'Altermodern' Tate Triennial

'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

Rehersals last week & today.

Sun Dogs Performance

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

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'

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

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.