Upon reflection and discussion of all of our previous ideas we decided to merge them together to create our final performance. After having some time to look at previous work and then come back at the idea with a clear head and fresh eyes, we picked out the best parts of all our previous ideas. We took the idea of the scavenger hunt, a time line of the library, pictures on the library and using materials that were made in the library to help create the space around us.
With the scavenger hunt we wanted it to be more playful instead of as regimented as we originally were having it. We were going to have all of the clues in books, but then we realised we wanted people to notice the surroundings and see the library in a way that hadn’t seen it before. To get to this stage we tried drifting – this is where we all walked through the library and noticed things that we hadn’t seen before. We found many things but kept it to the most important five.
To guide people around the library I thought about using QR codes instead of having instructions to help lead the participants. However, with QR codes you need a reader app on your phone that not everyone will have therefore making the performance less accessible to the all. From this we went back to the original idea of writing our instructions on paper and putting them in envelopes for people. We had a trial run of the piece however and found that someone had moved one of our envelopes before our participant could find it so we need to rethink a way of affixing the clues.
A few months back I had the idea of writing a timeline of the libraries history on the windows in our space however we couldn’t find a way of incorporating this into our performance. Now we have decided to let the participants notice the important things in the library and then we will discuss this with them when they reach their final destination, which is the space under the stairs.
The space will have three pictures of the library in it: when it was a goods and grains warehouse, the Pattinson warehouse and the current library. Around these pictures will be blank white paper, the entire wall will be papered. So when the library hunt has finished in here we will discuss a brief history of the library whilst inviting them to use the materials that were made in the two warehouses to contribute to our surrounding space. When we are waiting for our participant or when we do not have one we will all be contributing to the space around us. At the end of the performance we hope that all of the white paper will be filled up to create a unique interior of the space.