Start panicking!

Three weeks to the day until my show and I've changed the entire thing. Whoops why do I do it to myself? Just got a sudden wave of nerves slash nausea!

Installation Prep

So my practical work is coming along, slowly. I have the images needed and tools required.


This is an installation that has been developed from my work Dead Ringer Ringlets. It will be shown in the same space as the previous work (conference rooms 1 & 2 at Laban Creekside), the first room will be completely covered in close up images of hair emerging from the follicle. The second room will contain two canvasses which showcase my own hair, and a simple film, within both rooms small clumps of my hair will be placed around the floor allowing the hair to move around freeley. 

Unorganised much?

Right so, 


I have travelled up to london, faced the epic commute, taken back my overdue books (now £10 worse off), set myself up in the library to work out my installation only to find I  have forgotten my pen. However I have had a kind of a breakthrough of sorts. I will not be hanging my hairy balls from a rig. Shock Horror!


I am looking into using the first room for hair and abjection, and the second room for exploring disembodied hair as an art object (with an attempt to beautify and make assessable). Using projected images, large printed posters, sound, my hair clumps, baubles and cut hair. This is todays starting point, well it will be after I pop to Tesco to buy some lunch and some stationary. ugh! 

Oh Dear!

Oh dear, it appears I have neglected my blog for three weeks, shame on me I'm such a terrible blogger. My last post was all about research procrastination, which I managed to snap out of and now I feel almost ready to begin reading for my thesis.


I am currently working on developing Dead Ringer Ringlets. I have decided on removing the 'body' from the piece. There may still be a film of hair movement and images of hair but the body will not be shown. I will be looking at; 
1) How to transform and and create a journey through the space.
2) Creating an abject cycle of beauty, disgust with a return to beauty.

I have a tight schedule for this project (3 and a bit weeks) and will be updating regularly with any progress I make. I am heading into Laban tomorrow to take a fresh look at the space and hopefully be inspired.

Thoughts on theoretical research

Hey all, 

So I'm writing an essay which is essentially testing out all my ideas and thoughts for my thesis. Which means research time! I absolutely adore theoretical research I honestly do... when I start it. I manage to constantly put off beginning of this process and i'm unsure as to why. Once I begin I can't get enough especially when I have found my key points but it's proving extremely difficult. I wonder if it is because I work well under pressure, or like the idea of a tight time frame. I am usually very prepared and motivated but just can't seem to find my reading mojo. I've got just 2 and a half weeks and I'm not worried.

Although I have just had a thought. I have been researching the same topic all year. Could it be that I need something fresh to spark my interest? A new angle? A new source? Some new questions? I think that is a possibility. I'll keep you posted on how I go.  

Mini Break

Hey hey hey, so here we are. I have taken two weeks off from writing my blog to just let things percolate a little and see were I end up. With regards to my practical work I received some feedback, I noted it down so here it is...


The space was good.
People were unsure if they were allowed to enter the space or not.
People wanted more hair (maybe outside of the balls).
The abject feeling was easy to deal with because the hair was enclosed and almost beautified.
It had a clinical, clean and safe feeling.
It also had a sense of fragility.
People wanted to go through the dividing door.
It felt like a forest of hair (referring back to scenery in the video)
The film felt confused, there were too many concepts (hair-ography, movement of hair, slow motion, reverse effects).
Strongest moments of the film were the reverse thrashing and when there were two of me thrashing.




Things & questions I am currently working on.


How do the two rooms relate? 
Do they need to relate?
Do I need both types of room?
How do I make this piece more abject?
Who am I in the film? 
Why am I in the woods, in jeans and trainers? 
Should I use other people's hair collected from hair dressers?
How do I make this piece a journey through various stages of abjection?


Oh! New one, how do I keep this project from screaming about feminism?

Dead Ringer Ringlets - Film

After taking a week off to reflect on my work and to relax i have finally uploaded the film section of the Dead Ringer Ringlets installation. Here it is...

Any comments or feedback would be fantastic as I am currently in the process of developing this piece.

Dead Ringer Ringlets.

It's up! It's running! What was in my brain is now out in the world. I'm very happy with the final result, here are some pictures of the ball room, any feedback you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Bamboo-gate

So my bamboo arrived but it is not as thick as planned so we will have to see how that goes later. Just about to tie my balls up in preparation for my tech tonight.

Today is the day!

Today is when I am setting up my installation and after everything I'm really excited to see what it will look like. I am London bound right now and only have a few worries,
1) the large bamboo poles have not arrived.
2) There are s few glitches in my film
3) Will I get it set up in time to help Jen out?
4) After a late night of editing, where is the closest place to get a red-bull?

So yeah, I'll try to blog all day to keep you posted!

Progress (slowly but surely)

Right, so I have 5 days until my installation is set up, and then when what was once in my brain is out in the open for to see / judge /  encounter. This will be very much an experiment as I have no way of trying this out before the set up.

So as you know this project consists of to elements, an interactive "ball" room and a film of hair-ography. The ball room is almost ready (bamboo is ordered, balls have been filled with hair, and the structure is ready for construction). 

The film however is no-where close. I have a series of movements for the hair-ography so in theory my 'choreography' of the piece has been finalised, I am still awaiting the delivery of my new all singing all dancing camera capable of recording 60fps in 720p which is required for the filming of the piece. I am praying it comes today so I have three full days to film and a full day to edit, if it doesn't arrive by Saturday I will have to have a creative shuffle, and maybe film in poor quality (iphone) or film in a studio instead of out on location. (Which is vast countryside) or I don't know, I can't think about it until the worst happens.

I'm keeping relatively calm about the whole thing to be honest and am treating this project as a formal showing instead of a polished piece. So breathe keep calm and whip yo' hair! 

Hairy Balls (oh er misses)

So met with the production team and made great progress although I wont be able to try out my ball room until the night we set it all up, which is very scary, but fun.


As the room has a very high ceiling we are going to set up a mini rig, the uni already have the structured poles but I need to get the in-between bits (bamboo has been suggested). So back to the garden centre (thats where my baubles came from). Who knew my project would be so green and outdoor-sey. (not a word, I know). So I now have filled my balls, now to be known as my hairy balls, and I shall be getting on with the rest of my project. This includes, buying a HD 60fps camcorder, buying a tripod, buying bamboo, organising my movement material, test shooting locations, filming and editing, picking music, and loads of other stuff. Busy busy.

The beginning.

Today I get to venture into my installation space for the first time, so vey excited. But for now, I have an hour to kill. So the combination of being excited and a venti caramel latté I'm a bit hyper, I've got so much to do. I have an hour in the space on my own and then I will be meeting with the head technician to discuss my project I always get a bit embarrassed talking about my work, mainly to my ideas being generally gross and weird. So I have these two glass rooms which are adjoined side by side, one room will contain 30+ clear plastic baubles of various sizes which will have clumps of my own hair in them, The balls will be hung from the ceiling (or washing line type structure with fishing wire. Some balls will be full of hair while others will just have one or two hairs in them. In the other room there will be a film which shows me performing hairography. The film is yet to have the content finalised.

I will post again later today after my meeting and first attempt at the ball room. Yey!

It's all bleeding coming together.

So today I sourced a huge part of my project, plastic baubles which you fill yourself. Actually so excited so see this put up and running. That's all for now, short one today, will post more later when it's less in my brain and I have more visual images for you. It's gross but exciting. 

when the studio gives you nowt.

When things go wrong I usually think ok it whats next, how can this be sorted, i'm very practical minded like that. But I am writing this blog after a truly awful studio session, in which I felt I gained no (none whatsoever) artistic gratification, anything to work with and Im struggling to see where to go next. Why is it I approach my solo practical work with such a heavy and morbid mood, this is supposed to be what I love doing but when Im alone I feel so isolated and like everything I make it complete rubbish. After my MA I'm getting my collaboration on, for sure but I need to know I CAN make solo work that I am proud of. Well shitty studio session and the newly announced budget, Im just grateful that there's news of S CLUB 7 getting back together and doing an album. At least someone out there has a good sense of humour.

Today was my hair advert session... and guess what after watching endless ad's on youtube, it turns out there is just not much movement there. My plan was to copy the movements (hair flicks etc) identically and form them into a mini phrase. I watched like a hawk and only found roughly 5 movements which were all the same in each ad. After exhausting the possibility of my limited movements I gave up, I had nothing else, I had planned this for the whole session thinking maybe I would make a kind of 'draft' piece. But alas it was not meant to be. I did have my bag of hair so I played with trying to tie stands together and creating little hair droplets for a while.

For next weeks session I am going to plan lots of things. I will
1) Make a sturdy sculpture
2) Create a hair washing line
3) Write a short monologue about my hair
4) Watch back what I filmed today and try to pry something out of it.
5) By the end of the session be 100% sure about what I will be presenting in 3 weeks time.

whops thats only 3 tasks, and erm I will utilise my collected train tickets to form some kind of time line to the work. (4 will do for now), I've got 6 more days to come up with tasks.

So on a lighter note, it's not all doom and gloom, I'm having sushi for dinner.

Whops I missed a week.

Beginning with a feeling of self disappointment, I didn't blog last week. Shame on me. I very selfishly went sightseeing in London for two days, then went to lectures and work. So not too much to report on regarding my work.


I have however been thinking a lot about how my work will look. After a workshop with Kira O'Reilly working with building structures with household items, looking how the body relates to the space it inhabits in relation to architecture. During this workshop I found myself creating a long washing line to which I attached pieces of string tied around a piece of cotton wool. So this is an image I will be working on in my next workshop.

So for now I am processing all my inspirations and planning my next workshop which will involve creating a structure out of my own hair and garden wire, and re creating a shampoo ad looking at the slow motion actions of hair flicking.

1st Practical Session

I've done it, I've only gone and bloody done it! I've had a session in the STUDIO (dramatic caps locks) and I have broken the creative seal. After an initial space issue / swap / late running class I arrived back in the studio and forgot how at utterly at home I can feel there. My particular studio had no mirrors (so no self judgement) and not much "dancer" traffic outside. Perfect conditions. I set out with an aims to clear and de-clutter my brain, to get a couple of sketches of circular shapes, and to generally get back into the swing of making.


Task 1 - Key words
I looked up in the dictionary (on my mac) the meaning of abjection this is what I found;

abject |ˈabˌjekt, abˈjekt|

adjective

1 [ attrib. ] (of a situation or condition) extremely bad, unpleasant, and degrading: abject poverty.

• (of an unhappy state of mind) experienced to the maximum degree: his letter plunged her into abject misery.

2 (of a person or their behavior) completely without pride or dignity; self-abasing: an abject apology.

DERIVATIVES

abjection |abˈjekSHən|noun,

abjectly adverb,

abjectness noun

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘rejected’): from Latin abjectus, past participle of abjicere ‘reject,’ from ab- ‘away’ + jacere ‘to throw.’

I was unsure of what "self-abasing" meant so I looked that up to;

abase |əˈbās|

verb [ with obj. ]

behave in a way so as to belittle or degrade (someone): I watched my colleagues abasing themselves before the board of trustees.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French abaissier, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to, at’) + baissier ‘to lower,’ based on late Latin bassus ‘short of stature.’ The spelling has been influenced by base².

I picked out the following as key words;

LOSS

REJECTED

WITHOUT

UNPLEASANT

EXTREMELY

TO THROW

AWAY

DIGNITY

SELF-ABASING

BELITTLE

BAD

UNHAPPY

DEGRADING

STATE OF MIND

PRIDE

I then added HAIR as this is the key focus of everything I am up to at the minute.

(I really do apologise if this is incredibly boring which I suspect it is)

I then wrote the 'word list' on to cue cards and tried to formulate sentences out of them. I managed (bare with me) 

I am aware they don't make sense.

After this little warm up task I decided to keep only the words are 100% relevant to me, and noted down a little sentence for each to clarify my reasoning. 

LOSS - I feel a sense of loss while looking through my hair collection.

REJECTED - Hair is rejected by my head.

WITHOUT - My hair doesn't look any different without my dead hair.

UNPLEASANT - Although I don't find my own hair unpleasant I am often unsettled by others. 

EXTREMELY - To buy human hair the same as mine is extremely expensive.

TO THROW - My boyfriend wants to throw my hair collection away.

AWAY - My hair collection is never far away from my mind.

HAIR - I feel my hair os one of my defining features.

I will us these words in my next workshop in a different task.

Task 2 - Shape and Movement.

For this task I explored the space taking photographs of points of interest, this familiarised me with a new space. I then used movement improvisation to create shapes with my body. I always improvise to music and used today UNKLE, Aphex Twin & Incubus. I filmed my movement and will try to pull out some shapes from the footage at a later date but I stopped and jotted two down in the process. 

Evaluation.

Initially I have a few thoughts. The dictionary discusses abject in the forms of situation, condition, state of mind, behaviour... yet there seems to be no mention of abject objects.

Why is (head) hair so attractive?

Whats with slow motion hair flicks in ads?

Is hairography an actual style of dance these days?

How will I react when my mail order human hair comes through the post?

That's it for now,

cheers ta bye.

Mind Mapping

Right so... after two epic Mind Mapping sessions I have discovered two key things. 


1) I'm hiding behind my key concepts and ideas. Therefore I have not progressed to the practical stage of making. This sucks and needs to stop. Rapid.


2) I am the worst person for making notes, writing, drawing, hoarding massive amounts of note books on my work. I tend to work from the brain. I never write down stuff (until this blog obvs.)


Now I have the tools to map my process I am super excited to get it all filled in and de-clutter my brain and have a visual image of the shape of what it is I am creating. 


So I have booked some studio time which is the most scary and exciting bit. Im going for the JUST DO IT stage which always seems to work for me. YEY for positive thinking!


When I have completed my 1st mind map I shall upload it. I am planning to complete 3 maps all in all to gather all important information re my project. 

To do list

I am a complete list freak and actually cannot organise anything without one. Here is my current list regarding the re-working and adaptation of my proposal.

• Find 3 more female artists working within the field of The Uncanny and Abjection
• Re-read Kristeva's Powers of horror and understand all key points and concepts
• Understand how Kristeva relates to my work
• Clarify the aims of practical workshop sessions
• Create workshop plans with detailed tasks
• Review all research questions and re-think if they are still appropriate / interesting to me

First proposal

Right, so this was my first formal proposal which was created for a unit called Creative Strategies. It roughly outlines my key research interests and ideas. I will be adapting this proposal for my final research project of my MA.

Abjection and the uncanny: Creating the unfamiliar female body.

For the purpose of this research proposal I have formulated three questions which I will be attempting to answer. These questions are;

1) How do the theories of the uncanny and abjection relate and what is their relationship to the body and contemporary performance?

2) How is technology and the uncanny linked in terms of doubling, and how does this relate to the portrayal of gender?

3) In which ways can the human form be distorted to the point it becomes uncanny or unfamiliar?

This project will include an investigation of the theories of the uncanny, abjection and the use of female form within this framework. Historically the uncanny has been predominantly explored by men, distorting the female form. This is especially the case of surrealists working between the 1920‘s and the1960’s. I am interested in how female artists approach these theories and how the outcomes differ between the male and female perspective. The key elements of interest within uncanniness lay within the double and the unfamiliar body. I am intrigued to find if I can create both inaccurate and exact doubles of myself.

This investigation into the unfamiliar body relates to my interest of distortion. I am curious as to how I can distort the female form to the point of reducing the body to an object. I am also curious about the theory of abjection and how this relates to the uncanny. Within abjection, the key focus will be the products produced by the body, such as hair and nails. I am interested in finding how I can use the body’s by-product as a key element within my practical work. I am keen to investigate the relationship between the uncanny and abjection and how the two theories compare. I am also interested in how the uncanny and abject can become so absurd that a comic element emerges. This relationship between what is horrifying and humorous will be investigated throughout this project. 

Rationale: 

Freud, S. (1919) ‘The Uncanny’ explains the feeling that we experience when something we see as familiar becomes unfamiliar. This theory that will be a key focus of the project. I will also be using Royle, N. (2003) The Uncanny as a contrast to Freud’s theory, Royle (2003) will act as way of understanding the development of the uncanny within a contemporary setting. Jentsch, E (1906) On the Psychology of the Uncanny will be explored. This was written 13 years prior to Freud’s theory, and I am interested in how these three key texts differ or relate to each other. Alongside theories of the uncanny Kristeva’s writings around abjection shall be investigated, comparing how the two theories compare. I will be exploring how these theories have been presented practically, both within a historical (pre 1960’s) and contemporary (post 1960’s) context.

Alongside this theoretical exploration a full investigation will occur into artists who have presented work in the fields of abjection and the uncanny. This will range form the early works of Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann and Pierre Molinier, to the current works of Stelarc, Alice Anderson and Igloo. This project will explore how the body can be changed and distorted to create a sense of unfamiliarity within the human form. The works of both Stelarc and Pierre Molinier involve disfiguring the body to create non-human objects. Stelarc uses science and technology to modify and distort his body, such as the addition of a prosthetic ear which was surgically implanted into his left arm. Molinier used multiple limbs within his photographic work to transform his body into bizarre forms. Alice Anderson uses the uncanny theme of doubling extensively within her work. She works with dolls who act as miniature versions of herself, masks of her face, and a combination of the live body against life size images of herself. Anderson also works with abjection by working widely with dolls hair, which matches her own colour identically. Igloo also work with doubling within their work but in a different form. Igloo use technology to create digital doubles of both themselves and environments. Their performances range from virtual installations to live performance.

Methodology: 

This investigation will have a strong focus on research and a literature review will be conducted. This will consist of psychoanalysis essays, performance reviews, academic books and artistic statements. The literature review will include a comparison of theories highlighting the similarities and differences of the theories. It will question how the uncanny and abjection relate to the body and performance. Gaining a deeper theoretical understanding of the the uncanny and abjection is crucial to the development of the practical work. Alongside this theoretical investigation I will also be visiting such institutions such as The Tate Modern, The Freud Museum and the British Library. Studio work will be key element of this project. Within the studio I will be working with dolls, mirrors, movement, video and photography. My aim is to create various works which both stand alone and coexists to communicate my thoughts and explorations around the theories of uncanniness and abjection.

• Exact doubling will be investigated through the use of video, stop animation will be used to create multiple versions of myself.
• Inaccurate doubles will be created by altering dolls to resemble myself. These dolls will be used in the studio to create various scenes which will be photographed.
• Working within the field of abjection a series of photographic workshops will be carried out involving my hair. I will be exploring how placing clumps of hair in unusual places on the body and in the studio can become abject.
• I will be attempting to distort my body with the use of costume and film. The mirrors within the studio will be used to create a live distorted body.
• Within the studio I will working with live projections to create digital doubles of myself.

Documentation will play a key part within this project and all practical workshops will be filmed. Alongside video documentation there will also be written evaluations of each session. I will create an online research blog. This will consist of weekly diary entries commenting on any practical workshops, reading sessions or thoughts. I intend to form a clear and precise documentation of both creative practise and theoretical research which will be widely accessible.

Resources: 

The research project will require the use of a small studio space, a camera to record any practical workshops and the use of a projector. The Laban and Goldsmiths library as well as the British Library will be used for specific books and journals. Online archives such as www.ubuweb.com will allow access to AV files. Institutions such as the Freud museum and The Live Art Development Agency will act as key institutions of research. I plan to attend any exhibitions, discussions and performances such as;

Magical Night 2011 The Royal Opera House, a performance in which toys come to life. 

Alice Anderson Fort Da 2011, Saatchi Gallery, Chelsea, Installation of a giant bobbin made of dolls hair. 

Mike Kelley: The Uncanny 2004, The Tate Liverpool, an exhibition based on Freud’s theory of The Uncanny.

Mike Kelley: The Uncanny Conference: The Uncanny Day 2004, The Tate Liverpool, a conference in which Feud’s theory is discussed in relation to contemporary art.

Collaborators: 

This is a solo research project therefore no collaborators will be involved within the work. I will however be relying on three of my peers to give regular feedback on my practical work. They will act as an outside eye and will be a key element within the evaluation process. Regular tutorials with my supervisor will be attended to discuss and gain feedback of the creative progress of the work.

Supervisor/Tutor/Advisor: 

Martin Hargreaves.

Outcomes: 

The final product of this research will take the form of an installation, containing a series of uncanny objects, live performance and an accompanying film. The installation will take place in the Bonnie Bird theatre. This piece will not be presented in the traditional proscenium arch form but will occur on the stage. The stage will be blocked off from the seating bank. The Audience will be led through the backstage entrance of the theatre adding to the unfamiliarity of the space. This location is key to the project as a dark space is required. This adaption of the space also allows for an immediate feeling of uncanniness which will continue throughout the installation.

Indicative Bibliography/Reference List:

Alice Anderson website <www.alice-anderson.org> [accessed on 12.11.11]

Barewaldt, W. (2001) Pierre Molinier. Art Data, London

Dixon, S. (2007) Digital Performance: A history of new media in theatre, dance, performance art, and installation. The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England

Freud, S. (1919) ‘The Uncanny’

Igloo website <www.igloo.org.uk> [accessed on 28.11.11]

Jentsch, E (1906) On the Psychology of the Uncanny

Kristeva, J. (1982) Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Trans. Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia University Press.

Limoges, S. (2011) Alice Anderson : Childhood Rituals. Archibooks 

Morris, G. (1996) Moving Words re-writing dance. London & New York : Routledge

Royle, N. (2003) The Uncanny. Manchester University Press.

Russo, M. (1995) The female grotesque : risk, excess, and modernity. New York : Routledge.

Smelik, A (2007) The danger of hair , In: Jan Brand and Jose Teunissen (ed.), Clothing & Accessories . Arnhem: Terra / Artez Press, 2007: 172-177

Smith, M. (2005) Stelarc The Monograph Electronic Culture: History, Theory and Practice MIT Press Cambridge. 

Stelarc website <http://stelarc.org/?catID=20247> [accessed 12.11.11]

Ubuweb online archive <http://www.ubuweb.com> [accessed 12.11.11]