We joined in a semicircle along with Chuck and Kate to explore what ‘choose your own adventure’ entailed. We were guided to choose a theme from last term to investigate in greater detail along with conducting our own research trip, whether that be in a group or individually. I appreciated this class more than previous ones because it felt more open and varied in what we could create, I didn’t feel stuck or limited. The artists we were shown were all so different that it projected we could make as we like.

I’m at a point in my practice where I feel like I don’t even know what my practice is, what I’m good at or what that means. I feel completely lost in what I should pursue and so I found the toolkit exercise hard as something jumped out like ‘this is what you should study or focus on’. One thing I have thought about since last term is editing and challenging myself to use premiere. I think this task is a good opportunity for me to work on a foreign skill. I’m also hoping doing so will reveal whether I love it, hate it, is it steering me in a new direction.

Explored Isadora and projection mapping in the afternoon, both I had no previous knowledge of and can’t say I was eager to learn; however within performance there will come a time it’s needed. Dimitrious guided the group on using technology in a performance context. “an expended cinema is required for a new consciousness”. As a student that hasn’t had a lot of access to media’s surrounding film – having the tutor go back in time as to how projections began like magic lanterns or the infamous ‘pepper ghost’. I learned Projection mapping is the display of an augmented reality, I also learned how overwhelming software like this appeared to be – it seems to be one of those things that you can never truly master and that is intimidating. An input to the system delivers an output and thus a reaction to the audience.

After working in groups with little technology for weeks I decided I should work alone this time, alone with software and see what I can create based on a theme from last term.

My personal tutorial with Chuck was beyond helpful, beforehand I was unsure whether to stick with a film-based project like I planned or do something more hands on with materials, for instance a costume. I blame the new year for my current lack of creativity and she suggested using Kate’s ‘are you stuck?’ document and choosing a prompt from Louise Irwin as my guide. On Friday I booked a tilt brush workshop between download Isadora demo software. I had never used a VR headset before today and it was incredible; the variety of tools environments to switch from demonstrated the spectrum this programme has – before using the software I would’ve liked to have seen some work examples or for instance how this could be used in the performance industry but I do understand the class had a time constraint.

Following Chuck’s advice I read through the pdf and chose the prompt ‘What excites you?’. Working hands-on with textures and materials inspires me most, especially when those items are filled with colour. With my background in textiles I decided I wanted to create some textural surfaces with patterns and colours of my own. While it has been beneficial to work in groups and collaborate with new individuals, I now want to work alone and see how intimidated I feel when it comes to presenting.

Perhaps I should’ve worked in a different order because instead of researching artists then possible trips; I chose a research trip after reading one article. Since moving to London I had wanted to visit ‘The Museum of the Home’ near me in Hackney, especially after creating my own miniature domestic setting for materials week so to read about how art is being used to ‘radically reinvent domestic portraits I wanted to make mixed media work. The trip was useful as It was so interesting to see the attention to detail – the historically accurate displays and domestic objects (details I needed to pay attention to because at the time I wan’t sure which periods I could be capturing). There was anti-capitalist posters, paintings of victorian women, even storage for cassette tapes. Going through the building almost felt like time travelling from one period or generation to the next – all conveniently placed in juxtaposition.

Following the trip I gathered together a few domestic artists I wanted to reference in my own work, none of them used anything but paint but I have plenty of fabric to use and want to include more textures. I looked over Ethel Sands and Vanessa Bell’s work from the victorian era along with Alec Egan a much more contemporary painter to clash the other style. While collecting imagery from these individuals I was reminded of the domestic work of Sarah Lucas along with discovering the work of Rachel Whitehead for the first time, her piece ‘Storytime’ from 2008 in particular uses found objects – undoubtedly abandoned toys to create a unique family and a setting for them.

Whiteread’s art is almost entirely focused on the places we live and the places where we might also die – who knows. My aim from then on was to make my own still domestic scenes, frozen in time like the work in the museum of the home – viewed from an almost voyeuristic lens.

While I was unable to print my research and context images I decided to try painting my own acrylic domestic portraits in my notebook. At first I created two across a double page with the same three colours but different interiors – I wanted to see how adding more of the colour spectrum gave this 2D piece more depth. Then I painted another two with four colours (both sets had biro detailing also).

Digital drawing is both a blessing and a curse; the more I looked at my paintings the more I wanted to manipulate them in ways I couldn’t on paper – and it didn’t;t feel like it had any depth. Whether its being able to switch colours around or stack these little drawn rooms, I couldn’t do that as easily compared to if I drew these pieces digitally. This is when I had the idea to try and create an animation of sorts – possibly an illusion for more depth. I thought back to my original project idea (using Adobe Premiere) and how I was desperate to try it out but Chuck reassured me that there was still plenty of time, both inside or outside of the course to try it out so I decided to focus on working hands-on with colour first.

I took to procreate to experiment with drawing and manipulating ‘point perspective’ drawings on there. These had much more vibrance and depth than the flatter acrylic pieces. Not only did procreate offer more colour choice but also texture wise there are options to replicate almost any type of medium.

The more rooms I made, the more my work reminded me of ‘blue clues’ or some other kind of over stimulating show for children. Yes these pieces had more depth but didn’t carry a real sense of engagement in my eyes to present to an audience – and not that I thought it was possible but the pieces were too saturated. Any other time I have really been motivated when working with colour but this time it didn’t fit. Also the more I thought about it, the more ‘on the nose’ it seemed to just recreate a domestic setting when I could be more conceptual. For instance making an item to camouflage into a domestic setting or even a person, like the work of Cecilia Paredes with patterns or Ana Mendieta with nature. I visualised this idea in my notebook before deciding my ‘adventure’ piece for the brief would be a costume of a household item that could blend into a household of its own. After creating some sketches and basic design ideas I got some white fabric from the trade/recycling point in the street and took to hand sewing a piece with fake plastic gemstones to replicate a seventies style lampshade. My plan was to have the gemstones hang and act as a fringing of sorts with the fabric, the structure creates the silhouette of the lampshade ‘dome’.

Through trial and error I attempted to sew a large bucket hat like lampshade but the fabric itself didn’t have the strength to hold up its shape while supporting the plastic gems coiled with thin metal. I thought cardboard covered in fabric would be stronger so I cut out a shape that resembled a sundial; that way each section could hold the ‘fringing’ with a band to go around the head as well. One layer of cardboard also wasn’t the strongest so I tried using the outside part of an embroidery ring. I sewed the gems on around the ring – kind of like a dreamcatcher and shifted the piece around to see how balanced it would sit on Mo’s head for the performance on Thursday.

On Tuesday morning we met in the studio theatre to have one final tutorial slot and a tech rehearsal slot; that way we could go over lighting, projection and cues. I brought my diy ‘lampshade’ and was pleased to know that the piece fit comfortably and balanced on Mo’s head. All that was left was choosing the right stock/generic image for the living room. For me it’s important to have the living room look plain – ordinary before Mo comes on and adds something to the aesthetic. Before my personal tutorial with Ebun and Liberty I had to find the right kind of stock image to project for the ‘living room’, I realised while being in the studio theatre that the shape of the projector screen itself would affect what image I could use. Even the height of the projector was different than I anticipated – it was suspended off the ground and couldn’t be tilted downwards which made it harder to position Mo as she only appeared in half of it, that meant Mo needed to be higher, a plinth wasn’t high enough so I needed a 1.2 metre ladder from the loan store.

Liberty and Ebun made me realise that I needed to extend the length of my piece, not only that but I needed to push the humour more – possibly through additional elements. Liberty recommended watching ‘Stop Making Sense’ and or the sixties work of Allen Jones as he used women as furniture. Before Tuesday I hadn’t considered creating some sort of script or adding other parts to the costume to really depict the meaning of the piece. All of the rooms within the Museum of the Home appear really detailed and constructed, it made me want to create my own one that’s much more realistic – a humorous but surreal DIY to clash it.

The tech rehearsal in particular was so useful to work out where Mo needed to stand along with how she would enter and leave. The curation of this collective felt much more organised than the last, even though there were less groups and more individuals which did made it take longer but seemed to come together better.

Performance Plan:

Music Starts, projection, Mo walks on from the right, sets up ladder and fabric as part of the performance, Mo is stationary in the scene, Mo steps down and takes the ladder, walks off on the left, projection stops (fades to black), music ends.

Before the showcase the plan was to collect a ladder for Mo stand on and during lunch it would be returned; however lack of staff in the loan store meant I couldn’t take out the 1.2 metre ladder I had planned. Luckily enough my performance was in the afternoon and Dimitrious and Luke found one of a similar height I could use. The performance plan also needed to be altered because I would need to stabilise and hold the ladder at the bottom while Mo was performing. On the bright side holding the ladder meant I could assist Mo with the headdress ‘lampshade’ and make the whole transition smoother.

Describing each performance:

• Bri: “every decision has intention”, explores the purpose of movement, performance lecture. What was the purpose? I found it difficult to absorb the quantity of information. But the intention of teaching us was communicated.
• Wren: interactive game, accessed through QR code, black companion ‘Jackie’. Plays into romanticising and stereotyping black women. Encourages you to lean into your own assumptions and how you ‘box’ people. Dystopian like to hear the questions repeated.
• Nigel: organic, nostalgic game console, chaotic energy, joyous. Leans into pop culture escapism.
• Imanuela and Anna: “I was ready”, large overcasting hat and audio. Why was the aesthetic chosen? The size of the hat was intended to comfort the audience member
• Shan: haunting black and white short film, music that sounds like aching, agonising. The shadow was slower behind Nigel. Used long exposure to create chaotic ‘frames’. Explores butoh dance. Shan gave Nigel the freedom to move while listening to music in the dark. Made using premiere and photoshop
• Mo: raw, open, honest, using past experiences? Trauma as a trope to perform. Showcased vulnerability – helped engage the audience. From not talking to people outside her family till 8 to playing with the public felt like watching a triumph. Stepping into her personal atmosphere.
• Raffi: “With Heart” about communication, includes a bride. Pulling the heart and organs out of the dress – intentional with the pen and lighter.
• Ai and Ziyu: animation, sculpture of a fish representing themselves. Filled with objects from their daily lives. I believe they should’ve shown one and then the other so they could both be appreciated instead of together.
• Caira: QR codes to an Instagram page, each code was a different video featuring dancing in a dark setting with flashing lights
• Yeukai: explored the first family tree, performance lecture. Used Afrocentric fabrics to accompany her. Discusses being ‘seen’, “It seems like the dark skin person is always forgotten”.
• Isabella: short film, static low-fi framing, at first I thought it was going to be some sort of death sequence? Seaside landscape, why is the car door open? Why is the boot open? Struggled to hear and understand the narrated words, is the piece about escapism? Letting go? Carried the sensation of having an itch
• Cookie and Lynn: comedy exploring JBL speaker “JBL never expires”, based of power brief – an objective giving you power
• Bailey: short film exploring where life begins and ends. 3D scanner and 4D software, who is it that constructs our reality? Felt like we were travelling inside a cell
• Nancy: delves into the past, explores how a hobby can become a lifestyle and not enjoy it anymore.
• ethan: “function turns into aestheticism” working with stainless steel, spot welding. Playing into ownership and eroticism with religion and crucifixion 

My Feedback:

• interesting to see a person in front of a static image
• theatrical, camp
• Rhythmic movement to the music was entertaining
• explores voyeurism, seeing into someone’s home, someone’s personal life
• links to how since the pandemic we know more about each others homes and lives since
• relation to the museum of the home constructs was interesting, linked well
• the song appeared overpowering at certain points, the lighting view wasn’t mutual for the whole audience
• easy to rewatch
• comforting, nostalgic, simple