Long time, no blog!

Shannon Turnbull

Apologies for not blogging in a while, things have been a little turbulent on the Solo Performance front. After going back to the drawing board, it became very difficult to search for new ideas. I wanted to take my work towards non-autobiographical material but was otherwise advised to stay with myself, my thoughts and my experiences. I therefore felt it necessary to look for things that attracted me rather than waiting for something to happen. I mean I already have my past life experiences but I needed a concrete stage for conveying them.

I started to look at videos and images that I may feel a connection too. I wanted to take my performance from stimulus material, use that as an influence and perform in my own way. I came across the English artist Banksy and started to look at his politically driven graffiti sprawled across the streets of Bristol. His work intrigued me as his images created a subtext, a truth and a striking image all in one picture. Banksy has dealt with an array of political and social issues including anti-war, anti-capitalism, poverty, alienation, hypocrisy and despair. These images fascinated me and although not a Solo Performance in itself, this art would stem from something he felt passionate about.

This one was one of my favourites! Just a normal maid employed by the high class elite people, just sweeping things under the carpet.. just like in reality!
This one was one of my favourites! A normal maid employed by the high class elite people, sweeping things under the carpet.. a true reflection of society!
This picture struck me hard as it shows the difference in the world. A starving young child holding hands with two famous consumer products. Disneyland and Macdonalds..
This picture struck me hard as it shows the difference in the world. A starving young child holding hands with two famous consumer products. Disneyland and Macdonalds..
I love this as it shows that homosexuality is natural and it doesn't matter who you are or what profession you are in. Being men of the law doesn't matter as you are a human first and foremost.
I love this as it shows that homosexuality is natural and it doesn’t matter who you are or what profession you are in. Being men of the law doesn’t matter as you are a human first and foremost.
Shopping till you drop, the fact that the world is in poverty and we are becomes passive consumers, doesn't stop the ignorant people who contribute to it.
Shopping till you drop, the fact that the world is in poverty and we are passive consumers, doesn’t stop the ignorant people who contribute to it.

The one picture that stood out most for me was one of a young girl, dressed head to toe in black and white reaching out/letting go of a red balloon. I felt a connection to this young girl and wanted to explore why.. I took the picture along with me to class and asked my fellow students what they thought when confronted with it. I got mixed reactions but all felt connected in some way. Some said that the image was metaphorical for loss whilst others said it was for gain. I decided to draw upon my own conclusions and use this as a stimulus for my performance.

There is always hope.
There is always hope.

My perception of this image was of a small timid girl in a world of confusion losing something that was dear to her. This struck me in my personal life as I have experienced loss of a huge amount. From family members to love, to losing myself and losing what I felt was right. This little girl had lost her balloon and I felt like she would do everything in her power to get it back. However I also felt a strong sense of freedom, contentment and happiness. She wasn’t losing her balloon, she let it go. She decided that she didn’t need it anymore and wanted someone else to experience what fun she had. Letting go was something I wanted to look at in my performances especially from an autobiographical perspective. I had gained something in my life that has made me who I am and ‘there is always hope’ stood out for me. No matter what way you would look at this image, to me happiness is there. Whether you let go of something or it flies away without you approval, it has happened and even though there is no way of getting it back.. there is always hope!

 

WORKS CITED:

All images from Google Images. Online:https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=banksy+art&biw=1366&bih=624&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=-WR-UYH_KcST0AWA8YDQAg#imgrc=_ (accessed: 29th April 2013).

Back to the drawing board!

Shannon Turnbull

Unfortunately after discussing my ideas with the module co-ordinator, I have now been sent back to the drawing board as my ideas were not sustainable. I am at a lost cause and feel like I have nothing to show for all the hard work I have done. However after discussions around why my performance wouldn’t work, I can understand some practical issues raised. Why would an audience want to come and observe my life? It is a good autobiographical performance however I now feel I would like to pursue something non-autobiographical.. the performance aspect of my original idea would be difficult to produce as the main body of the performance would be the exhibition. This would also differentiate myself from the rest of the group in wanting to do something objective. I feel that the problem with Solo Performance is the want for it to be original, unqiue and in some ways revolutionary. This is where I feel I am restricting myself, I need to acknowledge that my performance might be simple yet very powerful.

I still have ideas surrounding the nostalgia of the 90’s and reactions to emotive music but I’m not sure as of yet what my Solo Performance will consist of. Nevertheless, this has taught me that not ‘anything’ and ‘everything’ can constitute Solo Performance and that with every bit of rough, SHOULD come a ton of smooth.

‘We have all the better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be’ – Jane Austen

Shannon Turnbull

‘The Archive of My Life’

I have summarised my ideas and noted my intentions for both myself and audience and have concluded a feasible and emotive performance. Drawing on my ‘up and down’ persona I will delve into my life and experiences prompted by home videos and specific objects.

The performance will start as soon as people walk into the studio, they will be asked to walk around ‘the exhibition of my life’ – there will be objects ranging from clothes, videos, baby photo’s, teddies, phones, medals etc that I have acquired in my life, all of whom mean something to me. There will be place cards next to the items stating WHAT IT IS, WHEN DID I USE/MAKE/CONDUCT THIS AND WHY IT IS SENTIMENTAL TO ME? Whilst the audience is walking around being informed of those parts of my life, a silent home video from when I was younger will play in the background on a projection. The spectators will watch this but not be able to hear the audio, they will think nothing of it and continue to look around the exhibition. I will be placed in darkness surrounded by barriers in the middle of the floor. I wanted to use physical props to create a sense of claustrophobia, people will look but as I will be motionless their attention will be drawn to other aspects in the studio.

I would then like a blackout as people are walking round and then the home video to start playing with sound. They will be drawn to that and watch the repeat but with audio. When that has finished, I want a spotlight shone onto myself surrounded by these barriers, starting my monologue with “Do you ever feel like you’re life is an exhibition?” – a scripted/improvised monologue will then follow. I am going to perform partially improvised because that captures the crux of my performance. As previously explained, I have a very up and down personality and because that mood changes very quickly and becomes controlling, myself and Martin have agreed that I will perform how I want and what I feel like on that day.

This isn’t set in stone as of yet but I would then like to choose 3 or more objects in that exhibition to interact with and comprise a short story about. I am still unsure as to what I want the audience to feel and to what outcome I want to achieve, however exhibiting my life including the bad parts is a big step for a Solo Performance and hopefully my monologue with be both emotional, exhilarating and humorous.

Meaningful media..

Shannon Turnbull

What strikes me about Solo Performance is the range of media outlets and techniques you can use. Solo is about the self yet by working correctly with technology to create an atmosphere difficult to achieve by just human interaction, it infuses a piece in a way that becomes mesmerizing. It would be difficult to create something on this level but Avatar incorporate basic technological aspects to sustain audience attention and showcase potential as a Solo Performer.

 

I enjoy watching this piece and appreciate how her bodily movement connects to the projections behind her. This must have taken time and many rehearsals to establish her intentions. It is a promotional video so to sell Solo Performance like this is brilliant. Balancing heavy body movement, large and colourful projections along with the dark silhouettes which also embody the space, inspires me into wanting to embody my dialogue and physicality in my performing. 

There is an aspect of story-telling within this video, when discussing the cultural strain and strong reliability on social-networking sites in the modern day which in turn is communicated through different projections of various websites in the background and lines of speech overlapping the visual. This makes clear that media can help with the story-telling and by allowing yourself to embody and work with and for projections, it may help to clarify your piece and make for entertainment with the audience.

I would like to use media in my performance but not to this extent. I don’t want my whole performance to rely solely on media and projections, however I would like to have home video’s play in the background to set the scene, agenda and tone of my piece and respond to them in my dialogue. I would still embody space and create a bold connection to what is being shown however not communicate to the video and disregard audience interpretation and response.

 

 

WORKS CITED:

Avatar (2011) Solo Performance AVATAR Promotional Video, Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VajYFGNKemA (last accessed: 1st March 2013).

Falling down, getting back up..

Shannon Turnbull

Myself and Martin have had discussions based around my initial ideas and I have been directed towards the approach of capturing moments in my own life in which the ‘falling down’ and ‘getting back up’ are confronted. The mood will set my piece and emotional connections will be established from my point of view. I think I may have to start by writing down some autobiographical events in my life where I have felt like giving up and wanting to end it all and also when I have felt that nothing could taint my happiness. I will hunt through old diaries to remind myself what I felt in exact moments in time and when I felt I was not concerned with the past and wasn’t worrying about the future..

The ‘life story’ of Shannon Turnbull is a nerve-racking and uneasy concept to perform, especially when I am the solo performer alone for 12 minutes, however I have realised that not everyone should have to or will actually like it. Some may find it uncomfortable, funny, inexperienced and or just plainly unemotional, but the point is I have to try and not consume myself with thoughts of doubt and go with it. I won’t try to make it funny, I won’t try to pull on people’s heart strings, I will express the experiences of my life in the mood I possess at the time. Trying to be funny and make my emotional baggage seem humorous will ultimately result in failure and a forced representation of true feelings.

I am unsure of which practitioner to stem my research from, however stand-up might be a good place to start. Their dispositions and skill of using their voice, body and material to make things funny, is captivating. Their embodiment of the space creates the physicality in the story-telling which holds the audiences’ attention. Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Carr, Lee Evans, Greg Davies are to name but a few comedians I like and admire, so I will research into their own techniques which may direct me towards a concrete idea..