Object Theatre: Practical Session

Object Theatre: Practical Session with Sean Myatt

image 02.

Introduction to Object Theatre and beginning to get beneath the material. *What is the object? Imagine it moving - if it could, how? 







We began with a simple exercise [see image 03.] and tried to imagine how the object could move, by stripping away the usual normality and understanding of what the object was and giving it an entirely new function it was easy to imagine it coming to life. We then did another exercise where we collectively 'married' the objects [see image 02.] to gain a better understanding of how quickly we can associate objects as living by simply initiating our imaginative skills. 

We discussed how the notion of 'play' is key within object theatre. Sean talked about how when a child plays with objects they feel it and even taste it to understand the quality of what they are playing with - as adults, we tend to lose this, so by exercising our minds to simply 'play' it releases the element of fun that adulthood can relentlessly steal from us. I feel that through object theatre we can gain the positive, energetic and care-free mind of the child. *This particular part of the conversation reminded me of 'Poetics of Space' by philosopher Gaston Bachelard who talked about and explored the idea of our home being the centre of our universe, particularly looking at childhood and the importance of play. 

image 03.

Alien Encounters: Nottingham Contemporary October 2015

At the 'Alien Encounters' exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary I found myself thinking about space. Installation has always intrigued me and how the atmosphere instantly creates mood.

I particularly enjoyed Gallery 2 [image 01]  as it was both tailored to visual and audio stimuli. Headphones were suspended in the centre of the room - I like that it was optional participation [to wear them] and could otherwise be viewed as a sculpture or installation [something I explored during my undergraduate degree].
What is an Alien Encounter?Is it something we have never witnessed before?Is that even possible? 

Mask Theatre: Talk

Mask Theatre: Talk

In October, 2015 I attended a Mask talk in the Waverly Theatre. This talk inspired me in a multitude of ways, the main one being that I was introduced to how Masks can be used as a way of therapy for people. The reason that this resounded with me was that this particular therapy [using Masks that have both colour and facial expressions on them] could be, or is already, a way to connect on both an emotional, mental and psychological level with children and adults.

What I took from this experience is that I imagine that this is a very simple, effective and clever way to engage with children and adults with Autism - who may not have verbal communication and naturally connect with visual stimuli such as colour and instinctively respond to body and facial language as they [from my life experience and understanding] predominantly use their sight as a way of quickly understanding information.

I'm still rendering the process of 'embodiment' - being in this room and watching several individuals embody the mask and then brush themselves off afterwards as though removing somebody from them was a very emotionally moving experience. I also found the 'charging' interesting - the individual who is about to wear the mask not being aware of what the mask looks like, and after the individual putting the mask onto the face watching other people perform/ act like the mask and then 'getting to know' the mask through the people who are charging. I make it sound very complicated - but it was such a refreshing and raw way of witnessing performers take on a persona using their body and mind to merge together to create a character [instead of simply looking at the mask and internally, selfishly deciding who the mask is and what it is].

I'm extremely inspired and I intend to read through the booklets that was provided at the session to gain a better insight to the work and the research itself. I feel like this talk has moved me closer to my Research Question.

Dismaland: Puppet Show

Banksy's Dismaland, 2015

I was fortunate enough to attend the Dismaland exhibition in Western-super-Mare this year. A piece that took me by surprise was a Puppet show [name unknown - to be updated] as I wasn't expecting Puppetry and Object Theatre to be used in this particular setting as in my experience it's very rare to come across the traditional notion of a Puppet being used in a contemporary Fine Art based exhibition.

The puppets were operated from above and each one [four in total] was fixed to the object below, therefore keeping it in place. This subsequently meant that each puppet could only make a 'jumping' movement. However doing this meant that a singular puppeteer could manipulate all four puppets at once. In the 'traditional' sense of Puppetry, I'd argue that using this particular method [connecting the puppet to a solid object below] prevented the character from formulating; I couldn't go beyond the fact that the puppet was simply an object because there was no real effort to suggest that the puppet was anything but an object. It made me realise that a puppet predominantly comes 'alive' when the puppeteer manipulates it and it is a vital, entirely essential component. Despite being pleasantly surprised to come across this piece, it did frustrate me because as a viewer who is interested in Puppetry I felt like this demonstration was somehow demeaning puppeteers who dedicate themselves entirely to their skill and their craft.

Loughborough Fine Art Degree Show 2015: Craig Parr

In 2015 I attended the Loughborough Fine Art degree show. An influential piece in the show was the 'Trumpton Regeneration Project' by undergraduate student Craig David Parr. 

I was fortunate enough to enter the space whilst Parr was in character. In the video shown above I documented Parr performing as the persona of Trumpton. I found the performance extremely engaging and it was challenged further through the way in which he used props, stage and installation to develop his performance. I also appreciated having the opportunity as a viewer to physically be in the presence of the performer - it allowed me to go beyond a visual encounter and create an emotional response too as I was able to interact with the character.

I felt as though the 'Tower' [installation/ sculpture] gave the illusion of a stage, without the traditional theatrical stage being present. It inspired me to consider the way in which the surrounding impacts on a performance and also interrogate the concept of character embodiment.

The Internal Conflict of Language: Puppetry and Object Theatre

The Internal Conflict of Language: Puppetry and Object Theatre

Being constantly inspired by authors such a Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman and Rowling it's no wonder that I find myself lost within fantastical worlds - where universes are developed within the imagination of the writer and articulated through words alone. I admit that I often find myself depending entirely on my own mind, my own imagination to ensure that I can escape my social anxieties and my constant state of fear and panic. This, to me, is why language is so fascinating; the simple act of talking and when verbal communication isn't possible, it's that what takes it's place that intrigues me.

Below [images 1, 2 and 3] is an example of just this - what happens in the void between noise [spoken word] and silence.

The Boy with Tape on His Face: image 1

The Boy with Tape on His Face: image 2

The Boy with Tape on his Face: image 3

I like to think that through performance there is a possibility to bring all types of people together to share a moment, an experience. 'The Boy with Tape on his Face', a performance is described as comedy however for me witnessing the performances, especially when I first set eyes on this show, it is quite challenging for me emotionally. As I grew up with an Autistic brother who could be compared to this man - mute and unable to speak, with only bodily movement and gesture to articulate his emotion and feeling. In this moment of watching this performer move and manipulate objects I find myself viewing puppetry and object theatre as a possible way of communication for everyone and anyone. Of course, it could be argued that puppetry has and always will be yet another way of communication. But for the sake of commenting on this particular performance I'd view this type of performance as a way in particular for disabled or impaired individuals to express the internal struggle, step outside the barrier of uttered words. This method of speaking through an object or puppet could potentially make it possible to alleviate some of the tension that I personally know that mental illness and disability creates.

Introduction: Me

My name is Laura-Emily Swain, I have just completed my undergraduate degree in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University. I am currently studying MA Puppetry and Digital Animation.

My interests include writing, performing, knitting and everything concerning the Harry Potter universe (written by J. K Rowling).

My influences tend to be found within literature such as authors Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman and Trudi Canavan, and I'm also inspired by the moving image and animation works of Studio Ghibli and Dave McKean.

Additional information:

Alter-ego/ performer name: Anxiety-Anne The Artist

Exhibitions Team Member at Bohunk Institute: 

Bohunk Institute, Nottingham - Staff 

Municipal Liaison for Derbyshire: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

MirrorMask by Neil Gaiman: Librarian Scene

I find that reading and writing is essential to build on my performance skills and understanding of the narrative. Through looking at other artists, writers, animators and performers I understand the many ways in which a story can develop.

A particular one that stands out to me is the librarian scene in the film 'MirrorMask', written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave Mckean. The scene itself is based around bringing a lot of additional information together in a small clip where we, as the viewer, clearly understand what is happening. I find it very engaging and easy to understand as the animators have used several different layers and types of animation to create the aesthetic. Voice acting is something of strong interest to me as I'm intrigued within language, language barriers and gesture found within performance.

Perhaps voice acting is something I wish to pursue in the future. What are we without language? How does not having the use of language effect our quality of life?

Descriptive:
+ animation/ graphics
+ layered
+ fantastical
+ short story
+ voice acting
+ simplistic
+ easy to understand
+ engaging
+ artistic/ creative

Cindy Sherman: "Untitled Horrors"

Cindy Sherman 

Sherman is an American photographers and film director, known for her conceptual portraits.

Her main tool is her camera, and her props include the costume, makeup, lighting and masks. She uses her props to morph her body and usual appearance into something entirely different - to the point where her sense of 'self' is depleted. I find that through the images she is able to build a narrative between the viewer and herself in the way that she frames and poses within the image. Whilst I feel like there was an element of 'posing' and awareness, I still feel like the images have the potential to be action shots - as though the character she is capturing is simply just 'paused' temporarily in the images.

She makes me consider the importance of gesture, the way in which she holds herself in the photo and the way in which I can sense her presence almost as thought it were a film. Perhaps that is what she aims to achieve - the notion that these images are in fact film. 

I'm also intrigued in the way Cindy uses prosthetics to create particular looks - further obscuring her sense of normality and identity. I'd be keen to use prosthetics in my practice to gain a sense of how this can be used to create puppets or objects in the future.

Ernesto Neto: "Humanoids"

From the Humanoid series by Ernesto Neto I ask the questions:
Do objects have the potential to breathe like we do?

"A humanoid (/ˈhjuːmənɔɪd/; from English human and -oid "resembling") is something that has an appearance resembling a human being." - wiki

I'm intrigued by the notion of sculpture having the potential to become an additional part of a human and when wearing the sculpture itself, it being a living thing. We can apply this same concept to costume and that the performer essentially brings the costume itself to life.

In puppetry and object theatre a key element of the performance is to create the illusion that the puppet or object is alive. I'd say that the idea of creating a different or other reality is essential to prompt the viewer to use their imagination. Perhaps it's about forcing a person to imagine themselves differently? For example, on the left there are images of the participants sitting within the Humanoid sculptures - do they feel comfortable about being in this form? What experience do they get from essentially becoming an object? 

For some people they may not realise that the act of wearing the form/ sculpture/ object is a performance in itself. Participatory art is optional and I like the idea of a person consciously deciding whether they want to take part in the event or not. This way the artist and participator creates a trust and bond without ever having communicated before.

Marvin Gaye Chetwynd: Brain Bug Performance

One of my key influences is works of Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, I particularly connect with the performance 'Brain Bug' as the main element of the performance [the Bug itself] was a larger scale puppet operated internally by 3 people. I'm interested experiential/ momentary art, which requires a person to witness it first-hand and the reaction/ emotion taken from it is usually internal and cannot be replicated.

As performance art becomes a more wide known form of working/ creating, I feel like the contemporary industry is beginning to show and promote more performance artists. I feel like this is why puppets have began to change in terms of how they are operated and appear.

Paul McCarthy: "Painter" 1995

Painter is a performance by Paul McCarthy, he is building the narrative of an Artist in their studio. The performance takes place on a set; one artist studio is on the left, the other artist studio is on the right. McCarthy passes between these two spaces, using paints and other props as a way to communicate.

I enjoy how in Painter McCarthy plays on dark humour to create the atmosphere of an artist attempting to create an immaculate and perfect piece of art work, but is doomed to fail due to his own [ridiculously high] expectation of what art should be and look like. To me, this performance creates a paradigm between the reality of the working artist and the outsiders point of view of the working artist; the fact that artists live and breathe their work, and sometimes this can be both meditative and self-destructive.

I feel like this performance brings together two of my main key interests; language and gesture. As there is little verbal communication it's mainly movement and gesture that tells the narrative - it makes me realise that language isn't essential within performance and that objects themselves play a key part in how we understand the plot, setting and character.