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.