For my second blog post, I will be focusing on the research and development that followed on from my initial decision to explore social awkwardness within the city. A lot of my research came from observation; as I was constantly thinking about the project, I began noticing these moments of awkwardness much more. I was conscious of other peoples behaviours and movements.
I decided to visit the library for more information. I found a whole section of books dedicated to teaching people about social etiquette. Many were written in the early 1900’s and were extremely outdated, but highly entertaining to read. There were also books covering social etiquette around the world, where I read what was ‘expected’ of people when visiting England. I liked how comical it all seemed in comparison to today’s much more relaxed approach, and decided that that was something I would like to channel within my work.
Extracts from ‘Do’s and Taboos Around the World’ – Roger E. Axtell (Editor)
Extracts from ‘Do’s and Taboos Around the World’ – Roger E. Axtell (Editor)
During my previous project, after looking at the work of Rebecca Horn, I mentioned that I was interested in experimenting with performance art. After attending Aliyah’s workshop I decided it was something I wanted to try for Unit X, and I began researching performance artists. The thing I found I really liked about this form of art was how a lot of it involves the manipulating and changing of the human form which I thought would work well within my project.
Kinga Araya – Grounded III (1999)
My favourite piece of work that I came across is by Kinga Araya. Araya is a Polish artist based in Canada, who has explored and lived in many cultures. Grounded III is a collection of video and audio recordings. In them, Araya walks on three legs (one prosthetic), and talks in 5 languages about her exilic experiences (http://www.kingaaraya.com/art_grounded3.php). To me, the additional leg is significant in this art work as it represents the way she stands out and never quite fits in with any culture, the mixture of languages she talks in further demonstrates this. Her feelings of exile are illustrated through her abnormal appearance. This idea of having a sense of ‘self’ is a constant theme throughout her artworks.
Going back to social niceties, I again considered how alien it all seemed. I mentioned in my previous post how I found the whole thing incredibly unnatural and forced, and how the constant list of social etiquettes we are expected to follow feels daunting. I wanted to draw on this feeling for my project, and began thinking of ways I could do this. During Aliyah’s workshop, we concentrated on exaggerating simple actions. I decided that I would like to try my own version of this using handshakes.
I liked the idea of dressing my performers in traditional ‘gentleman’ or business wear, to represent the figures at the heart of society’s etiquette. As the gesture was going to involve using their arms, I wanted these to be the exaggerated feature. However, I needed them to still be functional in order to carry out the handshake. I decided to use ‘robot’ arms – long plastic arms with a pull device at one end and a hand at the other, the lever opens and closes the hands.
For the outfits, my initial idea was to have the performers in traditional men’s suits – but the arms on the jacket were now too short. I decided to make my own so I could extend the arms. I also wanted to make huge, over-the-top top hats to go with the outfits. I did attempt to make some using black paper, but I wasn’t happy with the finished hats as they were too obviously paper hats, and were difficult to keep on when moving without elastic. I visited a costume shop to figure out my other options and found some I was happy with.
My first attempt at a top hat
The costume shop top hat with the robot arms and extended jacket
Although I was reasonably happy with the outcome so far, it was difficult to create the feel I wanted. To me, the world of business feels very impersonal and I wanted to show that within my work. Seeing coursemates wearing the outfits made it difficult to do this as I know them well. To achieve an anonymous, impersonal feel, I covered their faces using black tights.
An Insight into Interactive Art 