As part of the Research and Innovation class for OCAD University I worked on several projects throughout the year which ended in an interactive dance performance.
here is a link to the Ballet Video
i) Position ii) Chance/ Risk iii) Force iv) Glitch v) Extend vi) Remix
which were guided by reading and discussion. A part of my projects can be found on the discussion part of the class website.
i) Postion
For postion I created a short one minute stop motion animation that showed me wrestling with my persona The Helmet Person, with sounds of chalk making marks on the chalk board coming through tin can telephone speakers I made. (found on discussion page of class blog)
For postion I created a short one minute stop motion animation that showed me wrestling with my persona The Helmet Person, with sounds of chalk making marks on the chalk board coming through tin can telephone speakers I made. (found on discussion page of class blog)
II
Chance/Risk
My initial project expanded to create a longer ten minute stop motion which was displayed at the Mendel gallery, which expanded upon the the narrative and also allowed me to work a bit more with sound and the feeling I wanted the viewer to have. For me this was a huge risk since it is my second video and working with the tin can speakers was a learning experience.
III
FORCE
I was thinking about coldness as a force that coming from Saskatchewan I feel has been a huge voice on my life and how I relate to nature. I decided to create a large scale helmet, that would be called Hunty who in my folktale was a "Landiceburg" that stole the Chrysanthemumalo's voice beard. In the performance the Helmet people had to decide if Hunty is guilty or not while speaking to him through tin can moulded out of ice. He was proven guilty. The largescale drawing shows the narrative of what happened to the Chrysanthemumalo and should be seen as evidence in the trial where the Helmet people voted.
IV
Glitch
During the crit for the Trial Performance it was suggested that I up the stakes in my performance to make it seem like there is something to loose, like in the game Werewolf which is a role playing game were villagers are hunted by werewolves. I felt it might be great project for glitch / failure to graph my characters onto the werewolf board game creating Hunty, which was played twice with costumes and with my own set of playing cards. I was the gatekeeper (thank you to Stephen Surlin for taking documentation)
V
Extend
Extend Performance
March 15th 2013 Duration 1 hour
During OCAD Universities Graduate Program Open House
plastic bags, wood jewels, tree branches, plastic tree decorations, underwatermelon, wood glue, rope, LED lights
For this interactive performance I used my breath to blow up several plastic bags that were first thrown around the space. After the audience arrived I asked if they would blow up some of the bags through first stating "I need your help" and then signalling them to inflate the bags. I placed 20 LED lights in a portion of the bags that were later tied to a rope to form a cloud light structure. I then asked for an audience member to tape tree branches to my legs, then assist me in standing, after standing for a minutes I asked to sit down again with help from the audience. I then used my tree branches as extensions of my body to rake closer the wood jewels which were before out of bodily reach. The audience again helped by kicking the jewels closer to me. I laid down and signalled to the audience to glue the wood jewels to my face using wood glue. I then asked the audience to tape a near by underwatermelon to my stomach which the audience helped cut. Pieces of the underwatermelon were given to the audience to eat. Later I dug for seeds finding only three in the unfortunately seedless underwatermelon. The seeds where planted with dirt in a terra cotta pot and given to three audience members, I then planted three wood jewels in the remaining terra cotta pots which were also given away. I then said I was sleepy and had an audience member lay a blanket over me signalling the end of the performance.
Using the natural materials of wood, tree, watermelon, and air I was trying to extend my body past its limitations and make visible the relationship between myself and my cohort which is based in reciprocity and community.
Photos By Faraz Anoushah Pour
Photos By Faraz Anoushah Pour
Remix
IV
I recreated my performance EXTEND for remix based on the musical understanding therefor it was my last performance slightly altered for the public and to encourage more interaction.
Final Project
Every Body DANCE NOW
interactive ballet which got everyone to dance.
This is an unedited piece of the ballet. Full video will be uploaded soon
here is a link to the Ballet Video
