A Wandering Practice
As my work is site and context specific I like to quickly engage with people and place by creating verbal and visual dialogues to start the process. To experience a place I simply move through a space by walking, observing and feeling my surroundings. I gather visual material by recording sound, taking digital images and video to accumulate research about a new environment. This way of working could be interpreted as a Wandering Practice, which is open to arriving with little or no expectations, the possibility of getting lost, or finding out something I didn’t already know. This way of working has been difficult for me to communicate as it is only now that I am realising how significant ‘wandering’ is in my work. To physically move I have to let go of pre-determined outcomes, forced to feel my way in a new environment and to experience what is right in front of me.
My practice has greatly benefited from moving around the country and travelling abroad which has taught me how cultural differences and alternative readings of work is a good thing this has made me feel more confident about the work I made in China, were I made solo performance pieces, collaborated with artists and culminated in a final performance titled ‘New Arrivals’ at the 501 Artspace. My working method of performing on the street is an unusual practice in China as most work is shown as part of an organised event. In my work I like to encourage some form of physical participation and create a balance of tension and humour which artist Zhou Bin, commented in his interview as ‘being very British, a far softer approach compared to some Chinese Live Art’.
I have disseminated my experience of working in China by presenting my work on the Internet by using video, blogging and social networking sites, which is a new way of working for me and a process that I have continued in my practice. Maintaining a blog allows a space for me to verbally and visually reflect on the work I have made and greatly compliments a wandering practice where the work is temporary in nature.
