One topic that has my interest to potentially cover with my solo performance in the concept of mortality. Primarily this was inspired by the idea that you cannot take anything with you once you die coupled with various injustices in the world for the sake of money. Whilst I know that my performance is on a very small scale I feel as though these two topics are ones I would like to address together.

Beyond my initial idea I felt like I could involve the ways in which death and mortality is dealt with in various cultures. In particular I felt as though Mexican culture and the Mexican day of the dead would provide for visually interesting performance. Laurie Anderson, who I had previously looked into concerning holograms, had also done a performance partly inspired from the Tibetan book of the Dead called Forty-Nine Days in the Bardo. Fitting with other works by Anderson it was a multimedia experience, and explores themes around Death including  love, dreams and illusion. Taking this as a source of inspiration for my performance feels a good starting point, as I am looking to include technology use in a similar way to Anderson and address similar themes.

As the performance date falls close to my Birthday it could make it seem more personal, and address milestones as you grow old. One potential topic to address with birthdays is how they evoke excitement as a child, become milestones for teenagers and young adults, and then begin to mark growing ‘old’ and can become less eagerly anticipated. Another element concerning mortality to potentially use in the performance would be stories from my Grandfather’s life. He passed away in early 2015, but had lived an extraordinary life and using the style of David Cale I think I could use various parts of his life in my performance. By using the style of David Cale I mean in the sense of his inspiration, where he uses things that are close to him but have not necessarily happened to him, in a way that is personal rather than autobiographical. From these potential topics I believe the next course of action is to a little research into both the Tibetan book of the Dead and the Mexican day of the Dead, in addition to other cultures views on death. From these elements I can further work on a performance, and potentially link these ideas to the use of holograms that I looked into with Laurie Anderson.

About Education (2015) Day of the Dead [Picture] Available from: http://spanish.about.com/cs/culture/a/dayofdead.htm [Accessed 23 May 2016]

Fabric Workshop and Museum (2011) Laurie Anderson: Forty-Nine Days in the Bardo. Philadelphia. Available from: http://www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/Exhibitions/ExhibitionDetail.aspx?ExhibitionId=2eb43448-5bab-4d9b-a9dd-247d53079d43  [Accessed 23 May 2016]

After a brief presentation giving an overview of the performer Laurie Anderson, further research into her work has provided some interesting ideas concerning the use of projection in performance. Whilst a lot of her work is highly focused around sound and music, she has made several interesting pieces using projectors to create, as Anderson has called them, ‘a fake hologram’ (Goldberg, Laurie Anderson 54). By projecting the image of a person onto a sculpted model it gives the impression of a person.

Pictured is Anderson’s piece Dal Vivo where a live stream of a prisoner named Santino was projected onto a life sized sculpture. Whilst he sat in his cell he was filmed and projected several miles to the Prada Foundation in Milan. What makes this piece more than a simple feat of sculpting and projection is the idea that this ‘person’ in the gallery shouldn’t be there, yet is. As a man deemed unfit to be a part of society he is kept imprisoned, but he is simultaneously free, to an extent, in the gallery space. Personally I find the blend of technology and theoretical concept exceptionally interesting and if possible it might be something I take inspiration from technically for my performance. I like the idea of projections being used as they are technically impressive and can create interesting connotations.

One possible idea to work with would be to project a speaking image of myself onto my static body. It could potentially present the difference between the exterior persona that we hold within society compared to our interior selves. However as yet I am not sure where to further take this idea. Currently I do not know what further topics or content to include in the performance or whether it would be fully possible to create a hologram with the technology available in the Lpac studios.

Goldberg, R.(2000) Laurie Anderson. London, Thames & Hudson

Chua, E.  (2006) Figure 2: Image from Dal Vivo [Picture] Available from: http://pmc.iath.virginia.edu/issue.106/16.2chua.html [Accessed 19 February 2016]

Chua, E.  (2006) Figure 3: Image from Dal Vivo [Picture] Available from: http://pmc.iath.virginia.edu/issue.106/16.2chua.html [Accessed 19 February 2016]

Having thought on the idea of what to include within my performance, I decided it best to try and separate the performance itself into three parts and then work out what could fill each of those sections. There will be a “pre-show” announcement that can then lead into an interval, before finally ending in a post-show discussion. Ideally the performance would be located within the Lpac auditorium, with the post show discussion taking place outside in the Zing café where they are held for other shows on at the Lpac. Concerning the content, the easiest parts to form at the minute are the interval and the post-show discussion. The interval will be a comment on superfluous elements to commercial theatre and could potentially include merchandise of some kind, selling Ice-creams and Programmes for the (non) show. If Ice-creams are a possibility I’ll be looking to have one of the correct brands that come in the iconic small cardboard pots, with Losely being a potential brand.

The post-show discussion might cover pre-prepared questions concerning the show, or alternatively explain everything occurring previously  in order to eliminate any ambiguity surrounding the show and to make sure the “proper meaning” comes across. However the content for the pre-show section may require some refinement and large amount of development. It can be seen as all ‘nannying’ the audience, but divided down further into potential material concerning: health and safety, censoring the script to suit the audience, ensuring the audience is fully comfortable and promoting social media. Once I have come up with a full list of potential topics for this section I’ll be able to piece together material to test with it.

One topic for consideration that occurred to me and could be developed further for my solo performance is the notion of getting older. The performance dates for the performances in May include one that is on my Birthday, the 17th, and it will be a ‘milestone’ at 21. I’m unsure of what I will be doing after University ends this year, and I wonder if addressing my performance on growing older might be of interest. Not necessarily just my experience of growing old, but how it is treated in various societies, and how we are unsure of what the future will bring. This would then be given particular relevance by being performed on my birthday itself if at all possible. I had the image of sadly sitting with a party hat and blower, much like the pictured image, however I wasn’t sure where to take this idea. Therefore despite the stage image being quite humorous to me I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. When much later I was thinking about what life for me might be like after University I realised that it could play off my previous idea and perhaps become something more meaningful and relevant to a solo performance occurring on my birthday.

.

There could be the potential inclusion of relevant stories that are close to me but not personal, in a similar manner to that of David Cale. These might include what members of my family or older friends did whilst they were my age and over the years that followed in their twenties, and how their lives developed. Other moments within the performance might not necessarily be stories, but other ideas surrounding the wider concepts of growing older and future uncertainty. Again with reference to David Cale, his structure to the piece Deep in a Dream of You could be of great help. Cale performs 12 monologues around the themes of love and lust. The tone of these monologues vary as does the way in which they are told, some in first person and some as a narrator. Applying a similar structure to my work initially might be a good way to start developing it. From my core concepts of growing older and the uncertainty the future brings, I could develop a number of short scenes or monologues all linked through a common theme.

Whilst attending the performance Hair Peace at the Lpac on the 2nd Marc a particular moment stuck out for me, and made me want to take it and develop it further. It wasn’t part of the show itself and in fact Victoria Melody, the performer of Hair Peace, explicitly said that this wasn’t part of the show and that it came before the show. It was simply Melody checking with the audience if they would like to move, in order to enhance their view of the stage and therefore the performance. This got me thinking on the idea of a performance consisting entirely of this “not a show”, and with further thought I decided to try including all the peripheries of a theatre performance.

These peripheries include everything that occurs other than the performance itself, such as interval ice-creams, programs, promoting the company on social media, sitting in the right seat for your ticket and post-show discussions. Then there are also other elements that can be explored, such as risk assessments, ensuring mobile phones are switched off and announcing to the audience beforehand that the show contains one or more of nudity, violence, potentially offensive themes, harsh language or the ambiguous “adult themes”. Hopefully from this initial concept and short list of topics I will be able to develop a performance. The first step will be to fully explore potential topics, before testing them with my peers if at all possible. Once a number of the topics start to take a more practical shape I will then look to structuring the piece, so that the performance becomes more than a series of thematically connected moments. Despite this early stage in the idea, I feel as though the piece will consist of a “pre-show” segment which is the part primarily inspired by the moment before Hair Peace and then move on to a post-show discussion on what has been seen whilst still being part of the performance itself, hence the working title of Meta.

Unlike my previous ideas, this one feels as though it has a lot of space to develop, a good starting point and a real purpose to keep me focused during the development process. It is also a lot lighter in theme than previous ideas that I had, which could also make it easier to work on for the next two months.