Temporal Effect

Temporal Effect

Proposed area of work
Temporal Effect is one part of a performance series called RENDERING 53% which presented in MA-Visual Language of Performance Interim Festival. The project brings issues surrounding multimedia and installation, especially the effects of interactive digital video to examine notions of deconstruction of time during performance. Comparing different visual components of a whole storytelling through being process linear time structure and nonlinear time structure, such as movements from dream，memory and real performance time. My goal is to bring multi-dimensional non-linear arrangement of visual language to audiences, created atmosphere and context from visual clues. The performance are intended to stimulate a sense of family relationship from personal manner.
Reasons for the project
The resulting performance inspirited from Chinese traditions and superstitions. For example you have dreams or nightmares it may indicate that you have some emotional worries. This idea tried to blur boundaries of dream, memory and real time. As a test, I present visual fragment by using curve screen, television and lighting. Which is really challenged me to play and frame these crossed and intersected images. Each of the element revealing the absent and present of our life ritual. In other words, these elements existed for real or surreal time on stage, build a multi-angle trust in a relationship. Dreams with symbolic meanings and mythic associations offers performance non-linear narrative possibility.
In addition, to practice idea about my research subject “Time”, I am also interested in this thread that what was once here but now has gone. I was particularly thinking about how to challenge the audience experience past and present time symbol. From this point, I created videos about street scape, candle slightly fade out, things continually move behind the actor.
Processes and Methodology
From the visualized perspective, my creative inspiration comes from the Wooden Gear Clock. Clock as a time machine transforms the notion of objective time. It reminds me the rhythmicity and continuity of life time. As an alternative approach, I want to design an installation on the stage which move with its ordered and continuous following with time (as can be seen from the 3D drafts). And also, a curved screen on the backstage offered no seams from video’s editing. It stand more than one meter of height above the ground. So a shadow from the back of screen could interact with videos and actor at the same time.

Furthermore, the idea of using curved screen may given audience a strong visual impact experience in order to leading them involved. But it still not big enough to offer audiences a wide-field. In analyzing this work, I was really pushed to think how to put concept of this project into practice. It raised many issues that some of my idea still have to get further development. One of the issue is how to make the video works well as my original idea. This work have to be an ongoing investigation into the question of presenting nonlinearity time of the performance through participation in multi-media activities.

Performance laboratory

Waiting For - Interim Festival

Proposed area of work

To start the performance laboratory, I began working with the intension of deconstructing text, attempted to leave for classical narration. Which relates to my research, exploring important performance art form of deconstruct time. In this piece Waiting For, I draws a comparison between Waiting For Godot and an animation to the extent that they both explore the meaning of waiting, revealing what would otherwise remain hidden among these text. Godot’s absence, as well as numerous other aspects of our life, being kept waiting for anyone to come back, for anything good to happen.

Therefore my question is regarding concept of time structure within deconstruction of text, do I need a certain beginning and ending plot? If not, what necessary formation do I have to convey. There could not have conflict in each part of the performance, but each scene revolving round the last scene. Creating a kind of circle structure, the ending is the new beginning, as well as today is to repeat yesterday. As can be seen, fragments presents a sense of absurd meaning.

Reasons for the project

Examine the capabilities and limitations of these forms, live performing occur in alternate clues which also affect the development of a story. That resulting in a dramatic atmosphere as the surface tension. To enhance a very powerful emotions throughout the performance, I intend to combine texts from a animation. As a metaphor, a girl waiting a flower blossom and waiting for Godot comes. She feel like she can waiting for her flower blossem, as well as she can waiting for Godot comes. My original intention which is specific purpose in doing actions like kept walking on a road and sit inside an abstract wood frame, in order to reveal current culture. Reflecting on our life with influence of the concept of simple and fast culture. It is within this framework that I locate my own practice.

Method and Feedback Review

The most important consideration in this case is sounds. I used recording sounds with editing music to structure the whole performance. Actor’s speech also leading audiences into story telling. The pick of famous text from waiting for Godot made audiences realized dramatic context，nobody comes and nothing happens. But as a response to what is currently happening on stage，it created a sense of lonely.

Moreover, the process and discussion feedback has been an important journey for me, and I have to express my idea more clear. The lab question is about ‘have the audience feel got a certain begin and end plot from the performance, Is there a conclusion revealed at the end’. From the audience perspective, it looks no single conclusion and there are a lot of interpretation to be given. That made me more clear about deconstruct text, the information from text itself needed to be interpreted which required critical and analytical method. I have to search more initial question in order to avoid missing the reference point and culture intention.

200% Bloody Thirsty

200% Bloody Thirsty by Forced Entertainment
DVD recording, Review

200% Bloody Thirsty produced by Britain’s leading experimental theatre company Forced Entertainment in 2005. I watched a recording of this piece when I do my research. Forced Entertainment raised many questions concerning contemporary life and performance. The group struggled to find new performance and theatre forms in order to reveal contemporary urban culture. They explores ideas of myth, death and life’s attitude throughout the performance. A strong impression of this piece is the waking up movement in the beginning of each scenes. As a metaphor , it means two angels drop down to the world. This scene seems like a switch to change time and space. It shown me a hint that the next section is going on, and also the waking up action repeated a lot of times.

One of the idea is that the group use of video and monitors offering the audience different view point. Such as Two angels also displayed on their own monitor. When they standing on the “heaven” frame, looking down over the scene and one spoke to one another which discussed what was going on below, that created a sort o f ‘not presence’ like cinema language. There is a sense of playing this moment intimately to canera, leading me focus on its close-up. Tim Etchells point out “I’m interested in how these concerns with mediation inform what the performers themselves are doing, because it seems related to this sense that the performer’s actions and texts are somehow second-hand or being re-phrased or quoted through the performance. It’s as if the performer engage in actions, each of which they sooner or later wake up from”.

Furthermore, 200% Bloody Thirsty move from sequence to sequence, arranged with prerecording sound to live performance, then combine with live sound. Constantly presenting the stillness and chaos movements. Thus from the two angels’ view, drunk people lived in a total chaos and mess world; from the audience view, the two angels trying to evoke dead people looked absurd. Like Etchells indicated “We don’t seek a meaning that has been placed but seek rather the sense of meaning falling into place. A meaning that happens to happen, a feeling that tumbles, a feeling on the very edge of accident”. In a other word, audiences perceiving this work that values the moment where you saw and connected.

Many of their pieces attempted to deconstruct cinematic traditional language. These stage performances employed microphones, sound and visual material, whilst texts came from video and prerecording tapes. Compared with the work from The Wooster Group, they are starting from different intention to play with deconstruction fragments. Forced Entertainment talking about real experiences, set up a prying life space，which have continually come up with something that challenges audiences and also challenges the notion of performance itself. Etchells stated that “you have to think about technology, you have to use it, because in the end, it is in your blood”. However, it is clear that Forced Entertainment is not fascinated with hi-tech equipment. The reason they use of media equipment is to reveal the essential of performance. Because no conditions on stage could be more important than body, language and storytelling.

Six Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation
Old Vic Theatre, Review

It is good to see the drama version of Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic Theatre. As same as the film version which I watched before, it is present an issue that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person through a chain of six people, which means that you can scrape up an acquaintance with anybody. In this piece six very different New Yorkers realizing the impact they're having on one to another slightly. This production reminds me to rethink my work. When I planning my Interim project with the idea of family relationship, I do believe there is a connection between people and his family throughout any life moment. as a kinds of six degree of separation rules, the relationship of family seems more stronge. But I still have to explore how to present the tension between one to one.

Focusing on the character of this play, is the people really what he seems? How can anyone be sure that people are who they say they are? Six Degrees of Separation is reflecting our society phenomenon. It can not deny that the script logic is clearly defined and apparent. Compared with film version, The long monolog delivering actors inside world to audiences, it exposing people’s self-confidence and imagination. It obvious that the script has a good characteristic aspect of drama or theatrical event. Its good to see how the director develop these clues. I feel like there still remain some cinema language within the performance structure.

Moving to another point, the play use a doble side painting as a metaphor for society's calmness and mad, well-ordered and chaos. The painting feature on Kandinsky’s style, which exploring his own ideas of abstractionism and impressionism painting. He applied streaks and blobs of colors onto the canvas, sometimes structured good balance seriously, sometimes colored with passion and conflict. By the turn of the doble side painting, the relationship on stage turns to another side, from order to chaos, fram balance to confusion. This scene impressed me, it evoked my understanding of the single image.

Furthermore, Six Degrees of Separation utilizing a revolving stage to shown the scene changes. The main stage extended into apron stage as a thrust area which more close to the audience. There is a curved wall stand around the revolving stage, becoming a semi-obturate space. However it does not apply to each scenes as well as the story lines developed. There set a sofa and a tea table represent a family house, and present the other house when stage turn to the backside. I’m not convinced that these set could represent outside scene as well.

Interim show plan

Enumerating these relationships, we will lead readers to concern about the non-linearly narrative characters, including dream space, memory space and real space involving with each other, which has its own specific time axes, therefore both space and time bears the different and multiplex quality .

Performance Lab plan

Actually the most difficult part for me is how to find the way of telling informations. I raised question to make clear what I’m going go achieve.

No.1
What is your understanding or associating about waiting?
No.2
Have you got a certain begining and ending plot of this performance, do you think it is necessary or not?

No.3What is the girl's characteristic within this performance. Is there need a single conclusion to be revealed?
No.4
A metaphor in this performance is that the girl waiting a flower blossom and waiting for Godot comes, are they matched?

Emanuelle Enchanted

Emanuelle Enchanted by Forced Entertainment
DVD recording Review

“In the summer when the earth changed, it rained for five months and on the night the rain stopped, a silence fell like we’d woke up in a silence from a dream…”

Emmanuelle Enchanted set on a crude wooden stage which hang up a curtain of electric stars. And the action of this piece was divided by five performers that using the curtain to change scenes optionally. They were using the curtain to set up and cut down scenes they were presenting. While one actor pull the curtain on in order to start his performance, but another draw the curtain again trying to stop it. By playing this game there are obvious disagreements about how are they supposed to being presented.

Another interesting idea from this performance is that actors appeared on the scene in a way of dressing up and showing the cardboard signs. such like a title sequence of the film. Characters presented using cardboard signs, such like ‘The Ex-wife of the Ex-president of the USA’, ‘Miss Deep Freeze’ and ‘A Boxer with a Torn Retina’. When actors changed costumes and changed the signs, they became a different characters. As can be seen, a lot of clothes and cardboards on the clothing rack on the side of the stage.

Besides, Forced Entertainment continually used media tech as a tool into performance. In Emmanuelle Enchanted, the monitor and camera were positioned in the middle of the stage, the characters on the monitors talk directly or read news. So the video material takes on a new framing function, giving the meanings of each sections. At the same time, it runs a movement that people running and walls moving with sort of emotion. These walls arranged and assembled in a way of let characters relieve their feelings. It inspirit me using these simple and raw materials as setting could present a third dimension of authenticity. Also the group placed the camera on the stage and all that’s shown on monitor is live. From the audience perspective, all we see is reframed by ourselves. I do like this kind of freedom to observe informations which controls selectivity.

“As its central methodology, the piece uses the act of arranging and rearranging texts, images and space so that new patterns, narratives and meanings emerge.” spoke by Tim Etchells. Emmanuelle Enchanted was like a kind of endlessly game, continually making stories. Based on the set of rules, performance can kept running several times. It may go for a no time-limit performance then. However I fell like it probably need some exciting moment about breaking these rules. That is to say, we work in these rules we set, and attempting to find a way of edit them and tighten them. Emmanuelle Enchanted influenced me to find ways of thinking which articulate the dynamics of our current condition.

Interim festival

performance lab