MCP503 INTRO

Claire Elizabeth Barratt – MFA 1 – MCP503 – Intro - February 15 2015

“The Process and Praxis of Constructing the Self as Medium”

a practical pedagogy for the practice of Performance Art

INTRODUCTION

Based on the axiom that the body is the primary medium of performance art, my objective is to develop my methods of training, preparation and execution into a structure that can be integrated into a pedagogical curriculum for the practice of Performance Art.

Why a pedagogy?

Part of the rite of passage when transitioning from student into a professional career often includes assuming the role of “teacher” for the first time. And as a young professional performing artist with a background of good solid traditional British dance, music and theatre certifications, and having just moved to the USA, I found myself in the position of being entrusted with groups of students in a myriad of creative teaching situations. I was teaching dance composition, dance improvisation, movement theatre, voice and movement for actors and other similar facets of creative work for all ages and levels.

And it was here in the classroom that I began to articulate a distinctive type of creative voice.  Sometimes it was a profoundly unpredictable voice! Sometimes concepts, ideas and imagery emerged from my mouth that I didn’t remember ever having consciously thought before. And as students responded to these ideas and I saw them manifest, I would then see how to guide and to construct upon what I saw. I never dared to question or to second-guess any of this process, perhaps for fear it might all fall apart if I had to examine it too closely and the flow was broken.

Throughout my career path I have, on the most part, continued on this trajectory, although I have honed and systematized to a certain extent.

My current research is to dare to introduce critical examination into my process. To place my work in context with other body-based performance methods and pedagogies and to re-define my own practice.

Claire Elizabeth Barratt – MFA 1 – MCP503 – Outline - February 15 2015

As my research paper outline, I would like to present the syllabus goals and objectives for a course I will be facilitating with art students at Warren Wilson College, NC as my combined studio and research project this semester.

“THE ARTIST IS PRESENT / Constructing The Self As Medium”

AN INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE ART

Eight-week introductory course on performance art

Two hours once a week - plus individual assignments

Comprehensive Objectives and Outcomes

* For students to understand the concepts that define Performance Art, its origins and its distinctive role in contemporary art. As well as its potential for modes of expression, statement, aesthetics and presentation that are uniquely unpredictable, challenging, provocative and exciting.

* For students not to feel alienated by esoteric performance, but to be enabled to develop their own critical voice with which to comment on their experiences.

* For students to be enabled to confidently develop Self as performer/medium, creator/author with freedom from self-conscious inhibitions.

* For students to develop their own distinctive creative voice with which to pursue their work.

Specific Goals and Objectives

Definition, History & Context

* To research and analyze definitions of performance art – with the understanding that this is an evolving art form to be continuously re-defined.

* To introduce key historic movements in performance art, as well as individual artists and groups throughout the twentieth century.

And to regard the political, social and philosophical issues surrounding the creation of performance art in each era.

* To look at recent work in contemporary performance art, discuss how it fits into historic context, how it is now developing due to current influences and to contemplate its future.

Physical Preparation

* To introduce and explore methods of preparing the body as a versatile medium for art.

* To engage in relationship with fundamental concepts of self, body, time, space, gravity, surface, form, body sound and motion.

* To establish a routine of basic exercises in which to develop these principles as a regular practice.

Creative Response, Play & Interaction

* To utilize aspects of physical preparation in creative response and interaction.

* To engage in relationship with “other” in response to such entities as: sound, image, text, environment, object, color, smell, taste, texture, concept, narrative, technology, person and identity.

* To discover and develop the potential of Self as a viable means of artistic communication.

Assignments & New Work

* To apply physical and creative tools explored in the class towards the development of original new work.

* To establish Self as “author” or “creator” of artistic work.

* To foster a decision making process of creative critical thinking.

* To present original new work in a performance setting as a culmination of the project and manifestation of the work as art piece.

* To receive feedback and reflection on the work produced.

Claire Elizabeth Barratt – MFA 1 – MCP503 – Bibliography - February 15 2015

   

Bibliography (annotated)

Artaud, Antonin. The Theatre And Its Double. New York: Grove, 1958. Print.

A collection of essays written in the 1920s and 30s by the French actor and philosopher Antonin Artaud. A radical and revolutionary commentary on the role of the theatre and its relationship to “real life”. Influential as a philosophical tool through which to examine the role of contemporary performance.

Boal, Augusto. Theatre Of The Oppressed. New York: TCG, 1985. Print.

Augusto Boal’s own writings on his theatrical method, pedagogy and philosophy. He initiates the reader into the context of his work historically as well as his social and political principles of theatre as activism in the public sphere. An insight into communism in Latin culture. A resource for pedagogical methods of developing performance.

Brecht, Bertolt, and John Willett. Brecht on Theatre; the Development of an Aesthetic. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Print.

A collection of essays spanning a thirty-year, war time period by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. He delivers observations on the current state of theatre, as well as his own theories and methods of production. A voice that has shaped contemporary thought in performance.

Carr, C. On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century. Hanover NH: Wesleyan UP, 1993. Print.

Cynthia Carr writes from her perspective as a downtown New York journalist during a relatively recent time of great progression and progressiveness in the arts. The book includes a host of key contributing artists. A “hands-on” description, a voice from the “front lines”.

Dixon, Michael Bigelow, and Joel A. Smith. Anne Bogart: Viewpoints. Lyme, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1995. Print.

A collection of writings about Anne Bogart, American theatre director, founding director of SITI (with Tadashi Suzuki) and developer of the Viewpoints method (adapted from choreographer Mary Overlie.) An inspiring glimpse into the process of a great performance craftsperson.

Goldberg, RoseLee. Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present. Third ed. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2011. Print.

Contemporary American writer and curator of live art, RoseeLee Goldberg sets out a clear, comprehensive time-line of the history of performance art. An extremely informative study guide.

Goldberg, RoseLee. Performance: Live Art since 1960. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998. Print.

A sequel to From Futurism to the Present, continuing the time-line of performance art into the twenty-first century.

Goldberg, RoseLee, and Defne Avas. Performa. N.p.: n.p. 2007. Print.

A reference catalogue book for the 2007 Performa event curated by Goldberg. It features images and descriptions plus artist information and interviews from the show.

Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, and Roberto Sifuentes. Exercises for Rebel Artists: Radical Performance Pedagogy. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.

The founding directors of La Pocha Nostra clearly guide the reader through their performance pedagogy. They describe their workshops and state their own political, social and aesthetic agendas while still encouraging the student to find her own unique voice within its structure. A great tool for broadening one’s scope on the possibilities of performance pedagogy.

Huxley, Michael, and Noel Witts. The Twentieth-century Performance Reader. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.

An anthology of writings by, about and interviews with performance practitioners and artists of many varying backgrounds. It includes artists from Marina Abramovich and Laurie Anderson to Oskar Schlemmer and Marinetti. A diverse coverage, offering insights through a variety of lenses.

Jones, Amelia. Body Art/performing the Subject. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1998. Print.

American writer, curator and teacher Amelia Jones offers a postmodern view of body art – of art made with the body. She discusses artists working with the body from the 1960s through the 90s. A philosophical tool for the contemplation of “the body” as subjective medium for art.

Kelin, Daniel A, and Kathryn Dawson. The Reflexive Teaching Artist: Collected Wisdom from the Drama/Theatre Field. N.p.: Intellect, 2014. Print.

The authors offer a series of complex overlapping concepts in the fields of performance practice and pedagogy. An information source on ways of approaching the duality of artist and educator.

Koteen, David, and Nancy Stark. Smith. Caught Falling: The Confluence of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and Other Moving Ideas. Northampton, MA: Distributed by Contact Editions, 2008. Print.

American choreographer Nancy Stark-Smith discusses her “Underscore” method of movement improvisation, as well as stories and anecdotes from her life and work. An inspirational tool for methods of approaching the body in motion.

Kurth, Peter. Isadora, a Sensational Life. London: Little, Brown, 2002. Print.

A biography of the life of Isadora Duncan. Heralded as the “mother” of modern dance, she re-defined possibilities of movement as a natural response to the body’s impulses and elements of nature. This book exposes her life as a revolutionary.

Nelson, Robin. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances. N.p.: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013. Print.

Robin Nelson offers practical guidance on the multi-faceted potentials for artistic practice, research and pedagogy within a reflexive context. It encourages synergetic growth for the artist / educator / practitioner / researcher.

Phelan, Peggy. Unmarked: The Politics of Performance. London: Routledge, 1993. Print.

Peggy Phelan is an American writer considered as an authority on subjects of performance and feminism. Both of these subjects are the topic for discussion here, within the context of what is not visible. Recommended as a “must read” for anyone investigating the politics of performance.

Schechner, Richard. Performance Studies: An Introduction. Third ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Richard Schechner’s comprehensive textbook for students and educators of Performance Studies. It is an introduction into the world of performance in all of its potential contexts – artistically and anthropologically. It itemizes and clarifies each separate topic within the broad spectrum of what performance is.

Shepard, Simon. Theatre, Body and Pleasure. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.

British scholar Simon Shepard presents a historical overview of the body in the context of performance theory. It examines the meanings that the body holds as an artistic, political and sensual entity. This book provides a specific slant of insight into cultural and aesthetic modes of regarding the body.

Stucky, Nathan, and Cynthia Wimmer. Teaching Performance Studies. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002. Print.

The editors present a collection of essays by teaching practitioners of performance. A diverse overview that provides insight into the unique experiences of professionals in this field.

Turner, Victor W. The Anthropology of Performance. New York: PAJ Publications, 1986. Print.

British anthropologist Victor Turner presents his global experiences and research in the field of performance studies. He examines the cultural performance play of roles and identity in the context of community and ritual. This book provides in-depth insight into the world of symbolic and interpretive anthropology through the role of performance.

Vergine, Lea. Body Art and Performance: The Body as Language. Milano: Skira, 2000. Print.

Italian art critic Lea Vergine discusses the concept of the body as language in performance and art. She presents key contemporary performance artists working within this context. This is a book reinforcing the idea of the medium being the message – when the medium is the body.