atmosphere is more relaxed and the audience feels I hope that they own part of the end product.

If the audience becomes the performance, is it still a performance or does it just become a work shop? Does the mere fact that I am filming it make it a performance the audience/perfomers are at first aware they are being filmed but once they are engrossed in the task they forget about the camera.

Is the camera and documentation the key point that validates it as a performance because without the eye of the camera does it just become a workshop? Or a documentation of a workshop?

The eye of the camera, the documentation of the happening, is that what is validating it is actually a performance, or once the documentation is viewed by another audience is that when it finally becomes a performance?

This art aspect to happenings eliminates the boundary between the artwork and its viewer. Henceforth, the interactions between the audience and the artwork makes the audience, in a sense, part of the art.

Site C Dam

2010-04-24T07:32:00.001-07:00

Peace River dams can affect water levels in Alberta. The WAC Bennett dam has been blamed for lowered water levels in Alberta’s Athabasca and Peace deltas and for altered critical wetland habitats.

Natives plan to fight Site C dam planned for Peace River | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

2010-04-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Natives plan to fight Site C dam planned for Peace River | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

Felting Buffalo Robe

2010-03-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

I'm putting together a performance which will create the robe for the costume of my performer in my final show 'Transitional Identity'. Using an age old technique of felting. I plan to make a large scale peice so will need a number of people to participate as you have to roll and kneed the raw wool between plastic, to make it felt. So I'm thinking of getting the participants to walk and tread maybe to dance or hold a disccussion on cultural fusion whilst making the robe. Documenting the process. So the result of this will be a communal piece of work that everyone has collaborated to make, I am meerly the orchastrater.

Lab Report 3 Buffalo Robe

2010-03-28T15:52:00.001-07:00

Toile of Buffalo Robe

Venue - WCA MA Courtyard 29.03.10

Budget
4kilo of wool - £112
5m Habotai silk - £17.50
Soap Flakes - £1.81
7m bubble wrap - £7.70
5x9m taupalin - £9.99
Total - £149.00

Equipment

Camera/Video & Tripod
Extension lead
Kettle
Plastic Bowl

Gateway Lodge

2010-03-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Using the worldwide concept of the sweat lodge, which is, practiced the world over by many different cultures in North America, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, and Iceland. I decided to make my own version not wanting to blaspheme tradition by doing it wrong. I decided not to make it a sweat, but to make it a quiet space somewhere I could go to get away from the hectic path of life, for some me time. Using the English tradition of fedging (live willow fencing) and historically in Neolithic times willows were used to make the walls of houses.
I have made my lodge by weaving live willows in a textile fashion and bringing them together at the top to create an enclosure making a doorway to the east.

Willows are cheap and easy to establish and maintain, needing no fertiliser or other input. They build fertility in poor and depleted soil and are great value to birds, insects and other wildlife. They provide a sustainable source of material for a wide variety of uses. Used as a diving rod for finding water, the bark, produces a component of the drug aspirin and has been used for its pain relieving qualities for at least 2000yrs. The bark can also be used for tanning animal hides as it contains tannin.

The willow is the tree of enchantment, sacred to the Moon and the Goddess in her aspect of death leading to spiritual rebirth. It has powerful feminine ‘yin’ energy and helps a person to get in touch with their subconscious feelings and desires.

It is believed that in the past every living person could connect with Spirit, the Creator, God, or whatever name you feel represents the Infinite Power.
Since this link was broken, Medicine people, healers and Shamans have kept the connection alive. The Sweat Lodge has been passed down through generations as a doorway to this ancient birthright and a way home to the heart of Spirit

Lab Report 3 Buffalo Robe

2010-03-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Buffalo Robe

So I'm using the age old technique of felting for the base of my Buffalo Robe above are pictures of mongolian women making and sewing felt together they use it to make thier dwellings which are called yurts
Felting occurs when fiber is moist, alkaline and physically agitated. The warm water and soap causes the scales to swell open, and the filaments sang together when massaged and agitated (imagine miniature Velcro swatches connecting to each other). The knotting causes shrinkage and results in a dense strong felted fiber.
Additional fibers that alone would not felt, such as silk, can be added in small proportions to the felt, as the animal fibers will intertwine and mat around them.

This technique is called wet felting and has been practiced for thousands of years. Based on archaeological findings from the Central Asian Steppes, felting of animal hair has been a means of creating unwoven fabric for clothing, shelter, and artistic expression since at least 600 BC. There is further evidence that there may have been even earlier knowledge of the process.

DIRTY OIL

2010-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Scream star at premiere of REAL horror movie – Dirty Oil
Hollywood actress Neve Campbell was leading the stars down the red carpet at the London Premiere of Dirty Oil, the latest film to be distributed with the help of The Co-operative...
by:The Beaver Lake Cree vs Tar Sands
Canadian-born Campbell provides the voiceover for the hard-hitting documentary, which outlines the impact tar sands extraction in Alberta is having on the environment and local First Nation communities. The Co-operative is supporting the film’s distribution as part of its Toxic Fuels campaign, which aims to stop tar sands expansion.

The premiere at the Barbican in London followed by a question and answer session which was satellite linked to 24 cinemas around the country.

CBC News - Saskatchewan - Archaic section of Indian Act ends

2010-03-11T04:02:00.000-08:00

CBC News - Saskatchewan - Archaic section of Indian Act ends

Changes to Indian Act's definition of status at hand: AFN

2010-03-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

Changes to Indian Act's definition of status at hand: AFN

Alberta Tar Sands

2010-03-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Above pictures of the transformation from pristine Boreal Forest to'toxic fuels' refinery.
The tar sand deposits sit beneath Canada's pristine boreal forest, the world's largest terrestrial carbon store. Tar sands cover 140,000 sq km in the primary Boreal forest of Canada, an area larger than England. The most easily accessible reserves are extracted via open cast mining. This emits on average three times more carbon dioxide than conventional oil extraction, not including the emissions resulting from deforestation. For every barrel of oil produced in this way at least 2 tonnes of material is mined. Some of these open cast mines are large enough to be seen from space The material from the mines is washed with warm water to remove the oil. On average, 3 barrels of water are used to produce 1 barrel of oil. Sourced from local rivers, most of this water becomes too toxic to be returned and collects in massive tailings ponds. Tailings ponds are acutely toxic to all life that come into contact with them, in November 2008, 500 migrating birds landed on a tailings pond and died almost instantly. Furthermore, a recent report found that 11 million litres of toxic waste water is leaking from these tailings into the water table and local rivers everyday. The oil extracted from tar sands is of low quality and therefore needs upgrading before it can be refined into petroleum products. This is a very dirty and energy intensive process and adds to the local pollution and carbon dioxide emissions from tar sand operations.

2010-02-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

The Weighting Frame

2010-01-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

18. 12. 09

Theatre Building Wimbledon College of Art.
A multi-media Performance presented by MA Visual Language of Performance.

My contribution to this piece was very minimal as it was the full time MA VLP collaboration piece. And as I’m p/t second yr, and have already done this project last year, I wasn’t involved with the realization of the concept. My contribution was to advise and source materials for the other students and I came in at the end and put the costumes together for the piece and helped with setting up the production.

The Illusive Gandalf of Sutton

2010-01-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

This wasn't a performance or is it? I have used him as a comparison to Marcus Coates in my dissertation. And have been trying to get a picture of him for the last year to no avail until today. Conrad is his real name but all the kids call him Gandalf, he roams around Sutton. He dresses like a wizard with a cape, staff and usually a black cat on a lead. He will tell your fortune for 50 pence and has been doing this for years. In the same way, Coates is just donning a costume and performing, sensationalising himself just to be noticed. Gandalf, the present day manifestation of Coates has an audience. As a madman it is a way of life for him. On the other hand, Coates is getting at some primitive psyche that people, like it or not have deep down, that superstitious bit that everyone has ingrained in them to some extent, but is reluctant to admit. He is playing the role of the mediator. The go between. Audiences laugh because it is alien to them, as he is displacing the shamanic stereotype associated with different Cultures.

Buffalo Robe

2010-01-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

I plan on putting together a performance which will create the robe for the costume of my performer in my final show 'Transitional Identity'. Using an age old technique of felting. I plan to make a large scale peice so will need a number of people to participate as you have to roll and kneed the raw wool between plastic, to make it felt. So I'm thinking of getting the participants to walk and tread maybe to dance to some native music on top of the wool to felt it. Documenting the process. So the result of this will be a communal piece of work that everyone has collaborated to make I am meerly the orchastrater. Once completed I will use some of the prayer flags from my other ongoing project to maybe line the inside of the robe.

Charles Ledray 'Men's Suits'

2010-01-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

9. 09

The installation consists of three separate but thematically related tableaux, each a sort of sculptural still-life made of arrangements of hundreds of men’s garments in tiny sizes. Each of the miniature articles of clothing was designed by the artist, individually tailored in different sizes, and sewn with his own hands, right down to details so minute they are almost invisible to the naked eye.

Being a costume maker I thought OMG I do this all day long making little toiles of the costumes your going to make, and I usually chuck it after....lol what a waste never thought of it really as art before, artistic ya. Men's Tailoring being a passion of mine, I found myself scrutinising the making of the garments and It looked like a few different people have made these, as the standard of each garment was widely varied......

I found myself more interested in the ceilings of the pieces the attention to detail of the the dust balls and dirty perspex light coverings. This peice made me realise how I take what I do for a living for granted I didn't see it before really as art.

The Author by Tim Crouch

2010-01-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Author
2009
9.09
Enter the Royal Court Upstairs and there is no stage, only two banks of seats facing each other. It's from here, within the heart of the audience, that Tim Crouch's latest remarkable piece emerges. It's about a writer called Tim Crouch, who has written a successful and shocking play about violent abuse that has been staged at the Court, the two actors who appeared in it, and a man who saw it. It's about us, what we see, and what we choose to see.

This was a strange performance having read about it prior to going I knew that there would be actors planted within the audience. So apprehensively taking our seats I made sure that i didn't sit near any balding men (Tim Crouch) lol. So as the conversation evolved through the play you find yourself firstly a bit paranoid who's sitting by you.

Once its established where the actors are you relax. The clever use of lighting and back ground sound made the audience be subdued or start chatting among themselves. Later In the part about the baby and pediphelia conversation, during the build up I found myself getting angry and disgusted and wanting to shout 'shut up' but to shy to do so. I wonder what would of happened if I did say something would they of had to deviate away from the script. We'll never know!!! Later outside a pregnant woman was very obviously very disturbed by the same bit and was crying. To evoke those emotions in someone is an acomplishment.

WCA Solo Exhibition 'Red Road'

2009-12-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

My aim in doing this solo exhibition was to raise awareness of the plight of the North American Natives as well as other indigenous peoples, addressing global issues and our fragile environment.
I intentionally made the video that went along with the artwork as a story to get my reasoning behind the other artwork in the exhibition clearer. I feel that its informative nature would educate people about the subject that is foreign to this country.

Ideas such as culture, indigenousness, nationality, race, class, and many more socially constructed representations of human beings that create differences between people, that is to say create ideas of ‘otherness’ among humanity, cause much of the conflict and suffering on the planet. These ideas divide human beings against each other and prevent us from achieving equality. We must abandon these ideas of differentiation among human beings and realise that we are all the same and need to help those in need who are the majority of people across the globe.

Heaven Night Club Solo Exhibition 'Red Road' 11.11.09

2009-12-30T07:25:00.000-08:00

This is the first time that I have done something completely solo. It was a very different experience as I usually work collaboratively, which is within my comfort zone. This made the experience a lot more stressful but I feel it was very successful and many people have expressed their interest in my artwork.

La Alpujarra

2009-12-30T05:01:00.000-08:00

La Alpujarra is a mountainous district in Southern Spain, which stretches south from the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada in the region of Andalusia. The western part of the region lies in the province of Granada and the eastern part in the province of Almeria. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almeria, Jaen, Cordoba, Malaga and the Mediterranean Sea. It’s capital is Granada. Because of a warm southerly climate combined with a reliable supply of water for irrigation from the rivers running off the Sierra Nevada, the valleys of the western Alpujarras are among the most fertile in Spain, though the steepness of the terrain means that they can only be cultivated in small fields, so that many modern agricultural techniques are impractical.

The region was the last refuge of the Moors who were allowed to remain there for nearly 150yrs after the fall of Granada in 1492. Following the Morisco Revolt of 1568, the Moorish population was forced from the region after the Moriscos used it as a military base. By order of the Spanish crown, two Morrish families were required to remain in each village in order to demonstrate to the new inhabitants, introduced from northern Spain, the workings of the terracing and irrigation systems on which the district’s agriculture depends.
This is similiar senario going on as the Peace River district another example of an area being devastated by corporate greed. The pictures below show all the greenhouses being built and the damn. What you can't see on the pictures is all the wind farms as I was to far away and they didn't show on pictures when I took them. The area that I have frequented for many years and hoped to retire to, is now rapidly losing its allure and becoming just another spanish holiday resort.

Changes

2009-12-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

My contribution to this piece was very minimal as it was the full time MA VLP collaboration piece. I just came in at the end and helped set things up

Douglas showing us how its done.....lol

Williston Reservoir/Site C Proposal

2009-07-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Part of an article about Williston Reservoir/Site C Proposal

A cabin on land adjacent to the yacht club. Just a few years ago, there was approximately 100 feet of land between the cabin and the shoreline.

Dust storms are also a problem. The 1st picture depicts a dust storm on the shores of Peace Reach.

Forty years after the construction of the Bennett Dam, heavy waves and wind are still causing erosion problems for some property owners on the Peace Reach.

Due to the rinsing and washing effect of the reservoir, land owners along Dunlevy Road have been watching their property “literally crumble into the lake” (“Erosion,” Alaska Highway News, March 2, 2009). Williston reservoir is nowhere near stabilizing under current conditions, and we might ask whether the rate of erosion is actually accelerating.

No one has suffered as much from dust storms as the Tsay Keh Dene people at the far north end of Finlay Reach. In a study conducted by Baker et al. (2000), eighty percent of the band members interviewed “indicated that the dust storms were responsible for adverse health effects (eye irritation, respiratory tract problems, and skin rashes) (p. 571).

Approaching Tsay Keh Dene Village at sunset in early June, I saw what looked like a thick bank of fog hanging above the community on an otherwise clear evening. Within the village, fine, silty particles of dust create a thick accumulation on window screens.

Granted, even without human interference, change and the need for adaptation are basic principles of nature. Few things in the natural world ever fit human notions of perfection. Yet we shouldn’t downplay the often troubling impact of massive industrial development.

Legitimate concerns about the recreational potential of a new dam go beyond erosion, landslides, and dust storms. The prospect of a Site C pondage area also raises serious questions about debris from tributaries, fog, rough water, elevated levels of methylmercury, and loss of critical animal habitat.

At the end of the day, a uniquely beautiful river valley would be permanently destroyed, and it’s impossible to “mitigate” that loss.

So the next time we hear about a nice lake that’s supposed to accompany Site C, critical reflection would be wise. Patrick McCully, author of Silenced Rivers, has observed that recreation is typically promoted as one of the “add-on benefits” of large hydro-electric projects, and that such benefits are often exaggerated in order to gain public acceptance (pp. 155-157).

The Effects of Hydro Development on Native Communities

2009-07-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Tsay Keh Dene Native community of Northern BC. A video by Garret Seymour from Fort Ware about the effects on his people of the 1960s Hydro development of the WAC Bennett Dam and Williston Reservoir.

Williston Lake is the Largest Lake in British Columbia

The Williston Reservoir is located in north central British Columbia. The reservoir extends 200km north from Mackenzie along the Parsnip and Finlay Reaches of Williston Reservoir. These join to meet the Peace Reach which extends 100km east to WAC Bennett Dam near Hudson’s Hope.

Williston Lake is the largest reservoir in BC. It has a surface area of 1,773 square kilometers. The WAC Bennett Dam is the controlling structure for the Reservoir. The dam is 186 metres high and 2,068 metres long along its crest. The W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Generating Facilities (G.M. Shrum) were constructed between 1961 and 1968.

As the Peace River plunges from the Rocky Mountain Trench to the Mackenzie River system and the Arctic Ocean, it develops enormous energy. Together, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and the G.M. Shrum Generating Station harness much of that energy. The dam and generating station form the largest hydroelectric facility in BC Hydro's system with the capacity to generate 2,730,000 kilowatts.

FACEBOOK DEBATE 'SITE C' PROJECT

2009-07-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

Photo of the WAC Bennett Dam, 2nd photo before the dam was built.

This comment which was posted on facebook a couple of weeks ago,sparked off a heated debate after I commented in favour of the North American Natives.

So...having a background in electrical power generation I have somewhat of an insight into the different types of generation facilities. I am not 100% in favor of the proposed 'Site C' project. But my real beef is this, how can the First Nations Groups (Treaty 8)stand and be so vocal and opposed but at the same time be involved in 'negotiations' with BC Hydro? The answer is simple...Greed! Mother Earth comes second

The debate went along the lines of Natives get everything for nothing it's our land too, why don't we get the same basicly. Some comments where lets say not pleasant. But in light of this debate it's made me curious about the hydro vs native issues of BC.

First Nations People were never allowed to stand and ensure that their concerns, environmental or otherwise, were ever considered.
Negotiating with BC Hydro for a monetary gain is one thing...in today’s economic world it is good business, in every sense of the word. However, this is not some small development that will go un-noticed. The past / current practise of building Earthen Hydro-Electric dams incurs environmental damage that is on a scale of epic proportions. Look at the first dam built on the Peace River, WAC Bennett, this is not something that we can simply return to a natural state. It’s gone forever, well until the next ice age at least.
The Peace River dam was originally conceived half a century ago by the British Columbia Electric Company (now BC Hydro), under the direction of Dal Grauer. B.C. Electric obtained the necessary permits and land titles to proceed with the project, completed the design and made preparations for work to begin on site in 1963. However, the assets of that private electric utility company were expropriated by the Provincial Government just as construction of the Peace River hydroelectric dam was about to commence. Several of the top executives of the old firm left the new B.C. Hydro and construction proceeded under new management.
The finished project was brought online in the late 1960's and has provided British Columbia, and in particular the Lower Mainland and the City of Vancouver, with electricity ever since. The reservoir, once filled, flooded the Finlay and Peace River valleys and became the largest man-made lake on the planet. This flooding was not without consequence, however, to the people who had been living in those valleys.
At the time, the Peace River project was one of the largest developments of its kind in the world. It provided thousands of jobs during construction and facilitated rapid industrial growth throughout British Columbia over the next forty years. The flooding of the Finlay and Peace river valleys was a tragedy for the aboriginal inhabitants of the reservoir valleys.
The Tsay Keh Dene, formerly known as the Ingenika band, comprising some 125 families, were moved from their traditional village site, where they supported themselves by hunting and trapping, to what were supposed to be model reserves a couple of hundred kilometres south near the booming mill town of Mackenzie. The entire band received a total compensation of $35,000.
The move was a disaster for the Tsay Keh Dene, many of whom spoke no English. Over the next couple of years, they drifted away. Many came back to Ingenika Point, a low bluff overlooking the water that covered their traditional home. That was where they were living 20 years later, when they were rediscovered by government officials, living in conditions that Social Credit Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephen Rogers called "the most primitive I've ever seen." A great many of them wound up living on the streets of Prince George and Vancouver, and, of those, many did not live long. The Tsay Keh Dene received additional compensation from the Province in the autumn of 2006.
In October 2008, the Kwadacha First Nation reached a settlement with the BC government and BC Hydro over damages suffered during construction and operation of the dam and Williston Reservoir. The settlement includes a $15 million lump-sum payment and annual payments of $1.6 million adjusted for inflation.
The energy industry, regardless of its source, helps create and support, essentially, every other facet of our lives. There is a need for growth in the supply of electrical energy, to feed the demands that our ever multiplying population requires. We are a tender little species and our comfort zone must be maintained. But at what cost? When you consider the sources of the materials used and the environmental impact of the industries that develop and create the required equipment to harness and utilize energy, there really isn’t such a thing as clean energy.
Hey, on another tangent here, why not support the building of a huge multi Gigawatt Nuclear plant? PEACE RIVER NUCLEAR POWER, hey it’s got a ring to it and it would cost almost as much. Ok it might not last as long as Site C, but neither will I. Or how about a Natural Gas fired generating station, these are so small in comparison to both geographical size and environmental ‘footprint’. Yet, the power output of a large generating station could match that of the Site C project (~900MW).

Canada House Gallery, Nunavut – Our Land

2009-05-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

1999 – 2009,An exhibition celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Canada's newest territory, Inuit Sculpture Contemporary Photography

The North is an essential part of Canada's identity and an area of growing importance internationally. Northerners, including the residents of Nunavut, have brought a number of emerging issues to the world's attention: the dangers and challenges posed by climate change; the need for sustainable economic development; and the importance of sharing experiences and knowledge with our circumpolar neighbors and the world. Canada's policy on the North, the Northern Strategy, responds to these challenges.
Two dates are important in Nunavut's modern history: July 9, 1993 and April 1, 1999. On July 9, 1993, the Canadian Parliament made the Nunavut Lands Claim Agreement effective. This was an important milestone in Canada's relationship with aboriginal peoples. On April 1, 1999, the government and territory of Nunavut were formally established. This fulfilled a key obligation under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and is an important landmark in Canada's constitutional history. While Nunavut Day is celebrated every year on July 9th, special attention is paid to April 1, 2009 since it marks the 10th anniversary of Canada's newest territory.

This was a fantastic exhibition really enjoyed it, But reading up about it after not all is rosie. Same old story government gives them what they want, knowing full well if they dump it on their laps and let them get on with it. They will stuggle and initially make a dogs ear of it, because they don’t have the experience and knowledge to run things properly so the Canadian government has to step in and still control. Not good.

Article about Nunavut
‘Nunavut was created before its time, he says: Inuit were uneducated and unprepared in 1999 to run a territorial government.’ Jack Anawak

Nunavut does not even fully control its annual budget: more than 90% of its billion dollar operating revenues come straight from Ottawa. The Crown still collects most of Nunavut’s resource revenues, and until the right to manage resources is devolved to the territory – likely during the next few decades – Ottawa retains the accruing royalties and taxes.
Canada’s largest land claim; before Nunavut, there was the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the largest aboriginal land-claims settlement in Canadian history. It came into force on July 9 1993, a date now celebrated throughout the territory as Nunavut Day. However, the land claims did not actually create the new territory. That was accomplished with a separate piece of legislation, the Nunavut Act, which came into force on April1, 1999.
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement sets out the terms of more than a billion dollars in federal payments, as well as land-use rights specific to Inuit (the right to harvest wildlife and limited rights to subsurface minerals and oil and gas, among others), in exchange for which the Inuit of Nunavut surrendered their aboriginal title and claims to lands and waters.
Nunavut’s Public Government; Unlike the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which confers rights on Inuit alone, the Nunavut government represents all residents of the territory, known as Nunavummiut. But because the population is 85% Inuit, the agreement sets out strict Inuit employment goals. The object is to increase the number of Inuit employed by the Nunavut government to a level that reflects the ratio of Inuit within the territory’s population. An early target for April 1 1999 was 50% Inuit employment. The government did not reach that goal until 2007. Indeed, even full employment remains a distant goal. The territory’s bureaucracy is still only 80% staffed.
Evolution of devolution; The Federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is responsible for the administration, control and management of land, water and resources in Nunavut, including oil and gas. But that will eventually change as those responsibilities – and the management of any related environmental issues – are transferred to the Government of Nunavut in a devolution process currently under way. But exactly when those province-like powers will change hands is unclear. ………… no deadline was proposed, and at least one item has been left off the table for now: offshore resources. Although Nunavut leaders have been pushing to include it, Ottawa is not yet ready to discuss transferring jurisdictional authority over seabed oil and gas in Nunavut’s surrounding waters.
What is clear from a consultant’s report released in June 2007 is that Nunavut has neither the human capacity nor the expertise to handle devolution. Article by Lisa Gregoire

Chuquai Billy ‘An American Werewolf in London’

2009-05-13T05:12:00.001-07:00

'Join the Native American comedian for an hour of sharp observations on reservation life,First Nations experience of American and European cities, and his peculiar take on current affairs. Chuquai combines comedy and music with that unique Native American way of interpreting the world.'Soho Theatre

"Had to go see this must be a first a Native comedian in London, was curious about how the English would react to him if they would even get reservasion jokes? It was the Americans in he audience that were doing the laughing. I thought he was going to be a lot more political seemed to be playing it very safe."

Picasso: Challenging the Past

2009-05-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

An old favourite Picasso, I have seen alot in the Barcelona Picasso Museum a few years ago. But there was one called 'The Musketeer' not seen it before think that this is my new favourite. Lovely very simple.

The National Gallery Costume show ‘Transformations’

2009-05-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

May8 by 3rd yr Designers A collaboration of WCA Costume Team 3rd Yr Costume Design Students with the National Gallery. Makeup by Amanda Rudkin & Megan DeGreef from London College of Fashion

Jenny Tiramani Elizabethan Ruffs

2009-05-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

Jenny is a dying breed, a rare gem in the crown of Elizabethan dress. This was a class on how to make ruffs historically. Fantastic. It's nice for the students to see the historical method compared with the theatrical method.

National Gallery Costume Show ‘The Prince and the Showgirl ’

2009-05-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

May 1, 3rd Yr Costume interpretation students showing their work at the National Portrait Gallery.May 09 A Collaboration of WCA Costume Team & 3rd Yr Costume Interpretation Students with the National Gallery.

Hair & Wigs Eileen Newton WCA,makeup by Alice Kelly,Fran Collins from LCF
http://news.ntv.ru/159334/

Sun Dogs Performance Final Cut

2009-05-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all thier hard work and dedication

Sun Dogs Performance a collaborational, multimedia, site-specific performance. The piece will reinterpret through the use of Butoh, a mashup of the Sun Dance ceremony & Legend of the Raven Catching the Sun of the North American Natives. Using the human body as a projection surface to reflect and distort light this piece will create a visual dialogue between the dancers’ bodies. The soundscape will have live Middle Eastern drumming.

Costume & Prop design & Interpretation: Eileen Newton Costume Interpreter (VL & Technician at WCA) & currently studying MA in VLP at WCA
Direction & Set design: Sarah McLaughlin is a freelance theatre-practitioner and visual artist & currently studying MA in VLP at WCA
Light and projection design: Emily Bailey (video installation artist) & currently studying MA in Sculpture at WCA
Choreography: Lorraine Smith founder of Silversmith Performance Company. She trained in Butoh.
Umut Uysal, Drummer
Roberta Vaz as the Raven
Laura Gubbins as the Eagle
Teba Gomez as the Bear
Anne Maarit as Orca (Killer Whale)
Olivia Velle as the Wolf

Prayer Flag Project

2009-05-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Come and be involved with a truly global, communal and collaborative project!
I am devising an installation that will use elements from the Sundance Ceremony of the Native North Americans.
Taking inspiration from the idea of prayer bundles, central to this ceremony, as well as Tibetan prayer flags, both of which are used by the cultures to pray for the well-being of their communities. I plan to ask people from all walks of life and every country to get involved by making their own personal prayer flag.
The idea is that it can be decorated in any way, with a message or a picture containing some pearl of wisdom or even a prayer. They can be sewn, printed, painted or whatever takes your fancy.
So spread the word lets see how far afield we can involve people with this project!
Please use a square piece of fabric, roughly measuring eight inches by eight inches. Use any scrap of fabric, maybe even from an old shirt or pair of trousers! Let’s be environmentally aware and green about it.
Once you have completed the pieces of fabric and sent them to me, I will incorporate them into a mural based on a ‘Tree of Life’.
The idea is to make this a truly global piece of work. Once you have finished it please send it to the address below:
Eileen Newton, Costume Dept, Merton Hall RD, Wimbledon College of Art (University of the Arts London), Wimbledon, London, SW19 3QA, England

Sun Dogs

2009-05-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

The Theatre Block, Wimbledon College of Art, Merton Hall Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 3QA,

Fish Girl

2009-05-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

Performance installation by Jee-Hyun Kwun

Bath Fashion Museum

2009-05-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Bath Assembly Rooms; Fashion Museum Bennett St, Bath,
‘Performance to Camera’, Moving image art installations by two leading contemporary practitioners to highlight the theme of performance to camera. Last pic is an original evening dress worn by Margot Fonteyn after a triumphant performance in 1949. Also Bill Gibb, British fashion designer from the 70s, and ‘Dresses from History’,Queen Victoria’s day dress, How short was she? The museum has had a big switch around and there wasn’t much period costume on display hence the new name 'Fashion Museum' instead of the old 'Costume Museum', shame.

P#001

2009-05-03T15:44:00.001-07:00

Solo Performance Devised & Written by Daphne Ioanna Giannoulatou, WCA Lecture Theatre, 19:15

Don’t Feel Free

2009-05-03T15:36:00.001-07:00

WCA Lectre Theatre, Merton Hall Rd, Wimbledon, SW19 3PR, Solo Performance Written & Devised by Martina Sacchetti, MA VLP, 6pm I really liked this performance very minimal set, simple, well rehearsed & executed interaction of the projections and the live body . Martinas’ voice sounded much older and had a dream like quality to it, very calming also really liked the music she was talking over. Fantastic

Forced Entertainment: Void Story

2009-05-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Spill Festival of Performance
Text, Images & Direction Tim Etchells, Performers, Robin Arthur, Richard Lowdon, Cathy Naden, and Terry O’Connor, Design Richard Lowdon, Sound & Music John Avery, Lighting Nigel Edwards, Production Ray Rennie and Elb Hall
A belingering pair of protagonists take a rollercoaster ride through the decimated remains of contempory culture in this bleak and comical modern fable. Void Story is performed on stage as a radio play with the actors doing the voices and making sound affects. Behind them a series of projected images show the storyboard of an impossible movie version of ‘Tim Etchells’ unsettling text.
Quite liked this, reminded me of when I was younger at home telling stories to my younger siblings. Doing all the sound effects. It’s like sitting behind the scenes of a radio show only there is also a screen with a collage of imagery.

Sun Dogs Rehearsal

2009-04-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Forced Entertainment

2009-04-25T14:41:00.001-07:00

Forced Entertainment: Void Story
Spill Festival of Performance
Text, Images & Direction Tim Etchells, Performers, Robin Arthur, Richard Lowdon, Cathy Naden, and Terry O’Connor, Design Richard Lowdon, Sound & Music John Avery, Lighting Nigel Edwards, Production Ray Rennie and Elb Hall
A belingering pair of protagonists take a rollercoaster ride through the decimated remains of contempory culture in this bleak and comical modern fable. Void Story is performed on stage as a radio play with the actors doing the voices and making sound affects. Behind them a series of projected images show the storyboard of an impossible movie version of ‘Tim Etchells’ unsettling text.
Quite liked this, reminded me of when I was younger at home telling stories to my younger siblings. Doing all the sound effects. It’s like sitting behind the scenes of a radio show only there is also a screen with a collage of imagery.

Hazer & Projections for Sun Dogs

2009-04-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

This was testing out the projections on the smoke from the hazer to see if it would work. It does to an extent you have to get in the right position but when you walk around them it looks a bit like the northern lights and sometimes just beams of lights. Sorry about the video being side ways, but the extent of my knowledge doesn't doesn't stretch to flipping it up the right way yet.

Legend of Raven Stealing The Sun

2009-04-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our performance of Sun Dogs is loosely based on the Native American legend of The Raven Stealing The Sun.

Raven (Native American mythology), culture hero and trickster, prominent in the Native American and Inuit mythology of Alaska and the American and Canadian northwest coast. Raven was born by magical means, the offspring of a woman who swallowed a feather, or in other accounts, a stone.

The Raven is the transformer, trickster and creator. Known in legends as the one who released the sun, moon, and stars; discovered man in a clamshell; brought the salmon and the water; and taught man how to fish and hunt.

Raven in Native culture is known as the sky messenger of the animal kingdom. The Raven is famous for being a somewhat mischievous glutton. He was always out to please himself and have a good time, but his adventures always ended up bettering mankind.

The story of "Raven Stealing the Sun" is legendary. An old man lived in a house on the bank of a river with his only child - a daughter. At this time, it was pitch black everywhere and no one could see anything. So whether she was beautiful or not, there wasn't a way anyone could tell. Thus begins the tale of the Raven and the Sun. It's said that the old man kept the Sun locked in a box inside a box, which had yet another box containing an infinite number of boxes until finally there was one so small that all it could contain was all the light in the universe.

The Raven was not satisfied with the state of darkness since it led to his blundering and bumping into everything. This slowed him down in his pursuit of the good things in life, which was what he loved more than getting into mischief. One day he crashed into the old man's house and he heard the man and his daughter talking about the light. He decided he wanted the light for himself so he waited for the daughter to leave the house. He transformed himself into a pine needle to slip into a bucket of water the daughter had brought from the river. When the daughter drank the water and swallowed the pine needle, the Raven transformed himself into a tiny human being inside her. When he emerged, he was a very odd looking child, but it was too dark to notice his long nose and the few feathers still clinging to him.

As the Raven/Child gained the affection of the old man, he devised a plan to get the Sun. He asked for the largest box in the house and upon being refused, he cried and screamed so loudly that the Grandfather gave him the box. After all it was only one and there were so many more. It took many days, but after a few well-executed tantrums the Raven/Child removed all the boxes. When only a few were left, a strange radiance began to suffuse the room. The Raven/Child begged to hold the light for only a few moments, and even though the Grandfather had come to love the Raven/Child with only a glimpse of him, he gave him the light. As the light was passed to him, the Raven/Child transformed into a huge Raven. He snapped up the light and flew up the smoke hole of the house into the darkness of the world.

The Raven now rejoiced with his new possession and was having such a good time that he did not see the Eagle come upon him. In a panic, he swerved and dropped almost half the light he was carrying. It fell to the rocky ground and broke into pieces. They bounced back into the sky and remain there to this day as the Moon and the Stars.

Meanwhile, the Raven was pursued to the edge of the world and, exhausted, he finally let go of his last piece of light. It fell to the East and that is how the Raven gave us the Sun

Feliks Topolski 'Topolski Century'

2009-04-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Topolski Century, 150-152 Hungerford Arches, Concert Hall Approach, London SE1 8XU
Topolski Century is Feliks Topolski’s eyewitness record of the twentieth century. It contains the iconic historic figures and the significant political and social events he chronicled in a life spanning nine decades.
WOW, I loved this exhibition, the loosely, energetic way that he paints and the use of the height and ceiling to display the paintings. I especially liked the ‘Newgate Prison Door’ that he obtained after the Prison was demolished and someone had salvaged it in the early part of the 20th century. He’s incorporated into one of the pieces, steeped in so much history. You could just imagine all the loved ones coming to see their imprisoned spouses, waiting outside and the corruption of the guards within, looking out. The 2nd picture reminds me of Egon Schiele.

Mark Wallinger Curates:The Russian Linesman Frontiers, Borders and Thresholds

2009-04-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Hayward, Southbank centre:Mark Wallinger Curates:The Russian Linesman Frontiers, Borders and Thresholds
2007 Turner prize-winner Mark Wallinger, one of Britain's most original and unpredictable artists, curates this unique exhibition exploring notions of the liminal: thresholds between physical, political or metaphysical realms.
Artists include Vija Celmins, Thomas Demand, Albrecht Durer, Bruce Nauman, Giuseppe Penone and Fred Sandback.
What can I say looks like Dr Who has landed literally.I liked the short film about the Ballet Dancer who was about to retire at the age of 42, She had never made it as the principle dancer and had always wanted to dance as Giselle so in the film she realises her dream, it was quite sad. I also liked the film of old movies and the comparison to the same areas today.

Annette Messager 'The Messengers'

2009-04-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

The Hayward, Southbank centre: Annette Messager The Messengers
Surveys four decades of work by one of Europe’s most compelling artists. In her work Annette Messager questions the tacit rules of art and life’ challenging the roles assigned to women’ subverting identity’ using unorthodox materials the stuff we find around us in our homes’taking as her sources popular and folk art, the rituals of daily living, mythology and fairytales. As she says,’I seek to possess and appropriate for myself life and its events.’
The majority of the this exhibition gave me the feeling of someone clearing out their clutter and displaying it. Someone who has kept every single piece of work that they have done irrelevant of whether it was good or not. Made me think of all the stuff that I have binned that I should of kept or documented thinking it was crap. I liked this piece Red silk with the wind machine puffing it up then letting it collapse, it was constantly changing reminded me of a city scape.

2009-04-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Dream Play Response

2009-04-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

The last group performance of the VLP's was a performance based on Strindberg’s ‘Dream Play’ not having read it before I found this performance very confusing.
This was a piece of conventional theatre, simple set, seating for the audience that felt kind of too far away a definite dividing line, no interaction between the two. It felt safe and relaxing, maybe a bit too safe. Visually it was pleasing, well constructed set, the lighting was a bit dark focused on the red door. I kept expecting one of them to open the door but it never happened. Maybe it needed a secondary light on the actors they seemed to be in the gloom.
I thought the projections could have been larger or more on eye level couldn’t quite make them out adding to my confusion. I meant to go and watch the second showing so that I could better analyze it but got caught up in work so unfortunately missed it. I assume this is one scene of the play. I don’t think that it stood up by itself as an individual unit too the inept.
This has made me revaluate when devising a performance getting too close and caught up in it, it seems clear what you’re trying to get across, and you unintentionally assume the audience knows more. It’s hard to step back and revaluate with fresh eyes.

Sun Dogs Stars

2009-04-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Sun Dog Filming

2009-04-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sun Dogs Filming

2009-04-12T07:02:00.001-07:00

Last Wed we started filming for the projections in the TV room at Wimbledon College of Art.

WCA Theatre Block Rehearsal

2009-04-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

This is the rehearsals at Wimbledon College of Art The Theatre Block. Up until now we have been rehearsing in smaller spaces,getting into the actual theatre is alot different. You get a better perspective of the scale. We have been talking about allowing the audience to mingle inside the space during the performance. I'm not entirely sure about this I think it will interfere with the hazer, amp & projections and also distract from the performance. My instinct is for the audience to be above on the mesimine, if we do have the audience mingling then we will have to limit the amount therefore only a few can view the production each time. Alot of work for only a few. Maybe both some upstairs and the limited amount inside,we will have to wait and see to try it out when we eventually get the elusive hazer.

Phase Lapse Response

2009-04-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we attended the second show of our MA group projects called Time Lapse a devised piece inspired by the traditional Korean poem called ‘Gong Mu Do Ha Ga’

Very minimal set, clean and simple. Complete opposite end of the scale from ours the previous week. The white cloth was used to represent the river flowing. Candles lined up like a walkway representing an unavoidable path being followed and being slowly blown out representing each element holding this person to this life slowly disappearing.

The costume was well made and spoke volumes about the piece. The use of black and white portraying life and death, later I thought just death. Black for mourning the loss of something or someone. Then when she takes off the outer layer of black organza the white dress underneath is revealed, also a symbol of death in certain countries. So the costume was all about melancholy, death and suicide. She takes her own life at the end.

I didn’t like the choice of fabric the black crystal organza reflects light so looks too shiny and made it look like cheap nylon. A big no in theatre. When she moved from the spot glow it looked better, silk organza would have looked much nicer, but I appreciate that the cost was a factor.

I thought that the acting was very professional and controlled. She used her body to portray the ebb of water to and fro lapping on the shore. Very controlled performance.

The projections I couldn’t make out any images not sure if they were images or just for the colour to add atmosphere.

The sound I can’t really comment on, as this was lost on me as I couldn’t make out most of it being deaf, it sounded like a jumble of muffled voices talking. Maybe that was the intention. But I liked the use of both Martina speaking, and the overhead soundscape, nice mixture. Only bit I wasn’t sure about was the last bit of music seemed too instrumental and didn’t quite fit.
The performance was a very clear and confident piece, great work girls.

'Altermodern' Tate Triennial

2009-03-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

'Altermodern art often functions as a hypertext, translating and transcoding information from one format to another. Artists wander in geography as well as in history, exploring a transcultural landscape saturated with signs to create new pathways between multiple formats of expression and communication.' Nicolas Bourriaud.

Marcus Coates was who I initially went to see through his interests in ornithology, zoology and anthropology he asks what it is to be human by experimenting with ‘being’ an animal. He has adopted a shamanic role to access a nether world populated by birds & animals. He communicates with their spirits to get an insight into public problems. He is quite funny but is humour at the expense of native cultures. The interaction between him and the nether world and the translator interpreting what he was saying to the mayor of Israeli about the youth of today was humorous couldn't help thinking that Adidas must be some kind of sponsor for him as he always has that tracky on. But at the end of it the advise was insightful.mmm

I particularly liked this one by Subodh Gupta 'Line of Control' 2008 symbolises the release of the uneasy pressure-point, that liberates mundane, tension-ridden reality through a bursting mushroom cloud of kitchen utensils. In a world constantly being lost or destroyed, only to emerge anew, reconfigured and reconstructed from its own debris. Before I read all that my first thoughts were the amount of pots and pans that I must of cleaned in my lifetime is unbelievable. There would be alot more famous women in this world if it wasn't for bloody house work.

Spartiacus Chetwynd, 'Hermitos Childen' I was knackered after rehearsals so grateful to veg out on the bean bags provided, ignoring the big hairy fairy being pushed at me on the TVs screens I was more interested in the people watching it and how everyone looked so comfy in a museum environment like they were in there own living rooms. I think the piece to me was more about the atmosphere that it was creating within its environment.

Loris Greaud, 'Trimors Where forever (Frequency of an image, white edit)'2008He has recorded his own brain activity for thirty minutes during a time of intense thought about the 'Cellar Door' global project. His cerebral wanderings are translated into a physical tangible experience. Very clean white futuristic like it was floating in the air an extra terrestial alien. Fantastic.

This one reminded me of the Dark Chrystal the monsters that were in it.

Gustav Metzger, 'Liquid Crystals Environment' was one of my favorites didn't manage to get a picture, five projectors with slides made up of two thin sheets of glass containing a small amount of liquid crystals. Which when heated and cooled caused a sphysicdelic kaleidoscope. You sat in a room again with bean bags and listened reminded me of the sixties without the hippies and ganga. Very relaxing

Rehersals for Sun Dogs

2009-03-28T17:01:00.001-07:00

Rehersals last week & today.

First Sun Dogs Rehersal

2009-03-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Sun Dogs Performance

2009-03-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sun Dogs is a collaborational, multimedia, site-specific performance. The piece will reinterpret through the use of Butoh, a mashup of the Sun Dance ceremony & Legend of the Raven Catching the Sun of the North American Natives. Using the human body as a projection surface to reflect and distort light this piece will create a visual dialogue between the dancers’ bodies. The soundscape will have live Middle Eastern drumming.

Direction & Set design: Sarah McLaughlin is a freelance theatre-practitioner and visual artist & currently studying MA in VLP at WCA

Light and projection design: Emily Bailey (video installation artist) & currently studying MA in Sculpture at WCA

Costume & Prop design & Interpretation: Eileen Newton Costume Interpreter (VL&Technician at WCA) & currently studying MA in VLP at WCA

Choreography: Lorraine Smith founder of Silversmith Performance Company. She trained in Butoh

Time Frame for installation & strike: Couple of days

Equipment needed for performance: 6 Stage Lights (par cans and source four pars are preferable), 2 projectors, Hazer, 2 speakers, amp, mixing desk, CD player, ladders for installation, safety cables to secure the equipment.

The performance will be held on 30th April & May 1st at the Theatre in Wimbledon College of Art. We held auditions for our performance in a studio in the centre of the city, we posted the details of the audition on ArtsJobs.com and received a very positive response. Found some very talented professional dancers.

Laura Gubbins-Eagle
Roberta Vaz-Raven
Teba Gowez-Bear
Anne Maarit-Orca (Killer Whale)
Umut Uysal-Drummer
Olivia-Wolf

Ambient Noise Rehersals

2009-03-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Poster for play and some images from rehersals today. Everything is up and ready just rehersing now.

These are the model boxes that I made which go into the walls. We all made a couple each.

'FADING CULTURES'

2009-03-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is an idea that I had for a performance about the ritual of dressing the Kimono. I was initially going to do this for the interim show. The idea is to have a girl portrayed as an asian women but she is anther nationality. She is dressing an English girl in the Kimono using a video to direct them. They both get it wrong. This peice is about fading cultures how the Geisha have become a side attraction for the tourists.

COMPUTERS

2009-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Been thinking about all this computer technology that I’m rapidly becoming acquainted with. I’ve been in my own little world doing my thing fortunately or unfortunately I’m in the position that everything is on my doorstep or finds its way to me so as a consequence don’t have to venture far very often. It’s like you’re in your own box occasionally coming out to drag something new in then retreating again. The computer, this window into a vast network of knowledge at your fingertips opening up cultural borders around the world instantly. Not much labour involved accept trying to stay awake, think I’m becoming addicted. Isn’t this fantastic tool just allowing us to retreat into our boxes again, it allows us to research, socialise, network and even indulge in abit of voyeurism (didn’t that used to be illegal) but none of this is physically.

This has given me an idea for a performance I think I will call it ‘Progression & Regression’. All that is needed is a big box, laptop, sound and a body simple barebones. And some projections on two walls, corner of a room. The observatory would be good.

It’s about boundaries before you had to go out and gather info from external resources physically. Time and labour intensive. The computer has no boundaries it is global it can cross boarders and cultures in the bat of an eyelid. This is a major problem with native cultures their knowledge before was in these places and only people that were really interested would go hunt for it. Now with all this digitisation even if you weren’t looking for it you come across it. So it is rife for bastardisation.

‘Ambiant Noise’ Collaboration Project

2009-03-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Three of my fellow students and myself are incorporating all our research into this collaborative project. We are calling it ‘Ambiant Noise’. Our specialist areas are Sarah (political),Bo (sound), Vaso (fantasy)and myself Cultural fusion (boundaries).

We are proposing a 20 minute performance based on Jean Genet’s ‘The Balcony’. It has been chosen for its themes about reality and escapism. We are exploring the tension that exists between political responsibility and desire for escapism. The characters of Genet’s original play chose to ignore the sounds of war and destruction that could be heard from outside the brothel where they are indulging in their fantasies. Our production will confront the audience with a similar choice. Genet’s script created doubt between truth and fiction; we aim to distort the boundaries’ of reality and fantasy.

From outside of the space they will hear the sound of modern warfare, inside the space they will be greeted by a performer who indulges in his own false reality. We hope to question the validity of our knowledge of international conflict, which is based entirely on the information we are fed through the media.

This production is about war and fantasy and the boundaries between these concepts, my main character will initially look like he is preparing for battle or is he indulging in his fantasy of being a combat soldier. He is wearing a mask which is a shield between these two worlds’ protection and anonymousicty. He will be wearing a house coat initially which hints that this is a staged situation. The second character is a brothel worker dressed in a military uniform of a higher rank. She is only wearing the coat with black lacey bra and knee high black leather boots, stockings. The higher rank uniform is hinting at dominance, submission, the boots and stockings this regalia all hints that this is a fantasy. She is wearing a mirrored mask so that the audience when they look directly at her will see thier own reflections. This draws the audience into this fantasy. The first mask is my version of a cross between an early Inuit mask with North American Native elements added.(directly linked to my research) I’ve used contempory materials for the base and have transposed photocopies of the original Inuit mask onto the surface. The second mirrored mask I think is too modern for this peice. But when the lights are low,in the dark it looks ok. Verdict is still out.

Here are some pics of first mask on the left is the picture of Inuit mask that I've based it on. Second is work in progress.

Time frame for installation & strike; The performance will take place in the TV studio at WCA on the 25th of March 11am & 5pm

Budget; Collective budget of £100.

Job Allocation; Sarah Mclaughlin Direction & projection, Bo Kim Young Sound, Vasliliki Papadopoulou Set & Lighting Design, Eileen Newton; Costume Design & Interpretation

Technical Rider; Equipment for performance 6 stage lights (par cans and source four pars) 2 projectors, hazer, 2speakers, amp, mixing desk, CD Player, ladders for installation and safety cables to secure equipment.

Equipment for Documentation; 3 Camcorders, 3 Tripods, 1still camera. Basic Set Elements; TV, Calico, Rosco paints, plastic, manicans.

Ambient Noise Script

The audience enters the corridor of the TV studios. It is very dark. They are greeted with music (perhaps track 1 from AMINA). They remain in the dark corridor for about a minute until a voice is heard....

VOICE1: Someone opened the door.... who can it be at this time of night? Who is it?
A match flares up in the balcony of the corridor. It is held by a masked figure. The mask is made of broken pieces of mirror that reflect and multiply the light around the space. The voice continues....

VOICE1: Oh... you.... you’re late. Where the hell where you?
What’s happening outside? Do you have any news? What about the war? Where is the war?
I wouldn’t take the liberty of asking your opinions. Everyone is free and I’m not concerned with politics
(laughs) What you call outside is as mysterious to us as we are to it.
Viewed from here.... life seems to be so remote, so profound. That it has all the unreality of a film
We have reached the point at which we can no longer be actuated by human feelings. Our function will be to support, establish and justify metaphors.
Real life... You mustn’t think about it anymore. And you must stop listening to the sounds from outside

The door to the TY Studios suddenly flings open and from inside an eerie light glows. The masked figure on the balcony extinguishes the match and points through the door to indicate to the audience that they must enter. The voice continues

VOICE1: Turn left and be careful they don’t spot you. When you get to the windows hug the wall on all fours. They are shooting from the roofs

Inside the TV Studios there is a warm hazy womb-like room build of paper lit in a soft blue/green light. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. it is not lit. It is dripping with candle wax and toy soldiers. There is a mirror in the room which reflects a second masked character who has his back to the audience. His mask has no features. It is blank and expressionless. He is looking at a television that is hooked up to a playstation with a war game on pause. He is holding the joystick limply in both hands. The music that was playing in the corridor continues while the audience entre the space and position themselves around the room. Suddenly as if awaking from a dream the masked figure acknowledges the audience. A second voice is heard

VOICE2: You’re late! Where the hell where you?
Are all the doors firmly shut? Can anyone see us or hear us?

The masked character moves through the audience and hastens the shut the door. Pausing and looking left and right into the corridor before carefully shutting it. As the masked figures returns his attention to the room the voice continues

VOICE2: I’ve been told that this house is going to be besieged. The rebels have already crossed the river. This afternoon, just before you arrived the rebels took three key positions. They set fire to several places. Not a single fireman came out. Everything went up in flames the palace was blown up last night. It’s dangerous for anyone to loiter in the streets. You had a pretty close shave.

(he laughs and looks at himself in the mirror, taking a stance like a movie character, he pretends to machine gun the entire cafe) Bangbangbangbang!

I went out to plant a bomb. When I got half-way up the street, some son of a bitch started firing away but he missed me. I saw the machine-gun almost in front of me. He was reloading. I just stood and stared at him, cool as a cucumber. He looked as if he were posing, with the light beaming on him. He took aim. And then, he toppled over. One of our boys had picked him off. I continued on my way, calm as can be. I plant my bomb and here I am. I wasn’t scared for a second. Didn’t bat an eyelash.

A noise is heard

VOICE2: What’s that?

All the lights go out. The audience is plunged into darkness. A third voice is heard as if through a walkie talkie.

VOICE3: The city is full of Corpses. All the roads are cut. There is simply no end to it. Not a moments rest. The rebellion has spread all over the north of the city.

When the lights come back up once again the second masked character is standing motionless in the middle of the room. He is waiting, impatient, nervous. The man removes his torn gloves trembling. The takes from his pocket a pocket a handkerchief and mops his face. He then wipes his hands with his handkerchief. He inspects himself in the mirror. However on this occasion the mirror has been removed from the wall. Instead of his own reflection there is the first masked character. The two mimic each other’s movements. They are disturbed by the sound of a woman’s scream

VOICE1: But I told them to be quiet. Good Thing I remembered to cover the windows with padded curtains.

VOICE2: That wasn’t a make believe scream.

VOICE1: How do we know? And what does it matter?

The masked character behind the mirror climbs into the space to join the other. The scream is heard again

VOICE2: What’s that?

VOICE1: Nothing. There is always some carelessness on both sides

VOICE2: But that cry? A woman’s cry? A call for help perhaps? Its disturbing. You hear?

VOICE1: I told you, you mustn’t think about it anymore. And you must stop listening to the sounds from outside

(A noise is heard, as if something has fallen in the next room, in a natural tone)

VOICE1: Oh what is that? What is it? Can’t they leave me in peace. What’s going on?

VOICE2: Nothing at all. Someone must have dropped something. You’re getting nervous

VOICE1: May I have a look outside

VOICE2: Just a quick one because it’s getting late

Both characters move to a part of the wall where the tear away pieces of the wall so that they can peer out. From behind the wall a very bright light shines. Penetrating the darkness of the room

VOICE1: Its lit up brightly. Lit but empty. Empty.

Both masked character turn to the audience

VOICE1&2: Come over here. Have a look outside. We’ve got secret peep- holes in every wall. Every partition, every mirror is rigged. In one place, you can hear the sighs, in another the echo of the moans

Taking each member of the audience by the shoulders, the masked characters direct them to little peep-holes in the walls. Through these they can see little scenarios involving toy soldiers. While the audience look through the peep holes the two masked characters join hands. And stand in the middle of the room watching them. After some time a pink light comes up behind the wall. The room is a glow a hushed voice begins to whisper urgently.

VOICE1: Its evening in an apple orchard the sky is calm and pink the earth is bathed in a sudden peace. The moan of doves. The peace that precedes battles. The air is very still. An apple has fallen to the grass.

Suddenly an apple falls from the lightening rig. The second masked character picks it up.

VOICE1: A yellow apple. Things are holding their breath. War is declared. The evening is very mild. We’re at the edge of the meadows. But suddenly death has pricked my ears. Things are lit up in an ultimate goodness. The water lay motionless in pools. The wind itself was awaiting an order to unfurl the flags. Suddenly all was fire and sword! Splinters of shells had gashed the lemons. Now death was in action

VOICE2: Shut up! You liar. Shut up!

VOICE1: I wanted to disenchant . You’ve got to realize that. [pointing to the audience] They need me. I’m like a pool in which they behold themselves.

VOICE2: And if they lean over too far they fall in and drown. [sneering] Before long you’ll be full of drowned bodies

VOICE1: You miss the entire point. When it’s over, their minds are clear. I can tell from their eyes. Suddenly they understand mathematics. They love their children and their country. It brings consolation

VOICE2: Hell no! None of that. That sort of thing would shoot them into a heaven of abstractions, where they’d hang permanently. If you make them untouchable, how can you approach them, how can you love them? You’ve got to leave them in their living reality. Let there be poems and pictures, but they mustn’t give pleasure, they’ve got to sting.
VOICE1: Reality frightens you, doesn’t it? Would it perturb you to see things as they are? To gaze at the world tranquilly and accept responsibility for your gaze, whatever it might see?

(Sound of gun fire in the distance)

VOICE2: Who is it? Our side? Or rebels? Or... someone dreaming?

VOICE1: Stop listening. You seem anxious. Has anything happened?
Gentlemen you are free
Your times up
I don’t know what you’re doing and I haven’t the right to enquire
Youll leave by the narrow door that leads to the alley way
Come along
Get out
Get along. clear out of here
You’ve nothing further to do
But you’ve got to leave

0PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP=======PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP;..;L;;//////////

RESEARCH PROPOSAL Draft

2009-03-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

‘CULTURAL FUSION’

INTRODUCTION

I have been interested in the North American natives for a long time, studying their motifs for my A level. Also for my BA getting involved with the politics of the natives through the use of the Sundance ceremony to obstruct and manipulate the BP gas company to gain some control of the destruction of their reservation for the sake of oil.

The mission of the Canadian government was to assimilate the natives into the mainstream society. They are guilty of a mass cultural genocide and as a result this ancient culture has endured a massive hiccup by being denied in the past the right to practice their own ways, the evolution of cultures has been rapid and the greed of governments destructive.

The museums on the other hand have tried to preserve the native culture but have only succeeded in stripping native artefacts of their aesthetic and social context. They are relics of a culture reminding us of what has been lost and destroyed. In museums we never see them in the settings of the socio-religious events that they were intended for.

The combination of missionary activity, racism and greed has ensured the near total destruction of these native environments and ways of life. What are the implications of the domination of one culture by another the exploitation and destruction of the natural resources of an environment and the undermining of an indigenous culture. .

This has happened to numerous cultures world wide and consequently their traditions are being diluted and diffused slowly into western mainstream society. The overwhelming influences from western society have caused them to slowly evolve and morph into something new and original but with elements reminiscent of the past. It is inevitable that these cultures will eventually disappear altogether, all we can do as human beings is document as much as possible about these cultures to pass on to future generations.

METHODOLOGY

As I grew up along side these displaced Canadian Native people, my own unique point of view has led my research to look at the fusions of cultures. I was feeling uncomfortable with using native influences, being white. Who owns native culture is the dilemma, a matter of conscience, I don’t have the rights. Is it playing at being native? Or are we facing up to important issues? But to ignore them seems to deny the achievements of these people. Is my interest and own brand of fusion valid? And is the inevitable going to happen? Are we all just going to blend into one big pot of soup?

I have been researching artist who are dealing with these issues, Marcus Coates and Guillermo Gomez-Pena. Marcus Coates, at the moment questionable, need to research more. Is it because he is white, whereas Guillermo Gomez-Pena seems more legit why, he is a Hispanic Mexican? Is it a question of where you come from and who you are, does this legitimise it?

A new modernity is emerging reconfigured to an age of globalisation. Communication, travel and migration are affecting the way that we live and explore our world. The Altermodern Manifesto suggests that ‘today’s artists are responding to a new globalised perception moving away from art generated by personal cultural identity.’(N. Bourriaud) Can artists’ practices be rooted in individual origins while they engage with multiple cultural influences? Through the medium of performance art I intend to create my own unique fusion of ‘cultural performance’.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

J. Diamond. ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel the Fates of Human Societies’ 1999

M.F.Brown ‘Who Owns Native Culture?’ 2003

BBC 2 Documentary Series ‘Around world in 80 Faiths’ by an Anglican Priest Peter Owen Jones.

Nicolas Bourriaud Altermodern – Tate Triennial 2009

G. Gomez-Pena ‘ethno-techno writings on performance, activism, and pedagogy’ 2005

C. F. Feest ‘The Culture of Native North Americans’

N. Smart ‘The world’s Religions’ 1992

J. Mark ‘Mask’s The Art of expressions’ ‘1994’

B. Geoffrey-Schneitier ‘Primal Arts Native Indians, Eskimos, Aborigines.’ ‘2006

Interim Show 'Intersections'

2009-03-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Intersections is a exhibition of Wimbledon College of Art MA students work from Feb 27th-March 8th. This is an exhibition of new experimental work by more than 70 postgraduate students from MA fine Art and Visual Language for Performance students.

Sarah and I were the only VLP showing in the Interim show so I kinda felt like an impostor never having work shown in a art gallery before I found myself avoiding my piece not wanting to be associated with it, but then felt abit guilty like abandoning a child. Some of the comments so far are quite amusing and very positive which surprised me. I was expecting to be slated.

This experience has made me re-evaluate what I am doing. Am I a performance artist? I do feel more in my element when I'm making a piece of work. The process is what I enjoy. And when asked to be analytical about what I've done I've noticed I go on about the process more. Have I just been conditioned into thinking that I should be doing theatre because that's the area (costume)where I work?

Doing this show has really given me a buzz. I guess I am an experiment of my own research I'm sitting on the border of two mediums (instead of cultures) which way do I go???? Fuse them together. I think I will learn alot more if there is a fusion rather then going left or right.

My picture and Sarah's piece. I like the way Sarah's curls stand out in the photo wish I had a better camera.

Cultural Fusions

2009-03-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

I’ve been looking at fusions of cultures from the Native American point of view. I was feeling uncomfortable with using these native influences being white. Who owns native culture is the dilemma, a matter of conscience, I don’t have the right. Growing up in Canada during the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. Aware of the native situation witnessing and understanding their flight as a bystander. But never truly understanding till later when I started to investigate and educated myself. We can’t truly understand unless you experience it for yourself as the North American native understands. But I grew up there and witnessed to some extent so am now coming around to thinking that my interest and brand of fusion is valid and unique so am now feeling better about using these influences.

Sir Ken Robinson

2009-03-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

'If your not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original.' Take a look at this lecture. Brilliant

https://owa.arts.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=8034ffb2fe3d4aa8976e27d0d098a48e&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ted.com%2findex.php%2ftalks%2f

ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Marcus Coates

2009-03-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

First impression of Marcus Coates on YouTube mmmmm don’t know about that. In an interview he said that he learnt to be a shaman in a workshop. This is what I am anxious of portraying by using native influences I don’t want people to get the impression that they’re being mocked. He seems to be taking the piss not showing respect.

Fame by shocking, making people laugh, local nutter fame mentality at the expense of the traditions of native peoples. Is that what he is doing???????? He puts me in mind of an old fella they call Gandalf who roams around Sutton usually on a Saturday he dresses like a wizard, cape, staff and a black cat on a lead. Been doing it for years.

But on the other hand, he is getting at some primitive psyche that people, like it or not have deep down, that superstitious bit that everyone has ingrained in them to some extent, but doesn’t like to admit. I don’t want my work to replicate just amalgamate and evolve naturally with my own take on influences.

Geraint's Presentation of his work

2009-02-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

Been thinking about Geraints presentation of his life’s work. He was a resident artist for a year in Banff, Canada a place I know well as I grew up not far from this area. Banff seems to of left a big impression on him as it is featured throughout his work.
Myself I couldn’t wait to get out of there as it was so isolated but as soon as I left I became obsessed with the area and its native people in the same way. It does have that haunting affect on a person. To quote a good friend from the same area ‘You know what they say about this place its like moss you can scrape it off, but it always grows back.’

Waffling

2009-02-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

I understand the need to analyse everything but not to the extent of waffling for the sake of waffle about some obscure line of enquiry. Some are really interesting but most, I’m thinking lifes too short man. I don’t feel the need to dig that deep all the way to China to see why I’ve done what I’ve done. I just do it. I just feel instinctively to do something. I know that you will all now be screaming ‘BLASPHEMY’ and I know at the moment this is my handicap not being verbal enough just saying the bare necessity that I need to, to get a point across. I’m working on it……………………

Patterns

2009-02-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

When I sit in a lecture trying to listen (50% hearing) I miss a lot reading lips and listening, when I write notes I look away so miss what’s being said. I sometimes lose the thread of the lecture. I’ve spent most of my life concentrating trying to listen so as a consequence not being verbal. So during lectures lately when I lose the thread I look at the text or what I’ve written and I see patterns. When I look at text I don’t see the words they glow and vibrates then patterns emerge so as I drift during some of these riveting lectures, I’ve been looking and getting into these patterns. Thought they would make a nice picture. Ya ok I know I’m going off the beaten track, nothing to do with my research, just feel like doing it. But this is how I work my mind wonders and random stimuli gives me ideas. And I usually put them aside so not going to anymore. Here they are, I really enjoyed doing these am putting them into the Interim show and calling them 'Remnants'.

Private Kimono Collection of Meriel Spalding

2009-02-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

I was invite to view Meriel's collection of over 300 kimono. They range from early 19th century to the 1950s. What a privalege and she was such a lovely generous woman so knowledgable.

There is so much language in the dressing of Kimono. Lengths of sleeves, colours worn, decoration ect all tell the onlooker how old, if your married, single, what statous you are what time of year it is the list goes on.

obi

The inside of a man's kimono at a time when decoration was frowned upon so they decorated the the insides. This was hand painted.

Geisha Wig this was my favourite fantastic

This is a false obi for theatre

Family crests from a bridal kimono

below bridal kimono's

'THE MAN WITH A CAMERA'

2009-01-27T03:44:00.000-08:00

Watched this film about the camera man in the early part of the 20th century. All about technique ect. The last projects ‘The Overlook’ and our own mashup have been a big realisation for me. The work that I do making costume and being a hairstylist is so labour intensive & time consuming. So doing all this new stuff with the computer & camera once I’ve got my head around the technology (getting there slowly) it’s so quick and easier to get a professional result. So not so time consuming and as I have so little time it seems to be an answer to my dilemma. In the film they were saying that the first projector camera was originally made with parts of the sewing machine. I find it profound that I’m going from costume making with the sewing machine and progressing into film & photography.

READING CLASS 'BEING AN ARTIST'

2009-01-27T02:00:00.000-08:00

In our reading class this morning we were asked why we were here and wanting to be artists. This really stumped me as no one has ever asked me that before. I’ve never really thought of myself as an artist although my family & friends call me an artist. I’ve always been artistic from a young age, and indulged in it for pleasure & relaxation I never realised that you could make a proper living from it that seemed unattainable only for the exceptually talented & privileged.

So I’ve gone from job to job and the art has become a kind of by product of my work that I’ve chosen to do. I’ve ended up where I’ve never thought I could be, making a reasonable living from selling my talent. That’s everyone’s goal isn’t it. Except although I’m more or less there it doesn’t feel like Nirvana. I have more work then I can handle making things for other people realising their designs for them. And even when I make my own designs its for a commission so I still don’t own it. I have loads of ideas but no time to do them so they get shelved. Everyone seems to want my time so as a result I have none left for myself. Although I love what I do I no longer make art for pleasure or relaxation. I need to keep making & teaching it to finance my life but that part has completely taken over.

I guess I’m here to learn how to relax learn how to say no occasionally and do my art for me, I’m not bothered about recognition (it’s a nice feeling when it happens) only that I can finance my life so I can feed my compulsion, art.

Found this quote from Robert Sabastian Native Artist '........go with your instinct towards feelings that you have, don't paint for other people, don't paint for the dollar, paint for yourself. Others will realize the spirit in your painting, then you will survive.'

Costume Show

2009-01-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

Some images from our costume show this friday. 2nd & 3rd Yr Interpretation & Design students.

Good turn out

THE OVERLOOK PROJECT

2009-01-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Overlook Project

This project was a mashup loosely based on Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ and Strimbergs ‘The Father’.

These were theatre areas that our Tutor Douglas O’Connell was researching, so in response we collaborated as a project for our MA Visual Language for Performance class in order for him to be able to realise some of his ideas. I think this was very brave of him to trust us with such a large area of his research. As a group we brought a diverse range of skills, knowledge and experience to the table.

We came together to discuss the theme with Douglas as mediator and final court of appeal. As a collaborative group you start to feed and bounce off of each others ideas, everyone brings their own perspective to the creative situation.

Initially I wanted to contribute by doing something new rather than my usual costume making skills, although I was happy to act as support for others to make the costumes by teaching and guiding, so that they had a better informed path to follow.

But being the only part-timer, and only available two half days a week made this impossible. Douglas anticipated this and decided that I should do the costumes, as I could do this individually while still contributing.

Unfortunately I couldn’t attend all the meeting as they were not always on my core days and as the project needed to gather momentum I contributed to the project by passing my ideas to people so that they were brought to the table second hand. I was glad to notice that a few of my ideas were realised. I contributed more by helping other people with their parts of the project by sharing my knowledge and experience.

My main realised contribution to the project was to make the main character Jack Tarrance’s costume and to help Jessica, Daphne and Veronica with their costumes and puppet.

Jack is old school male chauvinist, dominant male with the younger trophy wife. Even with the confinements of such a marriage and trying to be the perfect text book wife, Wendy is younger and more technological and through this is in her own way independent.

Jack is also frustrated middle aged man who hasn’t realised his potential in life, an unsuccessful writer the opportunity presented by the job of the Winter Caretaker for the remote Overlook Hotel and the isolation it promises for the winter seems to be the catalyst for a last shot at fulfilling his dream and the chance to write a great novel. But the inevitable happens, locked up for long wintery months in isolation he develops cabin fever and slowly loses the plot and madness begins to settle in.

In response to this story we set the era and colour pallet in the 1970’s for the set and costume. Douglas initially mentioned his preference for earthy colours suggested by the era, the oranges, browns and purples presented a good stylised backdrop for such a tale of the comeuppance of male dominance. For this could be said to be the last era of the all dominant male. Jack being older and an-twacky I made his costume 1970’s with some aspects of 50s, another era of male dominance. He started off appearing normal with his shirt, tie, blazer and waistcoat all very respectable and smart. But as the plot unravels so does he. I wanted to represent this fact with Jack slowly starting to put layers of clothing on in disarrayed, dishevelled manner. The layering up of the clothing showing the slow layering up of his madness. During the production I broke down the garments so that they appeared disarrayed and totally different to the respectable items he wears at first.

When you’re exposed to abnormal behaviour long enough it becomes the norm. This is what happens to Jack and Wendy. As he descends she has no sounding board to measure just how far he is going. A phenomena that I know oh so well on a number of levels. To quote Tim Burton:

‘One person’s craziness is another person’s reality.’

Near the end of the production he puts on an overlarge overcoat, this is to portray his rapidly encroaching madness slowly engulfing and consuming him. His madness is like a big old grizzly bear that has been woken up from hibernation.

We found all of Wendy’s costumes and the main bulk of Jack’s from charity shops. Within this a few bits needed to be dyed to fit into the colour scheme. However I made Jack’s trapper hat and also made the leather waistcoat which I wanted to create as a symbol of a misspent youth that he was still clinging too, which was later broken down.
The overcoat was the ultimate garment representing Jack’s descent into madness, I started by breaking the coat down to make it look old and worn then put primitive cave drawing handprints onto the back with spray paints as madness is a primal coping mechanism. I then overlaid a moiré print to replicate water working from the lower left going diagonal across the shoulders. This was to show how the madness was washing over him and engulfing his sanity.

I used latex with inks and printed hand prints using numerous people to get a variety of sizes. I again did this with puff binder and ink which I treated with heat which makes it swell. This all created a 3D effect giving it different dimensions, as madness works on a number of levels.
On the shoulder I put a hand print with two fingers saying ‘f’ off as Jacks final salute to sanity, which I worked to look bloody this worked great in the final scene where Jack gets his head bashed in with a bat by Wendy. Douglas overlaid blood spatter for the viewers on line so that the media and the print work worked together, and the blood just landed in the right place. This worked really well and was a good finale for the online viewers.

Wendy costumes were of young hippie chick and this highlighted the age difference between the two characters. She’s young 70s whilst he represents old 70s, we used these stereotypes of the era to highlight the stereotypes of the characters.

In Wendy’s costume we used stripes and zigzag patterns which mimicked the television monitors and projection when the machines are on standby. This was to show that she was more technological than Jack and was leaving him behind. Later on whilst Jack’s costumes changes with the introduction of his madness Wendy’s stays the same to show and accentuate the contrast between them and their path through the play. The distressing of these costumes therefore was paramount to amplify this.

I felt disconnected from the team as I was working as an individual, but I was very aware of the group clashes, which is unavoidable when groups collaborate. So many egos in one room all wanting to shine. You just have to learn to let it go over your head and compromise or take a stand. As the project came closer to the deadline, the group became closer together but at the same time a more stressful working environment.

Once the play began it seemed a lot more communal and everyone pulled together, I was able to contribute more to what was happening within the production than during the build up. I was able to give Douglas some insight of how his character should act out his delusions as I have had considerable experience working with people with mental illness. I also helped a little with the camera work which was a completely new experience for me and although very short-lived it has given me some insight to different aspects of digital media, which I would like to explore more at a later date. I became mum as usual to everyone as caterer, cleaner and puppet first aider.
Working as a collaborative you become part of a unit so you lose your identity as an individual within the project. You have to all gel fluently for things to run smoothly. You soon find out who you meld with and who you don’t.

As individuals within a group you take away an experience often completely different from your colleagues but you also have the collaborative experience which is accomplishing something that is on an immense scale, one that would probably be impossible to do as an individual because of the time scale and the individual knowledge that would take a fair chunk of your lifetime to accumulate.

Each collaborator’s skills and knowledge may not seem significant individually, but by bringing a number of skills together they significantly contributed to the perfection of the performance.

Jack loosing it.

Danny, Jack & puppetmaster

Wendy Torrance with Danny

2009-01-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

These are the two stories that I chose for my mashup.

THE DREAM

Lennie pleaded, 'Come on, George. Tell me, Please, George. Like you done before.’
‘You get a kick outta that, don’t you? Awright, I’ll tell you, and then we’ll eat our supper…’ George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. ‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the
Loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and Blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.’ Lennie was delighted. ‘That’s it – that’s it. Now tell how it is with us.’ George went on. ‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.’
Lennie broke in. ‘But not us! An’ why? Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.’
He laughed delightedly. ‘Go on now, George!’ ‘You got it by heart. You can do it yourself.’
‘No, you. I forget some a’ the things. Tell about how it’s gonna be.’
‘OK. Someday – we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and …’
‘An’ live off the fatta the lan’,’ Lennie shouted. ‘An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.’
‘Why’n’t you do it yourself? You know all of it.’
‘No … you tell it. It ain’t the same if I tell it. Go on… George. How I get to tend the rabbits.’
‘Well,’said George, ‘we’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and Chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell with goin’to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof..........

THE PLOT

George & Joe have met up and decide to realize their dreams together as Rizzo & Lennie are both dead. But your dreams are never like you think they will be!

They both have their own idea of own place so I’ve chosen an island as it’s remote & contained so no one to bother them (It’s their dream, no one elses).
Dreams are usually surreal so I’m making the main object from Lennies’ dream (the rabbit) out of proportion, the cave is shaped like the rabbit which they are sitting inside of, his guilt over having to put Lennie down like an animal). is consuming him.

They are living in this cave so they have a fire which they are sitting around and reminiscing about the old days. The stories they tell will be told at random as they will take a piece of text out of a jerry can (in what ever order they come out). So each time it is played it will be slightly different

Here is the process I went through making my island I used MDF for a base then foam board to build it up by layers. After my first attempt with the pond curling up around the edges because I just used foam board. Lesson learnt I then used puff binder which is a print agent with inks to colour it for the water and also for texture on the rocks. I've added heat from a hairdryer which makes it swell and bubble. An easy quick affect. I've added fabric with PVA and also toilet paper for more texture (Blue Peter). Used scenic grass ,moss and gravels and from garden and kitchen brown sugar , sand , branches, pebbles rocks. painted it with acrylic and used uhuto glaze over the water make it look wet. I put a tea light sunk in ground for flames from fire. I'm quite pleased with the result as I've not done this before. It took two days to make , I enjoyed mucking in and doing it, unlike sketchup which took me ages mainly because I'm just getting my head around all this computer lark.

Sound Class with Carolyn Downing

2009-01-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

We had a sound class with Carolyn Downing a Sound Designer, who is helping us on the Overlook Project. The class was really informative & interesting as I have partial hearing. Made me really aware of how much I relie on the visual.

The night before this class I attended 'Edward Scissorhands' a dance piece, which had no vocabulary, telling the story and portraying the characters by using sound & vision. So making you read things in a different way using other senses.

I took away certain aspects that have enabled me to analyse my own projects and look at them in a more informed light. How they will be seen from other peoples perspectives.

2009-01-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry people you'll have to wait for my block buster video as it needs compacting down before I can load it onto here. Watch this space.

2008-12-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry bit of a glich with the computor more likely the operater,try again later.

2008-12-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

This is my one min video that we did a few weeks ago about ourselves. First time filming & editing. Definitely not Steven Spielberg. Little more practice I think.

2008-12-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is the scrapped model box that I did of Cannon Hill the water was ok but the rest was to flat and looked like a pool table.

2008-12-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

Preparing for the first stage of operation prayer flag. These are my little elves helping to tear up the fabric into 8x8 squares. Thank you so much.

2008-12-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

This is some inspiration for my mashup of Midnight Cowboy & Of Mice & Men. When I seen this picture I thought of Lennie always going on about the rabbits.

2008-12-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

Scrapped the Cannon Hill location gone back to origional idea of island. It wasn't a total waste I learnt alot from making the Cannon Hill model box like what not to do for the next one. Here's some inspiration for the island.

2008-11-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

Had a welding induction yesterday thought I might make a tree from twisted metal rods for my final piece to hang the prayer flags from. But Frank was saying that metal has tripled in price this last year so may do it in aluminum instead. Think that's a better idea as it will be much lighter & more portable.

2008-11-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Here is another picture in the dye room of the lovely Viv my muse for the prayer flags project. Viv has just come back from the school MSB educational institute Kolkata. She was teaching them printing and dying. This is one of the schools I plan to involve with the prayer flag project. http://www.artqualifications.co.uk/gallery_details.php?gal_id=138

2008-11-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

This is the location for my mash-up 'Of Mice and Men' & 'Midnight Cowboy'. At first I was going to do it on an imaginary island but after talking to the tutor about making a model box I've changed the location, he said it would be better if we used a actual location. This is at Cannon Hill park it is a man made lake/pond. This will be an amalgamation of both dreams that the characters have in the stories, their farm and a Californian beach. So most of the props are already present just have to add a few things thus keeping the budget at a minimum.

2008-11-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

This image is in my front yard also gave me some inspiration for the prayer flags.

2008-11-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

We were in the dye room a couple of weeks ago and Viv had just made some new dye samples and was hanging them up. It reminded me of the prayer bundles that the North American Natives tie to the ceremonial tree during the Sun Dance ceremony that I had the privilege to be involved in during my BA. Also the Tibetans do the same thing with prayer flags. Stringing them along lakes and mountains. Gave me the idea of doing a similar thing here at the college. I want students to pick square of coloured fabric & write ,print, paint, sew what ever takes their fancy about pearls of wisdom they have for the future or what feelings they have at the moment. Then hang them onto a tree or some kind of lines, what can be set up at each venue. Then after I will create a mural with the fabric. At the moment I am thinking maybe a circle of life or tree of life using the flags from uni & nunnery at the base and working way up to different branches representing different schools. This will highlight the diversity between social groups,age groups and different social classes. After pondering for awhile I decided to do it at different education centres so am in the process of contacting other schools. I have arranged with local primary schools,a school in Kalcutta, a Native school in Canada.(Yet to contact them) and maybe at the Nunnery I'm thinking of ways to document it, seeing I'm a novice at film,photos etc. I thought would use a pinhole camera start from the very beginning, also doing a long exposure of the activity & filming as well, not all will be appropriate for each venue. The venues I can't be present at will probably only be photographed and videoed.