Rehearsing for Circus Between Worlds

We had a really productive rehearsal last night. It was the first time that Charlie and I had rehearsed wearing our outfits, and I am pleased with how well they fit us and what we look like in them.

We tried out some alternative performance routines, and I introduced the presence of a 'safety zone'. This is basically a length of rope positioned on the floor in the shape of a large circle on the floorThe safety zone functions in the following way: the characters are trying to keep their own balls in their buckets, and when they are in the 'safe zone', they can still pick them up off the floor and put back in their buckets. However, when the balls are outside of the 'safe zone', the characters cannot pick them up. Therefore, both characters are trying to get as many of the other characters balls outside the 'safe zone'.

Outfits for Circus Between Worlds performance

The two characters in my performance for Circus Between Worlds have matching outfits, but in different colours. In keeping with the Circus Between Worlds colour palette, I have chosen two bright but distinctive colours; blue and orange so as to clearly differentiate both characters and for them to stand out and be easily visible.

I want the outfits to be fairly easy to move in, practical, and something that both male and female performers can wear. My choice, belt and braces.

I really struggled to get small sized belt and braces for me to wear. There is a distinct lack of these made for females.                                                

Before

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Since there was little choice of colours, and certainly none that fitted the Circus Between Worlds colour palette, I bought some ink and dyed the fabric orange.

I am delighted with the results:

After

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Circus Between Worlds Rehearsal with artists from Edinburgh and Glasgow Schools of Art

Spent an exciting and productive day at Edinburgh School of Art meeting with the artists taking part in Circus Between Worlds from Edinburgh School of Art and Glasgow School of Art. 



After some initial performance warm up exercises, we showed each other the performances that we are developing for Circus Between Worlds.

A musical jellyfish performance

A wandering, stumbling, shuffling, music making creature

Tatoo woman

Fortune Telling mermaid

Hand whistle

Darth Vadar

Workshopping circus noises for Deanna Smith

Circus Between Worlds Artist Profile - Frankie Burr

Frankie Burr works across mediums using a single word as a starting point; circus, spiral, confession. Creating a narrative using history and structure to make a series of work, her most recent works have been site-specific installations exploring emotion within a specific space, creating a space within a space.





For more information visit

http://frankieburr.co.uk/index.html

The circus has always been a place in which the audience is told a story and becomes part of a story. Frankie Burr’s alter ego Fatima Frankly will perform as ‪#‎Trapunzel‬, a fat, bearded, middle-aged woman in a red sparkly leotard dress. Now there’s a story…

Announcing the Circus Between Worlds Facebook page

With a month to go until the opening of Circus Between Worlds today sees the launch of the Circus Between Worlds Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/circusbetweenworlds/) and twitter (@circusbetween) account.



Each day will focus on a participating artist, collective or collaboration.



The ball starts rolling with Zoe and Neil today and from tomorrow posts will be in alphabetical order.



Walker & Bromwich are known internationally for their large-scale sculptural works, participatory events and exhibitions that invite audiences to imagine better worlds.



Their expansive art works re-ignite Utopian ideologies through protest, pageant, celebration and contemplation, and have, at their core, a collective desire for an alternative way of living.

http://www.walkerandbromwich.org.uk/home.html

Film and video production workshop

Cecilia Stenbom lead a film and video production workshop which I attended today. Cecilia is a Newcastle-based artist filmmaker who is currently undertaking a PhD at Newcastle University. 

“My work is focused on media saturated, consumer driven everyday environments and how they affect human response, notions of identity, behaviour and interaction. I examine collective experiences through moving image content by reinterpretation and appropriation, using narrative and plot as tools.I examines anxieties and desires, reinterpreting scenarios within entertainment, mass media, retail, and domestic life. I work predominately with moving image content through film and installation by re-contextualize narrative for the gallery space or adapting it for the cinema screen.”

Cecilia Stenbom

The workshop covered all aspects of film and video production from preproduction, fundraising, casting, legal requirements, through the types of equipment (video cameras, microphones, lighting) and to postproduction.



Cecilia began by showing us SYSTEM, a short film shot in a shopping centre featuring two sisters, each with their own neurotic responses to everyday life. Through the experiences of these two characters, SYSTEM explores collective anxieties, irrational behaviour and the quest for control in public space. The plot is loosely based on a number of one-to-one interviews that Stenbom conducted with people about everyday behaviours and habits in communal spaces.

Throughout the workshop we referred back to the SYSTEM footage to demonstrate how certain results were achieved, or to explain a concept or technique when put in practice.

When we were discussing how to achieve the kind of image desired, Cecilia showed us a very useful diagram to illustrate the relationship between the ISO, the aperture and the shutter speed.

For more information about Cecila's practice visit 

http://www.ceciliastenbom.se/index.asp

https://systemthefilm.wordpress.com



Artist Films 2014 - Cecilia Stenbom from CVAN, North East on Vimeo.

Circus Between Worlds rehearsal - the boob lady makes an appearance

The Newcastle Circus Between Worlds troupe met tonight to show Neil and Zoe what we are working on. The NCL troupe consists of artists Olivia Turner, Stella Dixon, Deanna Smith, Sarah Grundy, Charlie Dearnley and me. Katy Bentham is also involved - Katy is an artist but rather than creating a performance for the event, she has kindly offered to assist us with our performances.

Over the next few days and weeks I will be profiling each of the artists in the Newcastle troupe, starting with Stella Dixon.

Her practice specifically addresses issues regarding the objectification of women in popular culture through the use of performance, video and photography. 

Stella Anne Dixon is a Newcastle based artist who specifically addresses issues regarding

the

objectification of women in popular culture through the use of performan

ce, video and

photography.

Stella Dixon will be performing as Boob lady.

She writes, "Using exaggerated motifs, I have created a character whose limbs have been manipulated to highlight the organs of the body that are most associated with female objectification. The aim of the work is to use the modified female form to create something new, a creature that is a product of society."



The costume construction is progressing well, and Stella tried out some moves as Boob lady.