After all the nerves, technical problems and sourcing stage weights, we ended a successful three hour performance on December 11th. Working up to the performance over the last nine weeks has been stressful but so enjoyable. Its opened my eyes to so many new things, to look at things in a completely different way and to ask myself more questions when I go to watch a performance/ installation or just in everyday life.
Everyone else’s stations seemed to have gone as well as mine did. With having a set time slot for each participant, meant that it would run smoothly. We made sure that none of the participants would see each other while they were doing the circuit of stations. This was beneficial because it gave the sense that they were the only person in the room and that we were only concentrating on them.
The way that we had set out the stations was very important because we wanted it to look neat but we also wanted it to effective to what was happening in each station. When the participant entered the room, there was a path which lead to a door way into the space.
The list as follows:
Station 1- The Welcome Table – This station was in the centre of the room with the other stations dotted around it. It was in the open space because I felt that it shouldn’t be closed off like the others were as it would ruin the concept of being welcoming and happy. This station was general chat about life, which could have lead to any other topic of conversation, whilst drinking from tea cups and eating cake. Before moving on to the other stations I gave the participant a little bit of information about what they were going to experience without giving too much away. I also gave them the option of a get out clause if they felt uncomfortable with anything along the journey. I then explained that if they did say they weren’t uncomfortable they may be asked why.
Station 2 – Anonymous computer chat – This station was the smallest out of the five because we wanted the space to be intimate like they were enclosed in their own private world. When on a social network site you’re usually on your own and it’s on a personal device which is why we wanted to make it as personal as possible.
Station 3 – The Human Body – Again we wanted this to be a personal enclosed space that felt comfortable for the participant in order for them to be able to open up and talk about parts of their bodies that they liked or disliked. This station was behind a curtain in a small alcove in Studio 1 (another reason not to use the flats).
Station 4 – Hugging – In the work in progress showing, there was a lot of debate about how the hugging would come across to a participant. There were comments along the lines of sexual meaning, however we didn’t want it to come across in this way. From this the decision was made that the hugging would be done stood up so people wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. This station was quite open with just one divide that blocked the view from the rest of the room. We felt like this station didn’t need to be small and enclosed because it was to try and make the participant feel more relaxed, maybe.
Station 5 – Screen Test/Live Stream – This was the last station because we wanted the participants to have time to reflect on the different experiences and issues that might have arose. From the participants point of view they were just sat reflecting, however they were actually being streamed live. We didn’t want to record it because it would become something different so we decided just have it as a live screen test instead as a one off.
The last ten weeks have been a massive rollercoaster of emotions, there’s been times where all we want to do is find out more about what we can work and other times we really struggled to find inspiration.
For me personally, my station was very difficult because it put me out of my comfort zone into something that I wasn’t familiar with and felt very nervous about. I find it very difficult to small talk with a stranger. There was a moment when I was sat in front of a participant and I suddenly got all flustered, my mouth went dry, my hands were sweaty and there wasn’t really much I could do about it. I relate it back to the Abramovic experience I had when I had to stare at another class member for a period of time, where there were points in that experience where I felt the same way. Whereas with other participants I found it really easy to talk to them about what they had been up to and what they were looking forward to.
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hopefully one day we can take our work into the public and do it for longer than three hours to really get down to those hidden secrets that people keep locked away.