Searching around the Library – As I Began to search the Library I initially aimed to find NEW places and NEW locations I’ve never seen before to perhaps enlighten or enhance my performance. Everywhere I looked I couldn’t manage to get past the locations simplicity, the atmosphere or how Im supposed to create a performance that interacts with the space or the people inside it when Im negative about the site. This is due to the fact I personally perceive the library as a dull, dark and quite frankly boring place with bad memories. I found new areas i’ve never noticed before; unnoticed stairwells, quiet rooms, corridors i’ve never walked down but none of them felt right. At this point my SSP lacked a solid structure so It became hard trying to find the right location. Then it hit me, it wasn’t about finding somewhere new to inspire me, I needed to find somewhere that was very familiar to me but adapting and perceiving it in a different light to then inform my performance into what I want it to be. With this realisation in mind I then choose 3 different spots of the Library, locations where i’ve walked past everyday easily noticed by the public but places where I could see potential to be come something else – my Performance.
IDEAS – Upon finding out my given site of the library I struggled to come up with ideas that I felt motivated to pursue, this is purely because this site to me doesn’t personally connect in a positive way. I then began to think why? Feelings of stress, anxiety, tiredness and boredom which cant be escaped. So why not use this to fuel my performance. And there it was… My fuel for the performance, i’m going to be passionate about not being passionate about the Library. Fabulous.
Making the performance SITE SPECIFIC – Now, I need to create a piece of Live art that connects and interacts and is informed by its location. This therefore covers all areas such as its background, What its used for?, Why is it used?, Who uses it? How do people feel about it? How has it changed? EVERYTHING!
“The most Successful interactive shows ensure their space connects, vitally, to the emotions contained within a piece.”
This helped me begin to form my idea and my way of connecting to the library through the people inside and the emotions that are very much so part of the library. Later I then began to think how I could express these emotions through performance and making in interactive within its space. Thinking about sensory elements of the body I chose SOUND. I took the element sound from the library taking recordings of noises. Background noises, conversations, keyboard typing, everything. The next step for this was forming this into an audio track which can be used to compliment my movement piece, which again all links back to making my SSP connect with an audience and the site.
Taking Inspiration – As we go on through the course we begin to learn more and more about previous site specific performances and certain leading theatre companies such as “Punch Drunk” that have made SSP a huge success. Through this process I found “Willi Dorner” famous for large quantities of Site Specific work ” Bodies in Urban Spaces”. Watching videos and images of his work I decided to incorporate some of his ideas into my given site as I believe It can help articulate my performance and make it more immersive. Dorner’s work consists of a group of dancers that run around different areas of public towns in unison then quickly and swiftly fix themselves into small gaps inbetween buildings, under bridges, anything. Dorner’s SSP makes seemingly nothing, into art. Adapting this to my own performance Im going to locate small enclosed areas of the library to squeeze into. For me, this is done in order to show this feeling of captivation, stress and claustrophobia all linked with the library.
Making the performance Interactive and Immersive – In order to allow my performance to connect with its space I decided to use of movement. This accompanied by Library sounds audio track and inspiration from Willi Dorner I then had my first real plan of my SSP. Then I met a cross road with decisions about how I would play the audio for my piece? Headphones or Stereo? Because both had viable pro’s and con’s such as stereo allowed an easier access for the public to watch my performance so possibly a wider viewing although might have challenged the rules and conduct or the site. Yet, the headphones aspect allowed a more intimate and immersed performance but meant another obstacle being if people would simply be bothered to take that extra step in order fully be a part of my performance.
Callum Alexandré Izzard
