Initial discussion to reiterate some of the points brought up by Krischner and Panos – Homo sacer by Agamben as the sacred man – the notion on politics and the body – the concept of a tour of life through the sites and the emphasis on the luminal – the idea of death and of vanishing bodies and a reflection of this in the digital with the Poltergeist and live/mediatized performance – a blending of genres and fragmented texts.
Each of the group members has different preferences in terms of performance which can be tied into the above; the idea of splitting the performance around these separate interests, and indeed splitting the performance into three reflecting the rite of passage became a useful way to structure thoughts: separation, transition and reincorporation.
Work at the cemetery and the library/archive tour proved useful – feedback and further research has already been provided by Lorraine with the possibility of returning to view the primary resources for ourselves. (Adam has also been informed of this research and may have unearthed some more information).
A brainstorming session showed individual interests overlapping; the meeting with Jen the following morning fused many of the overarching themes. In addition, Jen posed some research questions; to re/consider McKenzie’s view on liminality or rather his term for it, the liminalnorm; to push Vincenzi’s workshop with the body to include a multitasking body, a disjointed body, a conceptually split body, a biologically/political body; also to pursue work with kleztmer.
Considering the above, we felt the need to pinpoint a more central theme for the piece through which other themes could frame themselves. The concept of a luminal, a space which shifts, became a starting point – the luminal spaces (our sites), the luminal body (Vincenzi), a luminal performance (genres), a luminal staging (margins and borders of performance), a luminal theory (digital, live/media debate).
This larger issue then encompasses smaller incidences, which are honed around our fields of interest. To begin work on the scratch, the beginning scenes of the Poltergeist were shown and a Vincenzi model assigned – arms as music, feet as dog/child, head at screen, torso as camera. This work is to be developed.
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Hey all,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to follow up on some things that came up in our discussion Thursday.
LIMINAL
I might suggest you keep reflecting on your investment in liminality and the rite of passage as a structure for your event. What about it attracts you? Is it the neat structuring of an event (a la Turner) and as a way of understanding how theatre might impact an audience member? How interested are you in pushing this structure as a tripartite ritual that an audience must go through? Does this require their participation, i.e. that they do more than watch, in some way? Or are you investing in the liminal in the ways that Performance Studies has traditionally--as a model for performance as a site of transgression-- which is assumed to have potential for political and/ or change? What are the problems or limitations of this model (as explored by McKenzie for instance)? How might the liminal be linked to more normative forces?
In the nutshell: I am asking are you interested in the liminal as rites of passage (ethnographic accounts) and/ or political efficacy OR is your interest more generally in IN-BETWEENS??
SOIL
See William Pope L.'s burial pieces.
You might also look at his crawl... interesting in light of moving bodies... and tasks/ public interventions that you might set for yourselves. Engaging with the abject (dirt) as a way of engaging issues around black (male) identity.
For documentation see his book which we have in the library and/ or at Live Art Development Agency: Friendliest Black Man in America
THROUGH BARS
On a totally practical note-- check with Tracey about moving people up those stairs. If you do decide to do that you'll probably want to account for that transition (and the sight lines). Does the audience stay there throughout the piece or are they moved around to different sites within the space or different points of view or levels of tactile and visual engagement? Or are they always kept at a distance?