I completed the May Challenge today. Which in a nut shell was to re-make Sophie Calle’s, Suite Venitienne. The piece saw the artist follow someone she met at an opening, undercover.
I decided like Calle to use a gallery as a starting point and began at Nottingham Contemporary. I waited outside until an appropriate person left the gallery. As it happened a person walked up the side of the gallery who I decide to follow. He was clearly a tourist, and certainly lost. I thought he would be interesting to follow as he may be sight seeing.
As I followed the tourist it became clear that perhaps he was a bad choice, he kept pausing, looking at the map and turning around. It was going to be hard for me to be discreet. At one point he stopped near a church where I pretended to take photographs before following him up the street.
The man continued to pause and check the map. He then headed onto a busier street and walked parallel to where he had previously been. He then turned into an alleyway which I followed him down. Part way he turned around and clearly saw me, as he walked passed I avoided eye contact. I walked on, paused and then turned back to follow him. We walked a little further and he stopped to check the map whilst looking at me, I walked passed as a diversion. When I turned around he had disappeared. He was clearly on to me. I check around the streets but couldn’t see him.
I then decided to follow an old lady on a zimmer frame believing that with her speed she should be easy to follow. I had intended to follow one person but after not spending as long as intended with the first person I followed a second.
I ended up following the old lady into Marks and Spenser. From there she spent over an hour looking at the same four isles. I followed at a distance as she kept returning to the same pair of orange trousers. At one point I made a diversion to look at a product and ended up loosing her. I looked around all the isles and couldn’t find her.
Its clear I’m not cut out to be a stalker nor am I cut out to be a secrete agent. This was the challenge I thought was the most intense and deeply challenging. The thought of doing this scared me but I managed get over my reservations and undertake the challenge. The experience now exists as a text and photographs, they are on my website:
http://www.ameliabeavisharrison.com/2010challenge.html
I am still applying to TV shows for the June Challenge, however no more auditions, just a few phone interviews.
Just returned from an audition for the June challenge. I have applied for several TV shows some more long shots than others and today was the first day of experiencing an audition, it was also the first show so far to offer me one, not only that it was the ‘Apprentice’.
I had to be in the venue in Birmingham for 11.00am, upon entering the building I took the lift to the third floor and signed in, giving the two ladies on the desk a full application form (further to the online on I had completed that got me to the audition), a contributor release form (stating they could film what they liked, and portray it in anyway), a CV and photograph. After this I had to sit with other hopeful candidates in a room that had lines of chairs facing the front where signs read ‘Silence must be observed at all times.’
At five minuet intervals groups of ten candidates were directed into another room. Upon entering the room we were told to line up behind numbers on the floor (I was number one) and wait until our number was called before saying why we were the next ‘Apprentice’ in 30 seconds. I had a well honed speech prepared, I got half way through and forgot everything I was saying, out of context I said ‘splendid’ … of all things why splendid, I dont even say that in conversation! Never the less I knew my ‘Apprentice’ audition had finished then. Five of the numbers were read out, those people got through to the second round, five of us remained, we got sent home.
It was an interesting experience, and in truth I am too honest, I didn’t do enough pretending to be a business person. For some reason I lost sight of the challenge and ended up taking the audition some what seriously, but in the wrong way. Ah well whats next to apply for? I have had a couple of telephone interviews but I seem to be the wrong kind of person they are looking for. Im aiming for Come Dine With Me!
The May challenge is still incomplete, I seem to be putting it off, so the next free day I have I intend to complete the work. That free day is this weekend!
For June I accepted the following challenge:
June Challenge
‘Test your physical and mental agility to the limit by appearing on a television quiz show or game show.’
Challenged by Anneka French
Now that’s a challenge that Im quite excited about! So far I have applied to Master Mind and The Apprentice. I believe you apply then go to at least one audition (normally more) before being selected, so this is going to be tough!!
I have taken the decision to not over think the May Challenge which in a nut shell is to follow some one until I am sussed. When making work I usually like to attribute meaning to every aspect of it but for the May Challenge I feel the very nature of it is suggesting other wise. I am going to select a day to fulfill the challenge and let the moment develop the project, rather than over plan it.
I know that several of the participants from the April Challenge have received their challenge packs, hopfully the others have too. I think it will be interesting to see who actually undertakes the challenge, especially as the people vary in how well I know them. They have until the end of the month to send back their results, Im quite excited and looking forward to seeing what they have / haven’t done!
If you are re-making someones work then it seems important to know that work inside out. However knowing Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne in not such a deep way seems sufficient. Why? Perhaps it is that by re-creating this piece for the May challenge I only need the basics. Perhaps it is because the voyeur role requires minimal information. Perhaps it is because too much information would over complicate my own actions. What ever the reason my research has not been as extensive as I would usually attempt, and for some reason for this piece that seems acceptable.
Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne conjures romanticism and lust perhaps the settings of Paris and Venice go some way towards this. I am increasingly feeling that the notion of following some one, or perhaps stalking as it would be known today has a romantic edge. Although the prospect of following someone until I am sussed is a terrifying prospect to me I realise I can approach this from another angle, a rose tinted one.
My initial thoughts were to follow the post man / woman, however this new perspective makes the postman seem more comical than is necessary, but taking a romantic stance on the situation makes it some what more sinister instantly.
Unlike Calle I would never have the budget to go to Venice just like that, so I think there needs to be some ground rules defined by budget and time, although by setting these rules I dont want to under state the challenge. I am also thinking that perhaps my residing city is not the place to begin this challenge … so where. So many questions, and as of yet not many answers.
I started getting all my challenges together for other people this week (well they have been in development for some time). I decided that because it was the April Challenge, being the fourth month of the year I should create four challenges. The challenges were influenced by religion, advertising, Danny Wallace and popular culture. I decide to look at things that I thought were challenging to people. The religious fast interested me, its purpose, use, and the effect on the people undertaking it. I then took advertising, the challenge and persuasion in a set of words, a phrase that could make decisions. As general “research” for the 2010 Challenge I have been reading a lot of Danny Wallace, and I took a lot from The Yes Man, it only seemed appropriate to make others try. Finally I looked at popular culture and challenges we are familiar with, this led to the Guinness Book of World Records. So here are the four challenges:
1. Live off a food and drink budget of £1 per day for two weeks. This can be a combined budget of £7 per week.
2. Just do it!
3. Say yes to every opportunity, invitation or question that requires a decision for 31 consecutive days. To be started in June 2010.
4. Beat a world record.
I thought it was probably appropriate to challenge some of the people who had previously challenged me, and alongside them I would give them a counterpart, another person to complete the challenge with (this person hadn’t previously challenged me). Their counterpart is kept a secret, neither person know each other, but they attempt the challenge. To this end I have created four teams one for each challenge which is as follows:
Challenge 1: Orange Team
Challenge 2: Salmon Pink Team
Challenge 3: Blue Team
Challenge 4: Yellow Team
I decided not to ask the participants whether they would want to be involved or not, so its a bit of a gamble, to see whether they accept the challenges or not!
Never the less they hit the post this week, all I can do now is wait and see.
