2010 Challenge

Unbelievable we are over half way through 2011 and I am still finishing a project with the end date being the last day in 2010. Never the less I have completed the first stage of the November Challenge, which was to amass a crowd.

I took part in the STOFF Festival in the Kulturhuset in Stockholm, the idea being I would form a flashmob, by canvassing for participants and then indicating the action was to being. I the number I had been set to gather was 20, and 3 participated. That is despite giving the seated audience instructions prior to going on stage. The challenge has inevitably failed, although it did produce a performance I am happy with that relied heavily on instruction and the way people choose to interact with instructions, or not as the case may be.

I think I will re-try the performance in the UK, but take away the instruction, and change the tact of the piece to become a visual spectacle. The piece changes dramatically, simply leaving a performer waving a flag at an audience, however it changes to something that is worth questioning, and that is the publics engagement with simplistic movements in a public environment and their viewing of them as entertainment or not. This would be more of an experiment than a street performance, as being a dancing monkey doesn’t interest me and would detract from any artistic merit the piece may or may not have.

I am still in the process of attempting to get the ethical hair piece programmed, the performance is there, it just needs to take place, almost there!

I haven’t posted in over a month, I think it’s because my momentum has slowed some what. I have completed the September challenge, not desperately successful, but completed none the less. I attempted to fly a kite for 2.5 hours to celebrate the achievements of one of the first female aviators. I could barley get the kite flying let alone for 2.5 hours. The resulting film is 25mins long, and is going to be shown as a part of the Format Festival, in a location in Burton Upon Trent.

For the subsequent challenges I have changed my approach to making. October, November and December have still to be completed. I have decided to focus on attempting to get them into festivals etc as proposals for new work.

The rational really is that my concept for the October challenge is going to be out of my budget and I really could use some assistance. In a nut shell I want to raise awareness of the use of unethically and at times illegally obtained hair for hair extensions and in doing so I want to open my own unethical salon. By doing this I hope to catch people off guard and give them a moment to ponder the reality of a fashion we are being encouraged to follow as consumers of celebrity culture.

So from here on out my challenges are attempting to work their way into programmes. It’s not something I am necessarily that good at achieving so I will have to up my game if I am to complete this project and the challenges. Incidentally I have had one ‘no’ so far, but you have to have a few no’s before you get a yes.

Blink and you’ve missed it. My fifteen minuets on prime time TV came and went quickly. I reached the third round of the Weakest Link before being voted off. I will post the video made from the appearance once I have finished the edit.

Another quick flying project was Red Kite, as suspected with this project it didn’t quite go to plan. I eventually managed to finish the kite with several feather variations adorning it. It would appear that I have bought most of the online feather market, they will have to re-stock now.

I am making the film of Red Kite with a Nottingham based film maker called Sam Mercer, who also runs Tether. I am paying him via a skill swap. We went to film on Friday, but at 13.00 the wind dropped to one knot, as you can imagine one knot isn’t enough to even rustle leaves, let alone fly a kite. The second attempt was this morning, and Sam and I decided to instead of making the film 2.5 hours we would create a 25 min film. The reason for this was that none of the project has particularly gone to plan, and the ending of the project was no different. The kite was too heavy to fly, and continually nose dived. It is possible that a better kite flyer would have succeeded. The wind seemed sufficient however I am incapable of truly launching the kite, even when following instructions. I think the failure was to be expected to some extent, but success would of course have been better. I have yet to see the footage but am looking forward to seeing it from Sam.

Now onto the next challenge …

Tomorrow at 5.15pm on BBC1 you are invited to watch the June Challenge live. I will be appearing on the Weakest Link to complete the challenge set by Anneka French; to appear on a TV quiz show or game show to test my knowledge. If you miss it you can catch up on BBC I Player. I filmed the episode back in November so am looking forward to see how it appears once edited. On the day of filming they filmed three episodes, each one requires rehearsal, re-takes, make-up, hair, wardrobe and a whole host of other adventures you would never know went into half an hour of TV!

The red kite I am making now has 480 feathers on it, and the stockist has run out! This means I have to upgrade to 12packs of larger red feathers. My partner pointed out that there have been so many things that have gone wrong with this particular piece it seems a bit of a mess. Hopefully when I come to shoot the film it will all fit into place. Here is to hoping any how.

Progress! I have begun work on the Red Kite work for the September Challenge. Eventually the piece will be a video, however I initially need to make the components to the work. The red kite is made from an existing kite called the Hawk, it is then modified with red feathers. I bought 240 red duck feathers and have been attaching them to the frame work over the weekend. I am please with how it is beginning to look, however 240 feathers only cover a sixth of the kites surface at most. I have ordered a further 240. The website I am buying them off must be supplying to me alone, as every time I need feathers I buy all they have in stock, and I can’t find them cheaper anywhere else. I am also beginning to wander if this compromises my morals, as I question how the feathers were obtained.

I think I may have missed the ideal weather for filming in so will have to rely heavily on the editing process. I am going to need some help with this as my computer is not sophisticated enough to cope with the software I need. I plan to employ my friend to help with this, but have yet to ask him. I also want to edit the footage in a very particular way which I am unsure even exists as a function. Similar to the techniques employed by Photoshop I would like to use colour effects with selected areas throughout the piece, which I plan to be 2.5 hours long.

If you know of any good film editors do let me know. Email [email protected]