a little more time to play

Well it has been a great 10 days or so, with a little more time on my hands to really just play around with some different spaces. A favourite was an area of rocks near a storm water drain, I loved playing with the risk of the uneven surface of the ground and making my way through it like a labyrinth.

I have noticed that I really like to be outdoors where possible, that it's more interesting and stimulating to be in an outdoor space or at least in a space where there are other people in the vicinity. Also to simply get outside and be somewhere a little unconventional is so refreshing and takes me away from the usual inside a studio, or at a desk, or in a shop...

Another great thing about this project, as I realised when I was explaining to someone the other day about this project, is how much I like the interaction with other people in the space when I am performing, I really seem to feed off it and it brings out some really interesting movement and responses form me and the people around me. It also makes it more real for me and makes me think about what they must think and how it has affected them...if at all??

The person also asked me why I was doing this blog, and I responded “for my sanity and for my self”. And though sometimes it’s hard to commit to doing it each day, once I do it’s definitely its own reward. Especially in this busy Christmas season, just to be alone and with my own agenda, engaging in my artistic practice in effect like a ritual, and to make people stop and look and be surprised by something in their day, feels just awesome!!

Ok so here is 7^th installment. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!

playing catch up

Finally I have caught up on filming and editing and I'm up to date!!
Was getting a little behind the times there for a while, but definitely going to try and not let this happen again.

Starting to quiet down a bit now at the end of the year and looking forward to just focusing on this, pushing myself out of my comfort zone in terms of spaces and movement choices. It is starting to become habitual and uninteresting to perform, so definitely need to shake it up a bit!

Over the past 2 weeks (gahhhh I can't believe its been that long since my last post) I have experienced some peaks and troughs in the way I’m feeling about this endeavor, it was a little like a chore sometimes, mostly because I didn't have the time to give it the full attention it needed. Other times it has been a welcome release from my other work.

The spaces I have explored tend to be more specific to where I have been working, along my general daily pathways, at QL2 studio and theatre and the park outside the preschool I teach at for example. Still, they have been interesting none the less, turning a familiar space or environment into a performance area, even if I'm the only one there to experience it!

A highlight was filming the end of class for Quantum Leap company training - an open improvisation where I danced with the teenage students for 10 minutes instead of teaching them, was a wonderful feeling. Also revisiting New Acton, the site of a more formalised site specific group performance I was involved in last year, was very interesting. Seeing how the space has transformed and the business of the complex has expanded. People seemed curious and taken aback by my being there and doing that!! even in this art friendly environment...love it!!

6th Installment, this excerpt starts from Day 18 to Day 57.

Let me know any ideas you have for spaces I can explore. Would be great to get some inspiration and feedback!! Cheers

Indoors vs Out

It has been an interesting week, so many variations in the weather that I have had to certainly improvise when it comes to finding innovative spaces to perform and film in. It has been very wet on and off, with some very steamy and hot days, so I have inevitably delved deeper into exploring the indoor spaces that I encounter in my life that seems to be winding up as the year comes to an end. I have been so run off my feet with work that I have found it really difficult, I must be honest, keeping this filming/editing/blogging process going.

Despite this chaos what I have noticed and enjoyed exploring, and also I guess documenting, is the range and diversity of my life activities at the moment. Working for myself, teaching for others, working in a commercial/retail environment has really opened up possibilties to explore some unique spaces. I particularly enjoyed dancing in the back store room of the retail shop I am currently a Christmas casual for and in the change room at David Jones....classic, if only the shop assistants knew the shinaningans I was getting up to!!

So here is the next installment, I have cut the first 2mins of the film to date (to make upload and watching the new stuff easier). Enjoy!

having a bit too much fun

Into the 5th week of 100, 000 frames and I am just having a ball venturing into new and unchartered territory (for me at least).
Even though I haven't posted for a while I've been rigorous with keeping the filming going each day, and I enjoy the 10-20mins to my self to be a bit wacky, creative and spontaneous.

It has been especially fun this last week, as it was Short + Sweet, Dance festival here in Canberra. Such a great time to be inspired by what others are doing and share with new and creative people what I am interested in. It was also the first time I have articluated that I am doing this project to anyone, but if im doing it I might as well share it, otherwise what's the point!

I love forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone and committ to the dance even when people start speaking to me or shouting at me or interacting with me, these are the most interesting, fun and challenging parts.
Sometimes I wish that I could show more than 10secs a day, beacuse sometimes a bit of context of the site makes it even more unusal, like dancing on a roof top next to solar panels, or at a petrol station when I needed to fill up. But the 10 secs of each day will have to suffice, otherwise it will be too huge by the time 300 days comes.

 

So here is the latest version. If you are so inclined please post some comments/feedback - good, bad, whatever or suggestions of sites that I could explore... I would love to hear from anyone!

its beginning to shape...into... something..??

Well, along with a very busy week, the film is beginning to come together into something a llittle bit interesting...I hope... I have really enjoyed diversifying the spaces which I select, especially to try to include more interaction with public areas/people. A particularly enjoyable site this week was by the lake, people were walking/riding by and I really enjoyed their reactions and my interactions with them.

I feel like I should start to expand further still the areas which I choose to do the filming, not just sticking perhaps to the places/sites of my everyday pathways. Though lately it has been necessary as I have been so busy with a multitude of projects and jobs going on and the weather has been very mixed, 2 storms and lots of rain, which definitely seemed somehow to limit me in my willingness to investigate more interesting areas.

I'm really enjoying seeing the film unfold and I'm glad that I have begun this adventure, as I know that with each performance, each day, I am developing as an artist and I might just, if im lucky,  have the slightest affect on the poeple around me too.

More soon!!

Juggling it all

Ok so its Day 16 and all going along smoothly, juggling my everyday work, teaching and creating/rehearsing with this project has been interesting but really motivating actually, giving me a bit more direction which needed..

The diversity of spaces that I have explored over this past week has had its ups and downs, I definitely know the feeling of being comfortable and inspired to perform in the space and on the other hand just moving in an unusual site with no real connection to it. I have had a bit more contact with other people and have tried to take more risks with the 'exposure' so to say of the sites I choose, as well as integrating the process into whatever I may be up to that day. A particular favorite this week was the tennis courts that I found tucked behind some shops, was really  interesting what came up for me, experimenting with physicality in an athletic way, but stylised.

On another note it has been a little lonely this week, realising that not just this project is a solo thing but that probably any practice (including mine) as an artist is really quite a lonely place.  To accept this or find ways to make it different I'll try to consider as the year unfolds.

So I have uploaded the 2nd version of 100,000 frames which is slowly growing each week.

Do I have any followers out there... love to hear from you....

Day 10 check in

Well just 10 days into 100,000 frames I find myself excitied, challenged and time poor...and im not even that busy!!

I have been disciplined enough to film 10 mins every day in a new space which so far I have found actually really rewarding, interesting and motivating. But the editing time I need to manage more effectively. I had started to edit each days footage into a 1 minute film and then select the best 10 seconds (250 frames) from this to feature in the actual 100,000 frames film.
I am debating whether to continue to do this or to just focus on the main film????

The reason I have done this is that I find the footage more interesting if I show the moving body exploring different aspects of the space, providing a broader illustration of the site speciifc performance that unfolded each day, rather than just a short snippet that gives barely a glimpse. Perhaps I will do this selectively for days where I think the performance, site and footage was particularly interesting. Plus its a great way to practice my editing and review performances on a whole.

 

Today I have uploaded with this post the first 10 days of 100,000 frames. It is interesting to note my choices in sites, a mix of both outdoor locations (the weather has been glorious) and indoor spaces. I have tried to make each day a reflection of my activities for that day, for example the underground carpark, was where I parked my car overnight on Saturday and went to pick it up on Sunday. I think though I can afford to do this more effectively and not be afraid to push the boundaries of where I may perform, and integrate this process of filming everyday into my daily activities. I have started a list of interesting spaces for this project for days when I feeling less than inspired or not particularly busy. I will continue to add to this and try to think outside the square.

I have aslo noticed when reviewing the footage that I have filnmed each day that it takes me a few minutes to settle and be conmfortable in the space, I find myslef trying to hard to constrcut movement and force it into the space rather than letting the points of interest in the interaction with the space simply unfold.

Ok enough for now, I will check in again in a few days!

2 down...363 to go.

So after the first 2 days of my 100,000 frames project I feel quite invigorated by the whole experience of this craziness that I have taken a leap into. Some of the footage I know will be straight to the reject pile, but amongst a lot of waft and faff are some great images of a moving body in the spaces that have become unlikely stages. Stages that connect to normal life more I think than a black box would.

Actually the whole process of making each performance happen each day.; planning the time that I will complete it, changing my clothes/shoes, charging camera battery, choosing on a site, packing myself up with equipment, setting the shot, observing the environment and exploring the environment and myself within it, reflecting before and after.....  all processes that amplify my own observations of myself and my nature/characteristics as an artist.

Day 1, 17/10/11
Time: 4:18pm
Site: My Carport brick wall
Clothing: Blue Jeans, blue floral top
Weather: Sunny :)
Thoughts/feelings/ideas before: 
Can't really imagine what it's going to be like, half sun, half shade. DIRT. Handy wall, shelter, hands grappled, little memory of past resident, light warms my back...begin.
Thoughts/feelings/ideas after: 
Rough abrasive, enjoyed the development and mix between an exploration of the textures/physicality of the environment and my own movement instinct. Moments of uncertainty, self consciousness, finger/hands prominent. What's around the corner? For this? For this next year? who knows..


Day 2, 18/10/11
Time: 3:35pm
Site: Main road underpass/drain
Clothing: Grey pants, yellow singlet, black long sleeve top.
Weather: Sunny
Thoughts/feelings/ideas before: 
Scaling the ramped sides along stone walls, memories of a fall and a break, light at the end of the tunnel? Rumblings, revs from above an echo from long past. The darkened concrete of the drain, where a trickle once skipped along, over exposed light into the cavernous tube.
Thoughts/feelings/ideas after: 

Love playing with the light, body in silhouette, and also the long channel-like nature of the space, not sure that the scaling of walls was very effective. Walking into and out of light and central channel more interesting. Noticed I have trouble sticking with an idea physically- anxious.

and so it begins...

Today I begin the exciting and adventurous marathon of creating a dance film/video compiling 100,000 frames.

How will I do this?
I will select a site/venue/space each day for the next 365 days, where I will perform a 10 minute site specific dance performance (improvised). I will film (in HD using a tripod) the 10 minute performance and select 10 seconds of video per day/performance to compile into a larger video work entitled '100,000 frames'. I will edit the excerpts of the weeks performances into a film and post to this blog every week. The film will begin to grow week by week.
Each day I will document the following: Date, Time, Weather conditions, Site, Costume/clothing, Thoughts/feeling before performance and Thoughts feelings after performance.

Why will I do this?
- To reconnect with my interest in site specific dance and dance on film.
- Challenge myself to do something hard within a field that I love.
- Discover new techniques, performative and editing/film production.
- Test my endurance and interest.
- Discover something/many things about myself as a performer and artist.

I am feeling a sense of nervous anticpation, a little scared and I feel the weight of the challenge about to set in. But really life's too short not to do something seriously creative and crazy., and why the hell not???

So here I go!!!