Although my plans were to perform in the small carpeted corridor mentioned in a previous post, I had to compromise the space due to the lighting choices that I had made, which clashed with those of two other groups in the same corridor. I have moved further down the building and have found a corner just past the CAP classroom 325 to perform my piece. I still feel as though the qualities, properties, and meanings of this site go hand in hand with my messages, due to the fact that this place is still part of a corridor and lights can still be turned off for my idea of presenting it as an off-limits or uninhabited area, so that the audience receive the piece as somewhat unfinished, and once I break out of the box and run off into the light, that's when the true piece should begin. Instead they're presented with how it came to be.
 |
| The corner |
I think there is also added meaning in the fact that this box which I will be 'trapped' in butts against a line of lockers. In other words, there is a motif of locked boxes, and precious items being stored inside of them. The idea that there is something precious trapped inside the cardboard box is therefore insinuated. Although the site is completely different to the slightly suffocating nature of the other corridor due to the previous properties of carpeted floors and low ceilings, the echoing properties of the corridor can also add to the piece, and it is instead too airy and has an empty, heartless quality. The piece could then take on less meanings of claustrophobia and yearnings to escape, and instead comment on the cruelty and coldness of the outside world.
After finding this site, I conducted a full run of the piece. It was especially helpful in terms of figuring out logistics and practicalities of being in the box the whole time. I realize now that to keep pace in the scene I need to make a mass of cranes in advance, so that I can create more whilst in the box, but will be able to post a large amount out of the peepholes on a regular basis (as making a paper crane takes a while). Posting out a large quantity of cranes out will also allow me to achieve the final image of a plethora or cranes strewn around the box instead of the few that I manage to make in half an hour. I have begun the process of making these cranes, and they will be in the box with me, but I will ensure they are out of audience view.
The run left me with loads of notes that tie into my risk assessment form, but these adjustments will also benefit my piece aesthetically. For example, to allow me to escape easily from the box if I need to make a quick exit (in case of emergency), I'll remove the bottom flaps of the box (seen in the picture of the right hand side) so that it can be lifted off of me in a hurry. Cutting these flaps off will also give the box a neater silhouette which will add a slick edge to the piece.
I've also decided that I will in fact be dressed as a crane as well as making paper cranes, and I feel this represents the idea of ourselves being the answer to our predicaments, but being too blind to see it. This reflects the complexity of the mind, but also its ability to over-complicate situations. Because of my new ideas for costume, I have been looking at the facial markings of whooping cranes in order to imitate them with face paint. I then plan to be wearing white, and wear white wings. The audience may see this whilst peering into the box, but it will also be revealed when I burst out of it in the final moments - not by making perfect cranes, but in a fit of rage. I feel this then comments on how natural instincts take over and can help solve complications through their simplicity.
The Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America and one of the most awe-inspiring, with its snowy white plumage, crimson cap, bugling call, and graceful courtship dance.
Color Pattern
Adults are bright white birds with accents of red on the head. The legs, bill, and wingtips are black. Immatures are whitish below but mottled brownish-rusty above.
-Information taken from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/id
The information I found out about Whooping Cranes, including their graceful qualities, only served to support my ideas about how something so delicate, like the brain, can become jaded when it is trapped (like a bird in a box), and its own delicacy is ruined by over complication of things. Sometimes, simplicity is what creates grace.
Before the performance next week I will have to source all of my fairy lights, face paint, my wings, white clothing, and feathers, as well as creating more paper cranes and making adjustments to the box. I plan to run my piece with all of the lights that are needed, in the proper running time of 30 minutes, in order to fully test the conditions I will be subjected to and assess whether the situation is safe and bearable. In addition to this, a full risk assessment of the venue will be published in my blog, detailing the hazards of the surrounding area.
No comments:
Post a Comment