Synthesis/Proposal
PART A: Pre-proposal MFA process (reflection) paper
(approx. 1500
words)
Write
a concise description of your studio project.
My primary intention going into the first
year studio project was to develop a practical pedagogy for performance art.
One that could serve as an unbiased substructure on which to build a practice –
a practice that would facilitate individual exploration, discovery and
invention.
My plan for procedure was to begin with
the methods I had been developing over the years as a movement teacher and
choreographer.
To isolate each specific movement concept
into its “purest” form to be explored in the body.
To isolate specific modes of creative
response to factors outside of the body.
To facilitate the development of new work
– equipped with a body and psyche that have been “prepared” – tuned, alert,
responsive and open to possibility.
My process was to conduct a series of
workshops through which my developing pedagogy could be “tested” within a
synergetic setting.
Working in a reflexive mode of
teaching/facilitating, constant adjustments were implemented – both in the
moment, to accommodate an immediate response – and also later, upon reflection
on participant feedback.
There was a total of five workshop groups:
1.
A community group of twelve participants
for a one-day intensive session, culminating in a public intervention
performance at an art-walk event.
2.
A regional contemporary dance company of
ten members for three sessions.
3.
A group of four participants hosted by a
Butoh dance collective for three sessions.
4.
A group of Transart peers in a short,
intensive workshop demo at the NY Winter Residency.
5.
An experimental workshop series in Real
and Virtual time/space duality for six weeks. This included sessions with art
students at a private liberal arts college in conjunction with others
participating via a tumblr group site.
Workshops 2 and 3 both focused heavily on
process and feedback – they served to develop and define two sets of exercises
that make up the core of the method – I have categorized them as “Body Tuning”
exercises and “Creative Response” exercises.
Workshop 5 focused on the development of
new work based on the theme of “Place, Space, Site: Real & Virtual
Location”.
In this practice I have been approaching
the creation of new work by utilizing Body Tuning and Creative Response
exercises as a “spring board” for the development of thematic ideas.
The resulting body of work from this year’s
studio practice is a well-rounded pedagogical method for performance art that
can now be expanded and deepened further.
How did the research impact upon your project and your working
practice?
After
starting out with a very general scoping of the field to research the history
of performance art, performance studies and also pedagogical terminology and
definitions, I began to focus in on specific pedagogical methods for
experimental performance.
The
three methods I chose to write about in my research paper were:
1. Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints
2. Guillermo Gomez-Pena’s Exercises For Rebel Artists
3. Tatsumi Hijikata’s Butoh training method
Bogart
and Gomez-Pena were both influential in illustrating HOW to present an
experimental performance pedagogy. Both of these methods are open to a wide
range of possibility in regards to the results – however, the initial concept
and set-up of each exercise is incredibly specific and the integrity of this
must be kept throughout. This is also true of my pedagogy and it was through
these artist’s concise descriptions that I was much better equipped to make
choices as to how to present the work – both to the student and the viewer.
Hijikata’s
training method utilizes imagery to “transform” the body via the imagination.
Researching his work equipped me with a deeper understanding and vocabulary to
express how I operate in this vein by illustrating ways it can be presented to
students during the creative workshop process.
Each
of these three methods is intensely rigorous. They experiment and investigate
mostly in a de-constructive mode, while at the same time accommodate a spectrum
of possibility for the resulting “big picture”.
Recognizing
these aspects of their work has helped me to define and further them in my own.
What directions does your project suggest for further research?
There
are a number of avenues that present themselves for further research with this
project.
It
has been suggested to me that much of the work could lend itself to being
applied as “body-work” in a holistic, creative healing capacity.
It
would also be possible to research more intensively the pedagogical aspects of
the work – as a tool for learning, how it can be integrated into a curriculum,
what kind of learning outcomes to anticipate etc.
However,
at this point in the process I feel it would be most beneficial to my own
creative practice to take some time to be “selfish” with the work.
My
instinct is to turn my pedagogy (in it’s current state of development) back in
on myself – to become my own student.
I
want to research deeper into the concept of “Self” as artistic medium, to strip
away everything down to the medium of the body and psyche.
I
want to research deeper into concepts of transformation, metamorphosis and
transcendence by “using the self to go beyond the self” in the creative
process.
After
which I want to come back around full circle into facilitating this journey for
others and allowing them to feed back into my process again.
I
have been questioning my role in this developing pedagogy.
What
is the difference between “teacher” and “facilitator”?
I
feel perhaps my role is somewhere in between.
I
don’t resonate with the world of “curriculum theory” and “learning outcomes” –
but my satisfaction lies in seeing people taking the ball and running with it.
…
Myself included.
On looking back at some
of my initial writings going into the first year (the personal statement for my
original application and also a short essay on what is important to me about my
work, for Andrew Cooks Praxis Enrichment course) I have noted statements I made
in regards to my role as a facilitator – that I feel it is an integral part of
my process to facilitate: “I
am interested in creating an arena for individual journey within a collective
experience.”
So I feel
I must bear this in mind as I continue my process.
PART B: Proposal outline
(approx. 1500 words, include numbers and
questions in your proposal)
01 – Title of project
The
Process and Praxis of Constructing the Self as Medium
-
using the self to go beyond the self -
02 – Name of student and any collaborators and their roles
Claire
Elizabeth Barratt
03 – Advisors for studio and for research element (first, second,
third choices). Explain your choices.
There
is no real order of preference in my choices of advisors – each individual
would bring something unique to the studio or research work in their
contribution to guiding the process.
STUDIO:
Linda
Montano – has an incredible
wealth of experience and a deeply intuitive practice focused on the self as art.
I enjoyed her course at last year’s summer residency.
Tanya
Calamoneri – is an artist and
teacher who I suggested for the pool of advisors due to her intensive
investigations and practice development in areas of the self and transformation
of the self in performance, primarily in the context of Butoh.
Jean
Marie Casbarian –
although I have not had much in the way of direct creative feedback with her
yet (planning on taking her summer course) I have noted her insight when
commenting on student’s work and know she uses concepts of the self-as-medium
in her own work.
RESEARCH:
Laura
Gonzales – was my studio
advisor last year so she has a working knowledge of my project and was also
very instrumental in the research process.
Tanya
Calamoneri – please see above
Curt
Cloninger – is someone I already
know within the context of my local art scene in Asheville NC. He is a great
resource for information and philosophical investigation.
04 – Description of proposed project or body of work – practical
element
Going
into the second year, the practical element of this project continues to follow
the most vital thread of the initial proposal – which is the praxis of
“self-as-medium” for art. However, I now intend to bring my method (which was
developed as a pedagogy for performance art last year through a series of
workshops) back into my own creative practice – to turn the pedagogy in on
myself and become my own student.
I
intend to strip down to the “raw material” of body and psyche, then utilize my
newly developed method (while at the same time, expanding and deepening it
further) as a tool for exploring “self-as-medium” and subsequently “using the
self to go beyond the self” in an investigation of Transformation,
Metamorphosis and Transcendence of the self in order to become art in the act
of performance.
By
the end of the year I intend to return full circle back to the workshop setting
in order to share my process with others, facilitate their journey and allow
their responses to feed back into my practice again.
05 – Description of proposed project – written element
As
the practical element will be very process oriented, it seems most fitting to
echo this in the written element and develop it concurrently as a project
report.
I
anticipate this taking the form of a journal that will unite the studio and
research aspects of the work and go hand in hand with a series of video journal
entries I will be creating during the studio process.
My
research focus will be on concepts of Self and self-as-medium. What constitutes
the self, the identity roles of the self and altered states of self that go
beyond identity in a state of transformation and transcendence from self? This
is researched within the context of performance but will also include reference
to altered states of being in other contexts (cultural, spiritual etc.)
Key
words: self, ego, subjective, essential, identity, authentic, name, icon,
demographic, body, senses, material, skin, psyche, intellect, spirit, consciousness,
judgment, ontological, mysticism, imagination, original, transformation,
alteration, modification, shift, catalyst, alchemy, flux, flow, form,
metamorphosis, projection, transcendence.
06 – Project results, e.g. documentation, performance, script,
intervention, website, exhibition, book, journal
Project
results will take the form of a journal. The journal may include written
entries, video pieces, sound pieces, still images, performance and workshop documentation
and any other collectable elements that seem appropriate.
07 – Brief description of research method
I
anticipate my studio and research practices to be very closely knit, as they
will both be concurrently interweaving to form my developing journal throughout
the whole process. I will begin with reading texts in the bibliography and
viewing videos that have been suggested to me as a starting point and then
continue to investigate appropriate materials that present themselves during my
search. The practical element will also be research in the context of
practice-as-research.
08 – Initial bibliography for written element
09 – Research question you pose?
What
constitutes the self-as-medium for art and how does the Self transform for and
via the process and praxis of performance?
10 – Intended audience
The
final project presentation should be accessible to anyone (although there’s a
possibility this could change during the process).
11 – Short statement on your current practice
I am
an inter-disciplinary performing/performance artist. I am interested in the
roles of mediums/materials in performance – especially the role of
self-as-medium. I am also interested in guiding and facilitating others within
the context of a creative journey – this often takes a pedagogical form, the
results of which feed back into my developing work as a collaboration with the
participants.
12 – Formulate entire project in 2-3 meaningful sentences.
In
performance art, the primary medium for art is the Self – the raw materials of
which are the body and the psyche.
I
will investigate the concept of “using the self to go beyond the self” – the
transformation of the self within the context of performance.
13 – Technical description and production process including medium,
quantity, size or duration.
I would like to leave the technical
production elements open to possibility at this point. The project will
include, but not be limited to: text, video and myself as the subject of
self-as-medium, then eventually a workshop with other participants and possibly
also other collaborators.
14 – Connect past and future project
In
last year’s project, my focus was “outward”. As pedagogy developer and workshop
facilitator my roles were to strategize, guide, reassess, respond and adapt to
the participant’s feedback.
This
year, my focus will be going “inward”. The primary investigation is the same –
methods of developing/preparing/constructing the self-as-medium.
It
still holds the primary pedagogical intention - but this year I will become my
own student!
15 – Connect studio and research project (if separate), explain how
they inform each other.
I
envision the studio and research elements being facets of the same project.
16 – Brief description of conceptual motivation
As
an artist whose primary medium is the Self, there are two greatest avenues of
satisfaction for me: One is to experience the “voluptuous surrender” of the
self becoming art. The other is to experience the synergy of facilitating this
journey for others. It is the combination of these two satisfactions that serve
as the motivation to deeply investigate what constitutes the self-as-medium for
art and also to apply these explorations and discoveries to a pedagogical
method accessible enough for others to utilize.
(“… a voluptuous surrender, lost in your arms, lost to the
world, utterly immersed in what is present…” Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to
Getting Lost)
17 – Short description and abstract (50-100 word) of written element
I
will be researching and writing on the subject of self-as-medium for art in the
context of performance. This will include a study of the definitions of self
and its role in identity, the body, the psyche and of “using the self to go
beyond the self” in transformation and transcendence of the self.
18 – Proportion of written/practical element
I
envision the written and practical elements as being equal in proportion.
19 – Possible location for the project
Due
to the journalistic nature of this project it is not necessary to have one
particular location for it to take place or to be presented. I anticipate most
of the work will be suitable for presentation in virtual reality as well as in
gallery exhibition format. Ideally, I would like the opportunity to travel
during this project in order to investigate the influence of various locations.
I
will be spending some of the year in Nottinghamshire UK as well as my USA home
base of Asheville NC. Both locations have much to offer in their natural
landscapes and cultural/artistic communities.
20 – Timeline for realization of project
August/September
Begin reading. Prepare specific concepts
to explore in studio practice based on last year’s pedagogical method.
September/October/November/December
Create a series of journal entries –
beginning with only the body and psyche as raw material, then gradually adding
outside influences for creative response. Possibly adding collaborators for
inter-disciplinary creative response near the end of the semester. The journal
entries will initially take the form of writing and video (plus other possible
journaling methods – such as photographs, sketching or collecting) and may
later take the form of informal performance sharings.
January/February
Continue in the same vein as previous
semester with methods of journaling – reading, exploring, writing, documenting.
By now I anticipate adding collaborators and informal sharings if that has not
already happened by December. Also - prepare for workshop sessions in March and
April.
March/April
Conduct a series of workshop sessions in
order to return back full circle to my original pedagogical enquiry when
starting out last year at the beginning of the program.
May
Assess the year’s work in chorological
order as a journal and formulate a conclusion.
21 – Budget
There is no set budget for this project. Expenses
will very much depend upon what materials are utilized and how much travel is
involved. At this point it is difficult to predict.
