(Picture of the day, University of Chichester Website)
Wednesday
Evaluation
From the very beginning of this process the group had a strong idea about what sort of Site Specific performance we wanted to create, I believe this helped us in the process as we was driven in which way we wanted to take the process. The piece we create (The People Tree) was intended to be a community based project whereby we invited people from the community of Chichester to trade their memories for homemade cake in order to create a memory tree (based on Keri Smiths Wish Tree) this would be a piece of art which could resemble the community and bring a sense of community spirit back into the city.
Unfortunately the Chichester council could not allow us to perform our final piece where we had planned to (Market Cross, Chichester) as we was not allowed to obstruct the pathways in the centre of town, I feel this was a failure for the piece as it changed the dynamics slightly of the final performance as we had to move to the University of Chichester Campus instead. Although moving the piece was unfortunate it did bring some positives as well, it allowed us as a group to focus on a smaller community therefore being able to gain a wider perspective as there are less people to account for, meaning we would be able to reach a bigger percentage of that community. Furthermore the site we had chosen within the campus also offered us a tree already embedded into that space which would allow our aim of reconnecting with nature be a lot more prominent rather than the original idea of bringing a tree into a space.
The final performance of The people Tree has aspects of Site Generic, Site Responsive and Site Specific theatre. The performance was Site Specific as the performance was created through the history of Chichester as a market town as well as the atmosphere it presents “the real power of site specific work is that it somehow activates, or engages with, the narratives of the site in some kind of way” (Mclucas in Morgan, 1995, pg. 47). As we can see from this quote the narratives of the site is key for site specific work which is why we tapped into the historic nature of Chichester and brought that into the performance through the trading aspect of the performance. In addition to this, due to Chichester being a University town there is a divided between local members of the community and those of the University so by creating a performance to encompass all members of the community of Chichester. Both of these aspects, the trading past of Chichester and the inhabitants within it worked as stimulus and purpose for our final piece therefore the piece could not be moved to another location because of this.
Additionally the final piece had elements of a Site Responsive performance this is due to the vastness of the stimulus Chichester presented to us. Although we have used specific areas that are connected to Chichester the piece is a response to these elements. This is because the piece found the divisions within the community and tried to create a piece that brought them together but this stimulus can be found in other places or sites not only Chichester, which means that the piece could be moved and adapted for another city or site that is suffering from these divisions between local residents and university students.
In conclusion to the final performance being site specific, site responsive and site generic, the performance could be considered site generic or considered to have site generic elements because if we strip away the process which lead us to our performance we are left with gathering memories from people in a particular site. This task as a bare minimum could be considered as site generic as it could be taken anywhere to any site as memories are created from all places no matter the context of the site. Although stating in which ways The People Tree could be Site Responsive or Site Generic I believe that our performance was Site Specific, through the process every decision made toward the final piece was due to Chichester’s history, present and atmosphere, although the performance could be views in other ways the process of the piece and its delivery both contributed to create a Site Specific performance.
The response we got from the participants involved were all very positive, we exceed the level of participation we first assumed we would gain. We all together collected over 150 memories through the trade of our home made cakes plus around another 30 to 40 memories from people who just wanted to participate with the making of the people tree. A number of comments were made at the final stage of our performance when the tree was complete that it was “striking to look at, you can see it as your walking toward the tree, I think you should keep it up and allow people to add to it at will” (participant), another participant described the work as “a beautiful way to share our experiences” (participant).
If I was to move forward with this piece I would run it as a longer piece, although the piece was durational for the day I feel that it being for a longer period of time would allow us to involve more participants covering more of the community of the University, from there I would again attempt to take the piece to its original destination of the Market Cross within Chichester as then I would have collected memories from both sides of the division within Chichester and been able to collaborate them both, achieving the purpose of the piece to bring together the community of Chichester.
Movement
Due to us not being able to perform by the market cross we have decided to move our production to the university of Chichester campus. This being done our pieces focus still looks at the relationships within community and the communities’ relationship with the place they inhabit and its natural spaces.
The university has a history dating back to 1839, when a School for training 'Masters' was set up at what is now the Chichester campus, known as the Bishop Otter College. In 1873, the campus became a training institute for women teachers due to the activism of Louisa Hubbard after the Elementary Education Act 1870 created demand for school teachers. Men were later admitted to the college in the 1950s.A college at Bognor Regis was opened as an emergency teacher training institute immediately after the Second World War in 1946.During the 1970s Bishop Otter College was regarded as one of the most successful teacher training colleges in the country, During that period, the Principal of that establishment was Professor Gordon McGregor, who went on to be Principal of Ripon and York St John and latterly Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Leeds. In 1977 Bishop Otter College and the Bognor Regis College were merged to form the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education (WSIHE), with degrees being awarded by CNAA and later the University of Southampton. Between 1995 and 1999, it was known as Chichester Institute of Higher Education. It gained degree-awarding powers in 1999, becoming known as University College Chichester, and became recognised as a full university in October 2005.Well-known alumni include the actor Jason Merrells and the bestselling biographer Paula Byrne.
Due to the university lifestyle, university life generates its own community of students, we will be looking at this for our piece as we want this community to connect with each other by sharing their memories of this place, using a tree in a courtyard on campus we will perform our piece as created but with much more of a drive towards students. What they feel about University? What sticks out for them? Using the people tree to do this with our trading system put in place we hope to create a piece of live art through our findings, creating something for the community of the university by the community of the university.
The People Tree Abstract
Public Gift Productions is a new theatre company that is centred on creating site specific performances. We aim to collaborate with our public audiences to make a community lead, organic live art piece that is made by the people and for the people. We are committed to restoring life and spirit back into towns and cities by:
· Finding a sense of community in cities
· Re-claiming the space for the people
· Closing the generation gaps through commination and creation.
Our latest project was made for the city of Chichester. As residents of the city, we have a deep understanding of the way of life within the city; where the life is and where it has been lost. We noticed that there was a substantial gap between generations and social classes that left the city lacking in passion and compassion. As well as this, we felt that the natural spaces have been forgotten due to the strong pull that the commercial city centre has on the residents.
From this we have created a response. The People Tree is a durational performance that combines memory, interactive play and cake. Public Gift Production aims to bring communities together by creating visual art. A genuine join-in atmosphere encourages all people from all ages and walks of life to share memories, pictures, messages and views (past and present) of their own community. A trading system that the performers will initiate will ask the audience to swap memories, stories and unwanted items to put on our people tree for home-made cake. The piece revolves around conversation and the art of listening to connect with our audience and for our audience to connect with each other. Throughout the day more and more memories, stories and throw-aways would be collected until the result is a thriving people tree blossoming with life and spirit created by the people.
The people tree will be a memorable, physical and visual performance that explores traditional values of trading and community. The aim is to create an organic and heartfelt community space restoring what Chichester once had. The cities original values have been taken over by commercialism, despite it once being a famous market trading town that held the community together, therefore our efforts are in reclaiming the space. Roman Chichester was built on a grid pattern. The main streets formed a cross, which remains today as North, South, East and West Streets. It will be in the centre of this cross that we create the people tree. Years ago the centre of the town was the forum, a marketplace lined with shops and public buildings. For public gift productions the centre of town will still be the forum, and we will line it with atmosphere. We will bring back the old Chichester through cake trading, community building, art, singing and memory and conversation sharing. There were always weekly markets in Chichester from as long as we know, but from 1108 the bishop was given the right to hold a fair that dealt with homemade goods and trades on valuables such as wool and timber. The fair was held for 8 days each October. It was called the Sole fair named after the sole tree, which grew in field by Northgate. Our idea of the people tree has been inspired by all of these historic events, and our piece longs to create a memory based tree like the sole fair tree that once was the originator for fair gatherings and equality.
Author/illustrator turned guerilla artist Keri Smith served as one of our main inspirations for the piece. Her book The Guerilla Art kit helped us form our own ideas about how to create guerilla art that means something to us and is relevant to where we live. The works that she create doesn’t always have a particular political message, but what they have is a message straight from her, and portraying exactly what she wants to say about her environment. The Guerilla Art Kit was written to be a springboard for artists who want to re-claim the environment they live in disregarding where that environment is (be it in a city or in the countryside). It’s about leaving your mark, and making positive change in the way people view their daily surroundings. She says that by ‘leaving art and ideas in public places, you can affect someone's day, change their mood or their mind and maybe even change the world in the process.’
Stephen Lambert is a conceptual artist who works with our relationship to the world we live in. His pieces are responses to the people’s reaction to change, consumerism and politics, and this makes his work really interesting to us. Labert's piece, I Will Talk With Anyone…(2006) really shaped our work with its simplicity and honesty. Lambert set up a table amongst organisations tabling for political, religious and other causes and offered to “Talk with anyone about anything”. The audience got involved and the table was very popular, and for the people that didn’t have anything to say he had a list of questions such as “How about this weather?” and “How are things?” The way that he created a bond with his audience and the idea that just offering to listen and to converse with the public is a really beautiful gift and it really inspired us to do the same.
Our new performance The People Tree is looking at two main critical points, the first is that of the forgotten natural spaces around Chichester. When exploring Chichester as a whole we discovered that many rural areas are pushed into the background and backstreets and the commercialised consumer heaven is very much in the foreground of the city taking pride space in the city centre. Public gift productions are an organic company very much concerned with reconnecting the urbanised public with its natural surroundings. As a result of this we decided to place our new site specific performance within the city centre but our main visual and reference point is going to be a tree, this allows us to exhibit to the commercial streets what is being over looked as well as the tree being the centre of the piece symbolising that nature can be at the centre of this community, much like for example Guerilla Gardening.
The second critical aspect in which we have been looking into is the idea of community and how a piece of theatre or more precisely a piece of site specific theatre can somehow re-join and connect a community. The people tree is made by the people,which indicates it is already an interactive performance but it also shaped by the people’s ideas and stories of their city, or shall we say their Chichester. This performance caters for any age, from the very young with drawing activities to the older generations sharing stories and memories encompassing their ideas of Chichester, gaining a reconnection with the place they live. The aspect of community is at the centre of not only The People Tree project but for the entire company of Public Gift Productions. We as a company looked into the Welfare State International Theatre Company as their work similarly to us is community based, and is something to aspire to due to the grand scale in which they are able to produce such performances. Public Gift Production aim to use our combination of community togetherness and natural resources in order for a city (Chichester in this case) to reconnect with one another and to their natural surroundings.
Bibliography:
Smith, K (2007). The Guerilla Art Kit. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
Kaprow, A (2003) Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life. California: University of California Press.
Thompson, N & Sholette, G eds. (2004)The Interventionists: Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life. Massachusetts: MIT Pres.
Websites
Lambert, S. I Will Talk With Anyone. Available: http://visitsteve.com/. Last accessed 23rd March 2012.
Welfare State International. Available: http://www.welfare-state.org/. Last accessed 25th March 2012
Stories From Space. Nature Reserves. Available: http://www.storiesfromspace.co.uk/data/html/menu.html. Last accessed 19th March 2012
The People Tree
Taking inspiration from Steve Lamberts ‘I will talk to any one’, Keri Smiths ‘Wish Tree’, Guerrilla Gardening and Chichester’s history we began to block what our final piece may look like.
Using Lamberts technique in performance persona in relation to the participant or observer in “I will talk to anyone” within our final performance we will set up a station in order for people to talk to us about their memories of Chichester, we have made a decision that we want to trade people’s memories for homemade cake (using homemade cake avoids using shop bought cake making the piece more personal). This will be keeping with the history of Chichester as a trading place but also adding a twist to it as we want to use these memories to place on a tree. The concept of using the tree came from Keri Smiths Guerilla Art Kit, the task within this book titled ‘The Wish Tree’ whereby people write down their wishes and place them on a tree, our tree will act in the same way only we will be using memories instead.
The idea of using memories came from our concept of making a performance involving the community and reconnect people of the community to each other as well as the place they inhabit, the memories will be of their time spent in Chichester which will cover places within the city as well as people who may be entwined with the memories therefore covering both the place and people of the community. This will take place within the heart of the city, the market cross again with the focus on community and bringing people together, from each end of Chichester. We are using a tree as we felt that the natural spaces within Chichester are very important and slightly forgotten about and looking at Guerrilla gardening’s philosophy of bring back nature to urban places we wanted to highlight that there are very lovely and forgotten parks and green spaces within Chichester.
Chichester; Market Cross
Chichester's Market Cross was given to the city by Bishop Storey in 1501. To some extent this gift was an act of generosity, providing a covered marketplace from which Chichester's traders could sell their wares. In part however the Bishop was playing politics with the city authorities who had sought greater control over trade in Chichester. Until 1746 the clock on the cross was square. It was then replaced by four new clocks. How many thousands of Chichester shoppers have been told the time by looking up at the clock's massive black paddles over the quarter of a millennium since the clock was installed? Until the pedestrianisation of Chichester city centre the streets around the Cross used to be a busy highway with the main coastal road edging on the narrow gap between the Market Cross and the city centre shops. Nowadays, apart from a few buses, the centre of Chichester is more or less traffic free. (http://www.westsussex.info/chichester-cross.shtml)
For our final performance we decided to use the Market Cross as it is the centre of Chichester, connected by North, South, East and West it locates the heart of the city and as we are trying to access he community and what better way for us to explore this than in the centre of the city and community. As well as this there once was a Sloe Tree in the centre of Chichester where fair’s use to be held, this also adds to our final piece as we are looking at using a tree to symbolise the community as well as drawing attention to the natural spaces in Chichester.
Chichester research
"The relationship and intersections of these exoduses that intertwin and create an urban fabric, and placed under the sign of what ought to be, ultimatly, the place but is only a name; the city" (Certeau, 1988, p.103)
Chichester is a Market town and has been since 950 when it was first recognised as a flourishing Market town. Since then various markets and fairs have been held within Chichester carrying on the market town title along with it, and still now in 2012 there is a market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Due to this strong heritage of a Market Town for our final piece we will be looking into a trading system whereby we keep in touch with Chichester’s history of markets and trading but using it to reconnect the community. In doing so we are using our sites (Chichester) history as stimulus and inspiration for our piece therefore creating a site specific performance due to the embedded roots we will bring forward in the performance.
Chichester for many years has prided itself on the parks and rural areas in and surrounding it “The importance of parks and areas of green space to our quality of life is enormous. Attractive, safe and accessible parks and green spaces contribute to positive social, economic and environmental benefits improving public health, wellbeing and quality of life.” (http://www.chichester.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4116)
But over recent years the surge in the demand and supply of chain stores and convenient shopping areas within Chichester has increased dramatically. North, South, East and West Street are now decorated in commercial shops which dominate the City centre. Our final piece aims to highlight the hidden natural spaces and gardens within Chichester with the aim to reconnect the people to nature within the middle of Chichester’s town centre The Market Cross. We aim to do this by bringing nature back into the centre in form of a tree and highlight that the green spaces we have forgotten in Chichester can be a part of the advancing commercial times too.
Chichester Time Line
43 The Romans invade Britain
44 The Romans build a fort on the site of Chichester. The army soon move on the local Celtic king (a puppet ruler under the Romans) establishes a town on the site.
c. 80 An amphitheatre is built by the town
407 The Roman army leaves Britain. Afterwards Roman civilisation breaks down and towns are abandoned.
c. 500 The Saxons conquer the area and a Saxon called Cissa takes over what is left of Chichester
c. 885 Alfred the Great revives the old town
894 Men from Chichester and the surrounding area defeat the Danes.
c. 950 Chichester is a flourishing market town with a mint
1075 The bishop moves from Selsey to Chichester.
1086 Chichester has a population of around 1,500. The Normans build a castle at Chichester.
1091 Work begins on Chichester Cathedral
1108 Chichester Cathedral is consecrated. The Sloe fair, held each October by a sloe tree begins.
1114 Chichester Cathedral is badly damaged by fire
1187 The cathedral is again damaged by fire
1230 Franciscan friars (called grey friars) arrive in Chichester
1250 Chichester has a population of around 2,500
1353 Chichester is made a staple port (one of the ports from which wool is exported)
c. 1410 A campanile (separate bell tower) is built for the cathedral
1501 Bishop Storey erects the market cross
1538 Henry VIII closes the friaries in Chichester
1578 Streets in Chichester are paved for the first time
1588 Two Catholic priests are executed for treason at Chichester
1625 William Cawley builds almshouses
1642 During the Civil War Chichester is captured by parliamentary troops
1687 Thatched roofs are banned in Chichester because of the risk of fire
1712 Dodo House is built for Henry Peckham
1720 The population of Chichester is around 4,000
1726 Four clocks are added to the Market Cross
1731 The Council House is built in North Street
1764 Chichester gains its first theatre
1773 West, North and South gates in the town walls are demolished
1779 Chichester gains its first bank
1783 Eastgate is demolished
1791 Paving Commissioners are formed with powers to pave and clean the streets1808 The Butter market opens
1809 Land is sold in the south-eastern corner of the town for building.
1813 St Johns Church opens
1833 The Corn market is built
1846 The railway reaches Chichester
1850 A Teacher Training College opens
1871 A new cattle market opens
1875 Chichester gains a piped water supply
1900 Chichester has a population of about 9,000
1908 Chichester High School for boys opens
1909 Chichester gains electric streetlight
1910 The first cinema in Chichester opens
1937 A new police station is built at Kingsham. Chichester by-pass opens.
1946 Whyke Estate is built
1957 Chichester is twinned with Chartres
1962 Chichester Festival Theatre opens
1965 A new bus station is built. Bishop Luffa School opens
1967 A new library opens
1971 The population of Chichester is 21,000
1987 Westgate Leisure Centre opens
1989 A new record office opens
1990 Chichester Livestock Market closes
1993 A Tourist Information Centre opens
(Tulips in Jubilee Park, Chichester)
Tuesday
Guerrilla Gardening
Consists of the illicit cultivation, it is a war against neglect and scarcity of public space as a place to grow things, be they beautiful, tasty (or both!)
(http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html)
Guerrilla Gardening.org set up a blog in 2004 to record their activities on their illegal planting and allows access for others to join their ‘community’ online for others to share their success with their own Guerrilla gardening. The group sets up certain days in which may people participate such as ‘International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day’ and the effects and support is growing with around 2,651 people committing to planting Sunflowers for this event.
Guerrilla Gardening is another inspiration for the final piece as it is all about natural surroundings with urban sites. This interests me as it aims to reconnect people/communities with nature, bringing back the presence of nature within the stone of the cities. For our final project we are looking at bringing communities together with a through line of natural influences. From Guerrilla gardening I have found that using plants/trees as inspiration for community togetherness allows people to reconnect with their living space, their cities, their homes whilst at the same time connecting back to the roots of the earth through natural resources such as plants or trees. Richard from Guerrilla Gardening states on the website “let’s fight the filth with forks and flowers” (http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html) using this collective phrase informs people that this could be done by them for their community to, something which I would hope could translate within our final piece.
Steve Lambert
Artist Statement
For me, art is a bridge that connects
uncommon, idealistic, or even radical ideas with everyday life. I carefully
craft various conditions where I can discuss these ideas with people and have a
mutually meaningful exchange. Often this means working collaboratively with the
audience, bringing them into the process or even having them physically
complete the work. I want my art to be relevant to those outside the gallery –
say, at the nearest bus stop – to reach them in ways that are engaging and fun.
I intend what I do to be funny, but at the core of each piece there is also a
solemn critique. It’s important to be able to laugh while actively questioning
the various power structures at work in our daily lives. I have the unabashedly
optimistic belief that art changes the way people look at the world. That
belief fuels a pragmatic approach to bring about those changes.
(Steve Lambert. About Steve. Available:
http://visitsteve.com/bio/. Last accessed 15th April.)
I will talk to anyone
I set up this table near other individuals and organizations
tabling for political, religious and other causes. When people approach I offer
to talk to them about whatever they would like. If they don’t know what they
want to talk about I keep a list of questions such as:
- How about this weather?
- What have you been up to lately?
- What are you doing after this?
- How are things?
- What have you been up to lately?
- What are you doing after this?
- How are things?
This formula has lead to conversations with all kinds of
strangers on topics from the weather to the Iranian revolution, Native American
philosophy, agriculture, film, etc. The table is very popular.
(Steve Lambert. I will talk to anyone. Available: http://visitsteve.com/made/talkwithanyone/.
Last accessed 15th April.)
(Steve Lambert, I will talk to anyone, 2006)
This is information is extracted from Steve Lambert’s
website, Lambert is an American artist born in 1979, and his field mainly
consists of street art/performance looking at issues to do with advertising and
public space. His piece “I will talk to anyone” is a site generic performance
due to the versatile nature, Lambert can move this piece anywhere as it is dependent
on participation of audience members rather than location he sets the piece in.
This piece is an inspiration for my final performance as I and the rest of the
group are interested in performances that look at audience participation that includes
their thoughts, ideas or memories in order for the performance to be successful.
I also like the way in which Lambert presents himself with his performance style.
I feel that in order to gain participants for a interactive performance you
have to adopt and open and friendly performance persona which is what I feel
makes Lambert’s piece “I will talk to anyone” successful as he allows the
audience to approach him. He does not harass or bother the public but simply
allows them to approach him, which again adds to the open feel to his performance
as it does not create an uneasy or sceptical atmosphere for the audience/participants.
Sunday
Derive in Chichester
"in a derive, one or more person, durng a certain period, drop thier usualmotives for movement and actio, their relation, their work and lesiure activite, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there" (Debord, quoted in Andreotti and Costa, 1996, p.22)This task was one of the first stages towards my final piece, I decided to do this task in order to gain a perspective of a busy afternoon within Chichester. So I therefore went into the center of town and did some free writing whilst I took myself on a Derive. From this passage that I wrote there are a few things which help toward my final piece the sense of community or lack of community within the last line which is important to me as my aim for the final pieces of site specific work is to bring the community of Chichester together to create not only my final piece but a piece of live art for the community by the community as well as my helping hand.
Saturday
Site Specific Theatre
What is Site Specific theatre?
Site Specific theatre is the last step and the goal from the other two tasks (Site Generic, Site Responsive). Leading on from Site Responsive, Site specific theatre is where by a performance is taken out of the traditional conventions of a theatre and performed in the ‘real world’, the piece is completely reliant of the site that is chosen. Creating a piece of Site Specific work uses the space as stimulus to begin with but throughout the process research into the space’s history, uses and perception are essential in order to create a performance specific to the space. Patrice Pavis states that “A large part of the work has to do with researching a place” (Pavis, 1998, Pg337). An example of Site Specific work is Wilson and Wilson’s performance ‘Mulgrave’, this piece “was created for and inspired by Mulgrave Woods, their atmosphere, their topography, their past present and future. It was deeply rooted in its location at every level and involved 16 local performers alongside a professional acting company.”
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As we can see from the quote above ‘Mulgrave ‘is a Site Specific performance centring around the Mulgrave Woods, due to the performance being inspired by the space that it is performed in and the process using research from the space as well, highlights the site specific nature of the work. As the piece cannot be moved to another location as it is dependant of the space’s influences for the piece to work concludes that it is a site Specific performance.
Mulgrave, Wilson and Wilson, 2005
Friday
Site Responsive; little people in a big city
I decided to undertake this task for two reasons, firstly I had done some research on Slinkachu and found the work exceptionally imaginative and playful, something I would aspire to in terms of creating a piece of site responsive using miniature models. (Slinkachu picture right) The second reason I wanted to take on this task was an idea of a surveillance society, being watch and detected every where we go from the CCTV cameras to "keep us safe" to the Internet pages we click on, all is being watched. I had been looking for a way to somehow express this idea of surveillance society to access what it is like to wonder around Chichester knowing about "them" watching you, the little people task is the perfect opportunity to do so as although some people may not see the models and they will go unnoticed, someone will eventually see them and at that point my task will be complete. In order to move forward with my idea I decided to use a blue army man in order to represent the watchful eye of society.
I first begun my task at my laptop in the library on the University of Chicheter campus as I wanted to work from the obscure and small places where we are being watched until we enhance the size of the site until in encases the whole of the University campus (where this task will be based). I decided to only use the University campus rather than the whole of Chichester because I felt that University is a great beacon for all young people to aspire to, to carry on their education and break free from the family home to spread their wings and live independently.I therefore found a irony in my stimulus for this task as even when we believe we are not being watched there is always something in which be are being monitored from.
Thursday
Site Responsive Theatre
What is Site Responsive Theatre?
Site Responsive Theatre is when a performance is created by using a certain site as stimulus and responding to it. This type of theatre is one step on from Site Generic theatre as it is making a conscious decision to be seen in dialogue with its site, performances are created through a process of response to a particular site and then the performances can be moved to similar sites. This therefore shows a step forward from Site Generic as it can only be moved to certain sites to allow the pieces structure and purpose to continue rather than any site. An example of a site responsive piece of theatre is Steven Koplowitz's "Grand Staircase”, consisting of a 15 minute dance performance followed by a 15 minute performance from a choir/musical ensemble upon a grand staircase “The Grand Step Project was conceived as a site-adaptive work to be performed on grand staircases, all over the world”.
(http://www.koplowitzprojects.com/projects/grand%20steps/gs_desciption.html)
This is a site responsive performance as it has been created for outside of the traditional theatre in response to certain site but can still be moved around. This piece uses a specific type of site (a grand staircase) but it is not specific to just one staircase, allowing the piece to be moveable to similar sites.
Stephan Koplowitz-The Grand Step Project-Dancing in the Streets-2004
Wednesday
My Blue Plaque tour
1.”This is where I became Spiderman”
This is the starting point of my tour. One night surrounded by friends I was able to achieve a childhood dream of becoming Spiderman by climbing to the top of a lamppost, unfortunately for me I am not Spiderman.
2. “Our step”
Location- A courtyard on the University of Chichester campus
This step has been a social meeting point since I joined the university and has begun many of my friendships through being a smoker.
3.”This is where I first kissed Phil Cole. 2010”
Location- Oakland’s way (long stay car park)
This was the location of my first kiss with one of my very good friends Phil Cole. In the midst of a funfair our friendship began through this act.
4.”My first Sunday lunch “
Location- The George and Dragon Inn and Pub
My first week of University some friends and me went for our first Sunday lunch together away from home, a bonding session to say the least.
5.”I came to the realisation I was not getting cigarettes”
Location- Chichester Town centre clock
On one very dark night a friend and me ventured into town to find an open shop to buy cigarettes, as my Blue Plaque show we was not so lucky with this quest.
6.”The birth and death bed of Awkward Abbey.2010”
Location- Chichester Cathedral
7.”Best rehearsal ever took place here”
Location- Real Burger Kitchen
One of our more obscure rehearsals lead four girls and a mermaid costume to this restaurant.
8.”Walking with my mate Jack D”
Location- Southstreet
I have walked this road many times under the intoxication of my friend Jack Daniels.
9.”Numb Bum”
Location- The Vestry
Outside of this pub I sat for what seemed like forever with a friend of mine talking about anything and everything.
10.”Hello and Goodbye”
Location- Chichester train station
This place holds many memories for me as it is the meeting point for friends and relatives that vist Chichester but also where I have to say goodbye.
11.”Six is one to many”
Location- Stockbridge road
Here is where few friends and I learnt the hard way about the importance of road safety.
12.”Bros before ho’s”
Location- Caledonian road
13.”Money isn’t an object… until it’s gone”
Location- New Look, East Street
A particular place where is seems my student loan disappears too on a regular basis.
14.”I sat in the rain for you”
Location- Memorial gardens
I came to this place to clear my head when I felt times have gotten too stressful for me.
15.”Six and counting”
Location- St Richards hospital
I have visited here on six occasions since joining university, so it was only right for this to conclude my tour of “my Chichester”.
Site Generic; Blue Plaques, a very personal heritage
I decided to undertake this task as I was interested in how a Site can be viewed in different ways via individuals. I find this interesting as I believe that a places perception for individuals is changed due to the memories in which a Space can hold, looking at the archaeology of a Space on an individual scale or in Mike Pearson’s words “the ghosts and hosts” of a specific site. As a result of this intrigue the aim within this task was for me to draw upon my own memories and experiences of Chichester (Where all my tasks will be based) and create a reflective journey through blue plaques highlighting specific points (of my own experiences) in which the tour will take audience members.
Before I began this task I assumed that the task would be solely about me, my memories and my perception of Chichester but as the task progressed I began to look at the bigger picture of what the task could achieve. I realised that the task was more about not only my personal journey but also the journey I am taking others upon using my past as the stimulus of the piece. I also believe that in doing this task I have allowed insight to what Chichester as a site holds personally for me, therefore highlighting that a sites perception is individual and that it would be wrong to assume everyone is seeing a site in the same way. This would therefore mean that the site's in which I have chosen to do this are Spaces according to Nick Kaye who describes Spaces as "an area subject to transformation" as I have transformed them in some way whereas if they were places i would not be able to do so as Kaye suggests they are "exclusive and self regulating".
Tuesday
Site Generic Theatre
What is Site Generic theatre?
Site generic theatre is creating performances that can take place in many different sites; a site is any position, location or place. This does not mean that anything done outside of a theatre space equals a site generic performance, you must give consideration to the fact you are not necessarily performing to a permanent/committed audience. As well as this you are also without the conventional ‘stage’ therefore you have a lack of illusion and stage elements you would find within a theatre space .Mike Pearson summarises this stating “Staging and performance conceived on the basis of a place in the real world (ergo, outside the established theatre).” (Site-Specific Performance, Mike Pearson,2010, pg7). An example of site generic theatre is Bootworks’ The black box, this piece is a “unique and innovative theatre installation which explores – in practise and theory – vocabularies of form, composition, narrative and montage in film."
(http://www.bootworkstheatre.co.uk/bootworksBox/The_Black_Box.html)
Bootworks use a unique inside-out portable theatre for an audience of one,(as seen below) due to the capacity to move around this piece is a site generic performance as it can take place in many different sites and still retain its performance style and register without being jeopardise by its surroundings.
Bootworks Theatre Company, The Black Box
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