I have been selected to participate in the AA2A residency at the University of Salford and I will document the experience on my blog. The AA2A project provides placements for visual artists and designers in Higher and Further Education institutions across England. I will have the opportunity to undertake a period of research and realise a project, using workshops and supporting facilities at the University of Salford.
Ways of working
For the past week I have been juggling working in the shop, project applications, site visits, and sending out press releases. Due to this I have had to put on hold my Penny Arcade project. All the bits are there, I just need to piece them together when the time is right. Firstly once my busy period is over I will re-film the Penny speech close up to camera. Secondly the actual live part of the performance will have to be rehearsed as and when the work is actually going to be shown.
It’s like rehearsing a dance routine; it only really gets embedded into your body when the deadline is imminent. Working on one performance over a longer period of time is very unusual for me, an unexpected outcome from this residency. Although it has shown me that you cannot force the work to specific deadlines. As previously mentioned in my last post the work takes as long as it takes. Maintaining my blog and structuring my thinking/making time has helped me create a new piece of work.
On Tuesday I will be giving an artist talk at the University of Salford. It was my intention to talk about the AA2A scheme, however I have to consider that the students will be gearing up towards there degree show and will want to see finished works with future arts opportunities. I may touch on this and refer them to the blog as it may reassure some students to hear that the work may only really come together nearer the exhibition deadline, which is natural for some people. I remember the lead up to my degree show thinking I had no physical work to show. My degree show piece only really came together a month before the exhibition.
As long as it takes…
This week I have been at a crossroads with this project whether to ditch it or stick with it. I felt that I was nearing completion of the Penny Arcade piece, however after a full day of filming last Sunday I am still not happy. For a moment after doing the last take I felt I had got what I needed, although after a few days watching it back again I feel it’s just not right. There is a small delayed reaction with the video capture. The performance is strongest when I am close up to the camera. Reflecting on the overall piece, I am my own worst critic. To make myself absolutely sure I displayed my laptop on top of a shelving unit at the gallery, watched it back and I just felt it looked weak. This really upset me as I have put so much time into this.
To see the work in a new environment with fresh eyes made me see its faults and the strengths in the framing of my performance, which I need to magnify. Placing the laptop on top of the cabinet did make me see how the proportion of it reminded me of a body and that I could place clothing items within the shelves. Putting the work to one side for a few days the idea of holding up the video of my face, in front of my head came to mind. I had experimented with this when I was documenting my studio set-up in the bathroom using my laptop to photograph the reflection of the space in the mirror. This way of combining the display of the laptop with a live performance has reinvigorated the piece and is a new take on performing to the viewer, and to camera. My internal critic feels like I should have resolved the work by now. I guess the work takes as long as it takes…
Organised Chaos
Thursday was performance day! I left writing a few days to leave some time between the making and reflecting. On Thursday morning I live streamed putting my make-up on as Penny Arcade. I forgot how long it takes for me to actually get into her character and the set-up time required in the bathroom. My flat looked liked organised chaos. I performed the piece four times with the last runs being the most successful even though I could still improve on them. In my last post I wrote that I was less interested in ‘refinement’, however watching the video’s back I can’t help but pick out all the minor faults in my performance. It was torturous watching them back. I let someone else view the work and that helped me see which video was the best and highlighted the one annoying mistake in it. For this reason I need to go through the whole ritual again. The piece is very lo-fi, although I don’t want a silly mistake to disrupt the quality of the work. I plan to do another day of rehearsals and videoing on Sunday. This still means I have to keep rehearsing the script between now and then to keep the words fresh in my mind. The lighting in the bathroom is still niggling away at me, could I get brighter bulbs for the ceiling?
Checklist
Audio clips set to start, test
Video framing correct
Lighting placed
Marker in corridor
Wig and make-up check before each performance
Wedding rings off
Use all three intro cards
Final rehearsals
Set-up bathroom ready for videoing
Rehearsal part 1 & 2
Change into outfit
Put on make-up as Penny Arcade
Dress Rehearsal
Play back and review
Final performance
On & Off
I have been streaming everyday putting on and taking off my make-up for the past 5 days. So far I have received 65 views. Due to the short period I have been broadcasting I am not seeing a pattern in the viewing. The more broadcasts I do the more I will learn about my audience. I need to keep a detailed record of this by using my Facebook and Twitter feeds to keep track of the exact times. Early in the week whilst I was using my computer cam I also had my ipad next to it to see what it looked like. The feed is a bit lower quality and slightly behind real time to what I see on my cam. On my iPad sometimes the stream gets stuck and I’ve had to refresh the page to start it again. This is a bit annoying as the act itself doesn’t last that long so by the time you refresh, you can miss a big chunk of time.
Now I have stopped watching myself on the iPad, as there isn’t much I can do about the technical wizardry behind computers. I can upgrade my ustream account, which will raise the quality of my broadcast however I can’t afford it. There is a materials budget for the AA2A scheme although I’m not sure if I can use it for this. Yet again computers and money are equally motivating and de-motivating my work. I am struggling to keep my interest in refining the Penny Arcade performance and I question what’s the point? ‘Refinement’ is something I am interested in less and less in my practice. However I feel I have put a lot into this piece so far and watching the video back I think I could improve on it. I could also video it on my DV tape camcorder to up the quality, although it still has a grainy quality. I will see how I feel in the morning.
Daily Broadcast
I broadcasted live on Saturday putting on my make-up by using the cam as my mirror and practicing my Penny Arcade script. Putting my make-up on to my usual standard was hard to achieve compared to using a hand held mirror as the image on screen was pixilated and blocked out the finer detail on my face. I have always liked watching people apply their make-up. I struggled applying my eyeliner as the cam captures in reverse. I managed to do my right eye and found it almost impossible to apply the liner to my left eye. I kept marking my skin and missing the under lid of my eye. For the past few weeks I have been getting notifications to watch ‘the birdie’ a channel I follow of bird on a perch. On this channel they video the footage, which creates an online archive. Creating online cam videos helps to build an audience. Using the live stream relies on people being able to view in the moment and if they don’t the work is gone. I broadcasted at around 10am and got 27 viewers.
I rehearsed my script during a live broadcast although this was an experiment that didn’t really work. However, the simple act of putting my make-up on feels right for a durational piece to live stream. Penny Arcade is a performance to camera, video piece for a gallery context and who knows were my make up will take me next. I need to send info out to my contacts how to subscribe to my channel. I love the unique and ephemeral live act/live feed but I can also appreciate how video creates a legacy. Later in the evening on Saturday I thought why not also stream taking my make-up off. Before I did this I put a message out on twitter that I was going to take my make-up off in 5 minutes to give people a chance to tune in. Although I forgot to put out the message on facebook which I think directs more viewing traffic to ustream. For this reason I only got 7 viewers it may also be because I broadcasted at 7pm. For now keeping the work live feels right and I will continue in this way for now. If you would like to watch this work then follow me on twitter or on facebook and then click on the link when I appears. This will happen at different times of the day.
Facebook: Nicola Smith
Twitter: @nsartist34
Ustream Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nicola-smith-present…
My practice responds to the context of my surroundings using different mediums such as live art, installation and video. I perform in public and private spaces performing as the ‘host’ by presenting workshops, actions and talks in an engaging way using live art techniques.
