BLOP event
The Arnolfini is an amazing building and really helped frame the intervention based work. It was nice to see the audience looking around the stairwell and in the foyer areas to see what was going to happen next. For my piece, My Tunes I decided that I did not want to have my performance times published or announced, as I wanted to blend into the crowd and appear as if I was not part of the official programme.
My Tunes, Part 1, Foyer, 11.10
At this time there were not many people around and I started to sing ‘Ride like the wind’ which on reflection is the weakest song, which effected how I was feeling, weak. As the music changed I started to move around the space and as I was singing to the leaflets someone came out of a door. I decided to take my shoes and socks off to add to the strangeness of what I was doing. I peered into the café singing ‘This is the modern way’ and a child sat on the floor looking at me while her dad clapped along. The people in the café kept looking my way and the gallery staff looked confused. I moved to the wall opposite the staircase and sang ‘Don’t you want me baby’, putting emphasis on ‘Don’t you want me’ in the direction of passers by, some people walked straight pass me others looked at me and smiled. I moved to the automatic doors at the entrance and sang a few lines to the street again people looked and kept walking by as I turned I started to sing to the glass automatic door which kept sliding sideways at my command. I lent on a column singing to myself holding my shoes and socks and exited down stairs to the basement.
My Tunes, Part 2, Foyer 2/outside toilettes, 2.45
I found this space more interesting as it was in-between two official performance spaces so there were a number of people milling around. The simple act of taking off my socks interested people and they were trying to deliberately ignore me. There was a man hanging outside the toilettes taking photographs of a pretty woman against the white walls he was noticeably irritated by my singing and kept staring at me. I moved to the balcony and sang over it then just turned and posed by hanging out there with my arms stretched out holding the railings and staring through the window opposite me. Occasionally I would look at people but I was really focusing on the music and I started to click my fingers. I moved across the space and stood on the ledge of the window singing and clicking I stepped down and sat on the ledge. There were two young girls one came near me and I started to clap her mum came later she looked a little worried, and kept asking her daughter if she was OK. I moved to the edge of the doorway and sang as loud as I could and the staff kept looking at me from time to time I think they were not sure if I was really performing or not.
My Tunes, Part 3, Foyer, 5.45
I was waiting for the theatre performances to finish so I could start singing and clapping to, ‘Take a bow’ but they were running late, which started the nerves going. As the doors opened I sang nervously clapping my hands with my rucksack on, people looked at me and either went for the exit or made their way to the stairs nervously or dismissively looking at me. The more nervous I became the better it got as it clearly made people feel uncomfortable, a little annoyed and a bit sick of this person trying to get their attention in such an un-spectacular way. I felt like a negative magnet pushing people away but I just wouldn’t stop and I was going to sing my last two songs even though it felt really uncomfortable.
To see a video clip from this performance please follow this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJYYR1gPOto).
