maoliosaphelan-blog - Tumblr blog

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Annotated Bibliography

Source 1: Book

Rugg, J. and Sedgwick, M. (2007). Issues in curating contemporary art and performance. Bristol, UK: Intellect Books, p.Whole Book.

To stay relevant, art curators must keep up with the rapid pace of technological innovation as well as the aesthetic tastes of fickle critics and an ever-expanding circle of cultural arbiters. Issues in Curating Contemporary Art and Performance argues that, despite these daily pressures, good curating work also requires more theoretical attention.

The four thematic sections the book covers, are entitled Forms of thinking in contemporary curating/Curating and the Interdisciplinary: Encounter, context, Experience/The role of the curator: Contestation and consideration/ Emergent Practices: Subverting the Museum.

Throughout the book, a distinguished group of contributors consider curation in light of interdisciplinary and emerging practices, examine conceptions of curation as intervention and contestation, and explore curation’s potential to act as a reconsideration of conventional museum spaces. Against the backdrop of cutting-edge developments in electronic art, art/science collaboration, non-gallery spaces, and virtual fields, contributors propose new approaches to curating and new ways of fostering critical inquiry. Now in paperback, this volume is an essential read for scholars, curators, and art enthusiasts alike.

Source 2: Book

Obrist, H. and Raza, A. (2014). Ways of Curating. Penguin Books, p.whole book.

Hans Ulrich Obrist curated his first exhibit in his kitchen when he was twenty-three years old. Since then he has staged more than 250 shows internationally, many of them among the most influential exhibits of our age. Ways of Curating is a compendium of the insights Obrist has gained from his years of extraordinary work in the art world. Obrist draws upon his own experiences and inspirations in the hopes that he may inspire, all those engaged in the creation of culture.

The Book discusses meetings with artists, the creation of the first public museums in the 18th century. It recounts the practice of inspirational figures such as Diaghilev, skipping between exhibitions, continents and centuries, Ways of Curating argues that curation is far from a static practice. Driven by curiosity, at its best it allows us to create the future.

Source 3: Book

O'Neill, P. and Wilson, M. (2015). Curating research. London: Open Editions, p.Whole Book.

This anthology of newly commissioned texts presents a series of detailed examples of the different kinds of knowledge production that have recently emerged within the field of curatorial practice. The first volume of its kind to provide an overview of the theme of research within contemporary curating, Curating Research marks a new phase in developments of the profession globally. Consisting of case studies and contextual analyses by curators, artists, critics and academics, including Hyunjoo Byeon, Carson Chan and Joanna Warsza, Chris Fite-Wassilak, Olga Fernandez Lopez, Kate Fowle, Maja and Reuben Fowkes, Liam Gillick, Georgina Jackson, Sidsel Nelund, Simon Sheikh, Henk Slager, tranzit.hu, Jelena Vestic, Marion von Osten and Vivian Ziherl, and edited by curators Paul O'Neill and Mick Wilson, the book is an indispensible resource for all those interested in the current state of art and in the intersection between research and curating that underlies exhibition-making today.

Source 4: Book

Dean, P. (2001). Production management. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood, p.Whole Book.

This title takes you through the process of making shows happen from the point of view of the production manager - the person responsible for everything on stage that is not an actor. It describes different types of productions, from small-scale amateur to international opera; the role, qualities and working life of backstage teams and finally, theatre administration. The book includes information and tips on how to: work with directors and designers; cost productions realistically; run production meetings; oversee the rehearsal process; manage a production team; co-ordinate the building, painting, propping and costuming of a show; and lead the production week and technical rehearsal. There are also sections on working safely together with health and safety legislation.

Source 5: Book

Seabright, J. (2012). So You Want to be a Theatre Producer?. London: Nick Hern Books, p.Whole Book.

Drawing on his own experiences as a producer of theatre productions at every level - from university, via the fringe, to the West End - James Seabright takes the rookie producer through every stage of the process: the development of an idea, raising the money and budgeting, negotiating rights, hiring a director and production team, marketing the show, rehearsals and on to opening night. Ideal for prospective and novice producers, or for anyone who's had a dream of getting a show on, this essential guide by an industry insider reveals everything you need to know to negotiate the right venue for the right price, who to approach when money's looking tight, and what to do if you get a bad review. The book also features a comprehensive appendix with sample contracts and letters of agreement, lists of key press contacts, rehearsal spaces and a sample marketing pack.

Source 6: Book

Gillet, C. and Sheehan, J. (2017). The production manager's toolkit. New York: Routledge, p.Whole Book.

The Production Manager’s Toolkit is a comprehensive introduction to a career in theatrical and special event production for new and aspiring professionals, given by expert voices in the field. The book discusses management techniques, communication skills, and relationship building tactics to create effective and successful production managers. With a focus on management theory, advice from top production managers provide insights into budgeting, scheduling, meetings, hiring, maintaining safety, and more. Through interviews and case studies, the history and techniques of production management are explored throughout a variety of entertainment venues: theatre, dance, opera, and special events. The book includes references, tools, templates, and checklists; and a companion website contains downloadable paperwork and links to other useful resources such as unions, venues, and vendors.

#year2

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Documentation of my creative process to achieve a solo performance piece

I was most interested in the marital conflict between the play's central characters George and Martha. Their relationship is an undermining of the idea of a happy couple and their marriage highly dysfunctional. The play suggests that every marriage is marked with some conflict or turmoil but that, when all is said and done, they continue on. I could personally relate to this as I had not long before witnesses my own parents address a marital conflict that they psychologically processed together , they pushed through it all and now have come out of it knowing one another better and having a far stronger relationship.

My parents marital issues were to do with lying so it brought me to the concept of mythomania otherwise known to most of us as compulsive lying. Mythomania can be defined as an abnormal or pathological tendency to exaggerate or tell lies. Prior to my research I did not realise it could actually be classified as a proper disease. It is not as highly recognised as other mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety and there is no specific medication to treat it.

I started watching multiple videos on youtube about this conflict and exploring why individuals feel the need to deceive others.

Dr Phil episode entitled Why do people lie?

https://youtu.be/0qQ0vT_47ms

Notes:

-Take what is not rightfully theirs?

-Escape accountability

-create a fantasy/ false esteem to escape their mundane life

-Avoid punishment

-To inflict pain

-Feel better in the moment (steal admiration)

-Gain advantage to exploit others

The Science of Lying

TED X- Why people lie by Kim Serota

The truth about Liars and lies documentary film

youtube

Notes

Fudge factor-the little bit of deception that people are willing to display, that only slight differs from the truth.

Factors that alter the fudge factor also changes people’s ability to be dishonest

There are dozens of elements that can alter the magnitude of the fudge factor.

If you say to yourself ‘everyone is doing this’, then you are able to justify this deception to yourself.

In order to study dishonesty, we need to be able to measure the extent to which people are dishonest.

One way to test this is the matrix experiment:

Method: It involves giving participants 20 simple math problems. The problems were fairly solvable if the candidates had enough time however the participants were not given this time. They had 5 minutes to solve as many as possible. They then had to count how many questions that they got correct. Then they were to take their test papers and shred them. They then tell the person running the experiment how many questions they got correct and were handed money in the amount equivalent to their correct number of answers. What the participants did no know was that the shredder had been alter to only shred the sides of the paper not all of it. On average most participants got 4 correct answers however they repost that they got 6 correct.

Results:

They had over 40,000 participants, nearly 70% of whom cheated.

They found 20 big cheaters, these are people who cheated all the way said they solved 20 problems correctly and in total they stole $400 from the experiment.

They found 28.000+ little cheaters who in total stole $50,000 from the experiment

The results of the experiment are not a bad reflection of reality.

There was a far larger number of small cheaters and because of this their economic impact is far greater than the big cheaters.

Original Idea:

So my idea was to originally construct a ten minute filmed based around this conflict of lying, though which I would highlight individuals reasons for lying and the issues that it causes with their relationships with others.

**Just a little disclaimer, a lot of my draft scripts are not complete because as soon as I decide that I do not like where my work is going I just stop.

This was the first script that I started to write:

There is only one character in the film. The dialogue is a monologue format with the main character breaking off and embodying other characters to assist with the context and storyline.

Johnathan:

I am the most outstanding cardiovascular surgeon at Royal Holloway Hospital, London. I am very successful indeed and the very best in my field. This is why I am head of my department. This is why my name is engraved in capital letters on a shiny gold platted plaque, underneath a large, rather dashing portrait of myself; in the hospital reception area. I earn vast amounts of money that I splurge on my family and friends. I give my wife and two children copious amount of love and affection. I communicate effectively and openly with my family and avoid secrets. I give vast amounts of financial aid to charities and I have adopted an endangered orangutan for Christ sake. (PAUSE)

Who am I kidding? Everything I have just told you is a completely untrue. Every line is complete bullshit..oh apart from my dialogue about the endangered organutang, that is most definitely true. The crazy thing is I know that I lie a lot; sometimes I tell up around 500 lies a day, but I just can’t help it. I have this ideal picture of myself and how I want my life to go. When my life does not go the way in which I intended and I am still the worthless individual I was yesterday, then lying about it is the only way I can cope.

I immediately didn't like where this was going. I felt no emotional connection or any relation to this character 'Jonathan' that I had created. I also thought that a ten minute monologue on film might be rather boring.

For my second script attempt to bring in another character:

Setting: Therapy room

Jonathan’s first session with therapist.

Two characters: therapist and gentleman

Therapist never appears on screen only gentleman.

Therapist: Hello Jonathan it is lovely to meet you. I usually start my sessions with some basic questions. As you answer my questions I will be taking some notes. Do not be alarmed this is just so that I can keep track of how you progress through my sessions. Have you ever had therapy before?

Jonathan: No, I have not had therapy before.

Therapist: Okay well shall we start by discussing your upbringing?

Jonathan: My upbringing?

Therapist: Yes, what was your life like as a child?

Jonathan: Well there is not much to tell really. My father was an alcoholic who beat my mother whenever he was drunk. My mother was too wrapped up in her delusional love for my father that she did not have time to provide me with the love and nurturing that I required.

Therapist: What are some of the feelings you have about your childhood?

Jonathan: Feelings?

Therapist: Yes, feelings

Jonathan: I do not have feelings.

Therapist: why do you not have feelings?

Jonathan: Well I have never known how to express emotion.

Therapist: Would you say that you try not to think about your past and that you have avoided coming to terms with it and the effect it may have had on you in your adult life?

Jonathan: The past is in the past and that is where is shall remain.

Therapist: Would you not admit though that it was a relief to describe your childhood out loud, to someone else?

Jonathan: then why did you ask me the question, if you already know the answer?

Tutor feedback on scripts so far:

Remember that lying is contextual.

Do not focus so much on the form but rather write and allow its format to develop naturally.

Allow for context in order for the content to appear and to progress.

Think about appropriation.

After this feedback I hit a slight road block. I then decided that my topic was far too broad and I was struggling to feel any kind of connection to my work. I was getting far too overwhelmed with all this creative freedom.Through this research I found a Ted Talk on Self-deception, a concept in which I felt that I could truly relate.

The psychology of self-deception by��Cortney Warren at TEDxUNLV

Notes:

-Humans are masters of self-deception-We fool ourselves into thinking things are false and refuse to believe things that are true.

-We lie to ourselves about the smallest details, such as how much we really ate today and why we didn’t write our actual height and weight on our driver’s license.

- ‘I will only have one glass of wine tonight’, when I know that I am drinking at least 3.

- We lie to uphold social ideals. ‘I never have sexual thoughts about anyone except my spouse’

-We lie about our most important life choices such as why we married who we did and why we chose a certain career path. Unfortunately, love is rarely the full motivation for those choices.

-Often it is very difficult for us to admit thant we lie to ourselves.

-We lie to ourselves because we do not have enough psychological strength to admit the truth and deal with the consequences that will follow.

-Understanding our self-deceptions is the most effective way to live a fulfilling life. For when we truly admit who we really are, we have the opportunity to change.

-Our self-deceptive tendencies start at an early age, as we start observing and making conclusions about ourselves and our environment.

-Right or wrong, these conclusions that we made affected our identity.

-As adults we most like to lie about how psychologically painful our realities experienced as children affected who we are today.

-Although each of our specific childhood learnings will be unique, what we learned will be exemplified in the lies we tell ourselves as adults.

-Psychological theories of human nature can help us understand our self-deception.

-Sigmund Freud first described lying through ego defence mechanisms. Psychological strategies that protect our egos; our core sense of self, from information that would hurt us.

-Denial: refusing to believe that something is true even though it is. ‘I dont have a problem with alcohol’, even though I drink every day.

- Rationalisation: creating a reason to excuse ourselves. ‘I would not have yelled at you if you hadn’t treated me so unfairly’, thereby justifying my yelling.-Projection: Taking an undesirable aspect of ourselves and escribing it onto someone else. ‘I am, not like that you are like that’.

-Pioneers in the cognitive behavioural realms describe how our thoughts deceive us through cognitive distortions. Irrational ways we think:

-Polarised thinking, thinking in extremes. ‘I will either eat no cookies or an entire box’, because if I eat one cookie I have already blown my diet, so I might as well keep eating.

-Emotional reasoning: thinking that our feelings accurately reflect reality. ‘I feel hurt, so you must have done something bad to me’. ‘I feel stupid, therefore I am’.

-Over generalisation: taking a single negative event as an infinite spiral of defeat. After going through a bad break up you think, I am always going to be alone.

-From an existential perspective, we deceive ourselves to avoid the givens of life, the fundamental realities of being human, that we must face. Death: ‘we are all going to die’. Ultimate aloneness; we were born as a single person housed in a solitary physical body.

-Our levels are inherently meaningless, unless we give them meaning.- To avoid facing these realities we frequently lie to ourselves. ‘I am this way because of my upbringing’, thereby deferring responsibility for my choices. ‘I am not going to write a will, because I am young and I am not going to die anyway.’ Thereby denying my mortality.

-Multicultural psychologist describe how our internalisation of cultural norms affects us. Here we deceive ourselves by believing what we were culturally conditioned to believe is true, instead of deciding what we actually believe is true. We compromise ourselves to comply with cultural norms.

- We often think that you need to look a certain way, be a certain weight and earn a certain income etc. We usually believe these things because we are supposed to and not necessarily because we believe it is true.

-All these theories of human nature help us understand how we deceive ourselves on a daily basis.

-Why should we care about self-deception? It leads to massive amounts of pain and regret. To avoid being honest, we frequently make choices with harmful consequences to ourselves and others. We may use drugs, alcohol, eat, shop, gamble, steal, leave people or pass our emotional baggage down to those we love the most.

-We may choose not to change even when we are miserable or causing profound harm to those around us.-Looking back at life with regret is incredibly painful, because you can not

change your choices in the past.

-When we do not take full responsibility for who we are, we hurt ourselves and everyone around us.

-The first step in taking this responsibility is becoming self-aware. We must become observers of ourselves. When you have a strong emotional reaction to something; pause. When what you say does not match how you act; pause. Ask yourself, what does your reaction says about you.

-We tend to avoid our contributions to the conflict in our lives.

-When you are unresolved about something or someone

-We prefer the path of least resistance

-As we become more honest and aware we become more responsible for our choices.

- If we admit that we are insecure about something; which we all are, we are confronted with a choice. To work on our insecurity or not. Whatever we decide, we are now more responsible for the consequences of our insecurity because we know better.

-Not changing when confronted with the truth is a choice.

-Although we cannot control many circumstances that we encounter in life, we are responsible for our reactions to all of them.

-One of the best ways in which we can confront our self-deceptions is psychotherapy. It is probably the only relationship that you will ever have in your life that exists solely to benefit you.

-There is a lot of stigma surrounding therapy, but the truth is, it takes tremendous courage, to be completely vulnerable to another person.

-Therapy is a gift, if you are courageous enough to accept it.

-Confronting our self-deception is a life long journey.

-As we change the world offers us new opportunities to understand ourselves. There is always more to learn.

-Be more honest liars, choose to become more honest about the lies you tell yourself and use the truth to live the most fulfilling life for you, because you have only got one.

Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalising away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth (or lack of truth) so that one does not reveal any self-knowledge of the deception.

I felt that this type of lying was highly relatable. The ideas Courtney Warren presents and the way in which she delivers her insight into such a distinct concept is what caught my attention. I had suddenly found a type of lying that I could associate my thoughts with.

Performance Rational:

I will be creating a 10-minute art house style film. I will have one main character and a second character who does not appear on screen; they are merely a voice over. The theme of my piece will be self-deception and I will be addressing the conflict that arises from this. I will be identifying the lies that we tell ourselves every day to justify who we are as individuals and to also justify why we have chosen or not chosen the life journey that we are currently on. I want to explore the idea that only once we have identified our self-deceptions, we are then able to live a fulfilling life. My project will require no rehearsal time in the actual exhibition space. The materials required on the actual day of performance, will simply be a projector and a wall suitable for projection. I will be borrowing a tripod from the media department but any other equipment used for filming I will provide myself. I do not want my audience’s response to my film to be too constructed, I would rather them take away their own interpretations. I would like my film to encourage the audience to stop and reflect on how they possibly deceive themselves daily and why they believe that they might do this.

After submitting my performance rational the week prior to our performance I still hadn't consolidated a decent script for the 10 minute video. I was really struggling to write. I would sit down and look at the blank word document on my computer but nothing would come out. It was closing in on performance week and I was bringing to become extremely stressed. I finally cam to a decision that would put less pressure on myself to write a full film script. I decided that rather than create a video installation, placed on loop, I would rather push myself out of my comfort zone and display a live performance. My piece would be showcased in the performance evening rather than in the exhibition space. I shorten the length of my video to around four minutes and decided I would use the rest of my remaining ten minutes conducting a live interview on stage.

I began by brainstorming the sh*t that people say to themselves on a regular basis and came up with some common phrases:

I know who I am

I am happy and secure with who I am

I am self-aware

Everything will work itself out

I must find their purpose in life

If I have more money I will be happier

I will be happier when I am skinnier

I am not hurting

I have faith

I will only eat one piece of cake

I must be successful in order to be happier.

I am a failure

I will do this later

I am okay with being alone

I do not have time

I will quit smoking tomorrow

I will always be faithful to my spouse

I love my job

I am not judgemental

It’s the end of the world

Through this process of identify common self-deceptive thoughts, I discovered that a lot of the lies we tell ourselves are based on social expectation of how an individual should function in society. These social expectations are often unachievable and fantastical objectives therefore it is more often than not, societies deceptions that lead us to a deluded sense of self.

I then established a film script based on these common phrases.

SH*T PEOPLE SAY

The film opens with a simple definition of self deception and no sound.

Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth (or lack of truth) so that one does not reveal any self-knowledge of the deception.

We then move into contradicting images, voice over and text. As the film progresses the overlay of images, voice over and text goes more blurred and intense.

All dialogue is read as a voice over

Dialogue: ‘I am not hurting’

Image: knife cutting wrist

Dialogue: ‘I will be happy when I have more money’

Image: person preparing lines of cocaine to snort.

Dialogue: ‘I will quit tomorrow’

Image: person lighting a cigarette.

Dialogue: ‘I will start my diet tomorrow’

Image: person diving into a cake and stuffing their face with it/

Dialogue: ‘I will be happier when I am skinner’

Image: person looking miserable measuring themselves in a mirror with a measuring tape.

Dialogue: ‘I will do it later’

Image: person receiving a reminder on their phone about an essay that they ignore

Dialogue: ‘I can cope with stress’

Image: Person at desk ruffling through papers and putting their head in their hands.

All sound, image and text will then end. The audience will hear a voice over speaking the following verse:

We self-deceive in order to achieve a satisfactory view of oneself. We like to refuse anything that could confuse the thoughts we have ingrained in our minds. We fool ourselves into thinking information that is false and refuse to believe information that is true. We master deception with the up most intention to uphold social expectation. We lie to ourselves about the smallest technicalities such as how much food we have consumed. ‘I only ate one piece pie’, conveniently forgetting the other 5 pieces that we know we will end up regretting. We deceive ourselves about our most important life choices, such as why we believe that we should spend the rest of our lives with the one special someone. Unfortunately love can be a rare motivation for this devotion.

We are afraid of confronting the truth because we have convinced ourselves that we are not psychologically strong enough to deal with the consequences that follow. Understanding our deception can lead to self-affection.

youtube

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Writing Composition Sessions

Composition on Tuesday 17th January 2017

We started the session with responding to the question, How do you feel about writing?

My biggest fear is the blank page; I have a genuine fear of it. The first sentence is the hardest piece of writing for me, however once I have my flow I am a lot better.

Hard to get past perfectionism. I struggle with drafts because I like to make every sentence I write as perfect.

I find it easier to write from a question rather than simply out of nowhere.

You do not have to write in a linear sequence, you can start from the middle because by the final piece all the relevant parts will end up in the correct order.

Often if you cannot finish a piece of writing it can be a reflection of the fact that you haven’t actually figured out where you want to take the ending.

I hate writing dialogue I really struggle with it.

I struggle to write about other people’s experiences it is much easier for me to write about my experiences.

Task: Write a few sentences on something that was not the end of the world, just a minor issue.

Version 1 (from first person perspective): Today; Tuesday 16th January, I put my hard contact lenses in for the first time in about a month. About 20 minutes after wearing them my left eye began to hurt. I had no soft contact lenses left so I had no option but to wear them to university. As a result of this my left eye has felt scratched all day and has been really irritating me.

Version 2 (from third person perspective):On Tuesday 16th January Maoliosa decided to wear her hard contact lenses for the first time in about a month. After about 20 minutes of wearing them, her left eye began to hurt. She had no more soft contact lenses left so she had no option but to wear them to university. As a result of her decision she then suffered the feeling of a scratched eye all day, which irritated her a lot.

Version 3 (from perspective of the contact lenses):Today, Tuesday 16th January, I was taken out of my bathing solution and placed into a human eyeball. I completed my usual task of latching onto the eyes surface however something was different today. The eyeball and eye were not getting along as it was scratched and rough on the surface. When I encounter a rough surface, it is very difficult for me to latch onto it therefore for my job was very uncomfortable for the duration of the day, as this human decided to wear me on their eyeball despite there being an issue.

Independent research on Sophie Calle, whom Season suggested that we look into - her work is an example of how different texts can be used in performance.

-Sophie Calle is a French writer, photographer, installation artist and conceptual artist, born on the 9th of October 1953.

-Her work explores human vulnerability through her examinations of identity and intimacy.

-She is well known for her ability to follow strangers and investigate their private lives.

-Her work evokes the French literary movement of the 1960’s known as Oulipo.

- Calle's first artistic work was The Sleepers (Les Dormeurs), a project in which she invited passers-by to occupy her bed.[11] Some were friends, or friends of friends, and some were strangers to her. She served them food and photographed them every hour.

- Christine Macel described Calle's work as a rejection of the Poststructuralist notion of the "death of the author" by working as a "first-person artist" who incorporates her life into her works and, in a way, redefines the idea of the author.

-Her works are often presented in a documentary like manor.

- Calle grapples with modes of perception and identification by portraying life in all its diversity, handing over all the problems and questions to the viewer – and thereby, closing the loop, back to life itself – to find the answers.

- The uncertainty expressed in her works is what makes them so compelling.

-She was described by The Guardian as ‘France’s foremost artist of the unexpected’

-Her work involves photographs accompanied by text.

-Her texts read like detective reports, or a psychiatrist's case notes.

-The controlled imagery and language generate a powerful emotional response, that one could attribute to her ambiguous integration of fact and fiction.

-One could suggest that there are three main identifiable themes which can be examined and related to aspects of Calle’s work as a way of understanding the differing effects of her combination of text and image.

- Interpretation, narrative and chance have been identified to be of considerable importance in understanding Calle’s work.

- From conception to realisation there is no one way in which she works.

- Highly autobiographical in nature, her work extends through various disciplines and within her practice she adopts multiple identities as character, performer and author.

- Calle’s work hangs between fact and fiction, emphasised through the thriller-like manner in which she scripts the language recording the various events.

-This distinction between fact and fiction is furthered through the apparent lack of ending to her projects, fostering the idea that these situations may indeed be real.

Composition Session on Tuesday 23rd January

As homework for the previous week we were asked to pay attention to what we like to read and bring in a sample of it to the next session.

The text I chose: BBC News in the form of the iPhone application.

Why do I like this text and what does it do?I like this text because it is very informative and factual. It appeals to all areas of interest from lifestyle to political conflict. It allows me to keep up to date with current world issues. After reading it I often feel more knowledgeable in some way and that I can bring more to a conversation if I am conscious of world events. I like how BBC News is not as bais as other news channels such as CNN. It also has an app that sends me live updates of current events so I always feel like I have an awareness of the world around me.

What does the fact that I like it say about me? It says that I am concerned with the world around me and I want to be in the know all the time. It also demonstrates that I like to read about of a range of topics.

Task reformat the following sentence: A top fashion model has revealed that she is intersex, saying that she hopes speaking out will help break a taboo.

Top fashion model Gaby Odiele has attempted to break taboos surrounding intersex children through her announcement of her own suffering of the condition.

Then we investigated The Itch by Glen Neath & Susanne Dietz

https://vimeo.com/7576478

The film is based on a sketch. A pain in two parts.

Co-directed and produced by Glen Neath & Susanne Dietz Written by Glen Neath Filmed & edited by Susanne Dietz Designed by Lizzie Clachan Performed by Hannah Ringham & Amber Sealed

It was performed in response to feeling ill in a foreign city and and a million mosquito bites. Screenings: Shunt Lounge, London Bridge, May 2007, Sud Electronic's 7th Birthday, The Rhythm Factory, London, September 2007, and Brockley Social Club, London October 2013

It was originally performed as a sketch at the Shunt cabaret in Bethnal Green in London.

Homework:

Write a dialogue-driven scene between these two characters (the fictional woman and you-as-a-character) wherein one character wants a piece of information and the other resists giving it to them.

Original Script:

(Two women sitting at a square dining table facing each other)

Other woman: Did you enjoy the dinner party last night?

Maoliosa: Yes very much so.

Other woman: You seemed to be having a nice little chat with my husband!

Maoliosa: Well yes because our name cards were placed next to one another.

Other woman: You seemed to be sitting very close to my husband!

Maoliosa: Well yes because the proximity between each of the seats was not very large.

Other woman: That is no excuse he is my husband!

Maoliosa: Honestly Debora there is nothing going on between myself and your husband!

Other woman: You probably asked Helena to arrange the seating plan so that you could speak to my husband.

Maoliosa: Are you and your husband having problems? Is this why you are making such ridiculous accusations?

Other woman: The stability of my marriage is not your concern. However since you asked my husband and I have never been happier.

Maoliosa: That’s not what he told me.. (said under her breath)

Other Woman: Excuse me what did you say?

Maoliosa: I said nothing

Other woman: I am not stupid, you said something under your breath.

Maoliosa: I think you are hearing things.

Other woman: Do not patronise me!

Maoliosa: I am only speaking the truth!

Other woman: If you speak the truth then you would just admit to me that you and my husband have been involved with one another.

Maoliosa: (silence, stares at other women)

Other woman: TELL ME.

Maoliosa: THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL YOU.

Other woman: I KNOW EVERYTHING!

Maoliosa: Well you clearly do not… (under her breathe)

Other Woman: Again, with the whispering, JUST ADMIT IT

Maoliosa: OKAY, OKAY I GAVE HIM A BLOWJOB IN THE BATHROOM IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?!?!

Other woman: Slaps Maoliosa’s face, gets up from the table and leaves the room.

Composition Tuesday 31st January

We were separated into groups of three. We then sat together and were handed several blank post-it notes. Someone began the text by writing a short phrase on one of the post-its and sticking it to the desk, we then kept adding post it notes whenever we wanted to with the intention of progressing the text in some way.

Starting phrase: His thick, woollen scarf, hung low beneath his knees, draped loosely around his neck.

Route 1:

-His girlfriend noticed how low the scarf was and decided to lift it up around his neck

-As she did so she accidentally brushed her hand across his genital area. She realised that this brush had not gone unseen when she received a rather look from a passer-by.

-She didn’t care. She cupped her hands and grabbed hold of her boyfriend’s abnormally small penis. This didn’t bother her because she knew in seconds that it would grow until it was abnormally large.

-Without him realising she wrapped the scarf tighter under his chin, pulling it harder and harder until he began to choke. His arms flailed, reaching for her but his face had already begun to go pale and his movements weakened until with one final tug she stopped the breath in his throat and he fell to the floor.

Route 2:

-In a wisp his scarf was blown away, leaving his neck bare and cold. The scarf soon fell into a bed of flowers.

-This bed of flowers was a sea colours like a rainbow.

-The petals melted and the bed began to bleed, pools of colour blending with each other until the ground was awash with stains of purple, blue and yellow.

-The season changed, winter became spring and the scarf was no longer needed.

-When he no longer needed the scarf he decided to give it to a charity shop.

-He particularly liked giving his clothes to this charity shop as it supported breast cancer research and his mum had died from this terrible disease only a year before last.

-He liked to wonder about the people that might be wearing his old clothes. How old were they? Did anyone every buy them? Did they wear them better than him?

-With both objects I have gone very descriptive but they both have distinct character voices. Even though it is essentially descriptive writing it could work very well into building a character into a story.

Composition on Tuesday 7th February

In this session, we took the itch script we wrote for homework and were asked to do several things:

Remove every third word from the original script:

SCRIPT 1:

(Two women sitting at a square dining table facing each other)

Other woman: Did you the dinner last night?

Maoliosa: Yes very so.

Other woman: You seemed be having nice little with my!

Maoliosa: Well yes I was Helena’s seating.

Other woman: You seemed be sitting close to my!

Maoliosa: Well yes the proximity each of seats was very large.

Other woman: That is excuse he my husband!

Maoliosa: Honestly Debora is nothing on between and your!

Other woman: You probably Helena to the seating so that could speak my husband.

Maoliosa: Are you your husband problems? Is this you are such ridiculous?

Other woman: The stability my marriage not your. However since asked my and I never been.

Maoliosa: That’s not he told.. (said under her breath)

Other Woman: Excuse me did you?

Maoliosa: I said

Other woman: I am stupid, you said under your.

Maoliosa: I think are hearing.

Other woman: Do not me!

Maoliosa: I am only the truth!

Other woman: If you the truth you would admit to that you my husband been involved one another.

Maoliosa: (silence, stares at other women)

Other woman: TELL ME.

Maoliosa: IS NOTHING TELL YOU.

Other woman: I KNOW!

Maoliosa: Well you do not… (under her breathe)

Other Woman: Again, with whispering, JUST!

Maoliosa: OKAY, OKAY GAVE HIM BLOWJOB IN BATHROOM IS WHAT YOU TO HEAR?!?!

Other woman: Slaps Maoliosa’s face, gets up from the table and leaves the room.

We were then asked to add words back into the script if we believed they were relevant:

SCRIPT 2:

(Two women sitting at a square dining table facing each other)

Other woman: Did you enjoy dinner last night?

Maoliosa: Yes

Other woman: You and my husband seemed to be getting along very well!

Maoliosa: Yes

Other woman: You were sitting very close to my husband!

Maoliosa: Yes because the proximity between the seats was small.

Other woman: He is my husband!

Maoliosa: Honestly Debora it is not an issue!

Other woman: You probably asked Helena to put you next to him.

Maoliosa: Are you and your husband problems?

Other woman: The stability of my marriage is not your concern, we are not having issues!

Maoliosa: That’s not what he told me.. (said under her breath)

Other Woman: What did you just say?

Maoliosa: I said nothing

Other woman: You said something under your breathe.

Maoliosa: I think you are hearing.

Other woman: Do not patronise me!

Maoliosa: I am only speaking the truth!

Other woman: If you speak the truth then you would admit to me what I already know!

Maoliosa: (silence, stares at other women)

Other woman: TELL ME.

Maoliosa: THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL.

Other woman: I KNOW EVERYTHING!

Maoliosa: Well you clearly do not, otherwise you wouldn’t want something from me.

Other Woman: JUST ADMIT IT! JUST ADMIT IT! JUST ADMIT IT!

Maoliosa: OKAY, OKAY I GAVE HIM A BLOWJOB IN THE BATHROOM IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?!?!

Other woman: Slaps Maoliosa’s face, gets up from the table and leaves the room.

From this session I gained a greater understanding of the different ways in which one can edit text, and how this editing process can lead to the creation of multiple drafts; from which one can draw inspiration. Through the process of extracting text I was able to become more successful at analysing the prevalence of the words my page. Identifying that often less text can be just as effective, if not more than vast amounts of words.

Composition Tuesday 14th February 2017

We began the session picking an image from several on the floor in front of us we then had a certain amount of time to write about this image. This is what I achieved:

Response to first image:

This image reminds me of Australia. I can hear the movement of the waves, just by looking at this image. The sky is clear and blue, providing a sense of calmness to the image. The four by four reminds me of the road trips that we used to take along the coast when I was a child.

A man stands alone, staring out over the cliff towards the sea and beyond. I am not sure exactly what he is doing but it seems to me that he has stopped to simply appreciate and reflect on the beauty before him. The sand he stands on is as close to a white beach, as I have seen in a longtime. I miss the beach. I miss the feel of the sand seeping through my toes. I used to walk my dogs along the beach I like this everyday. I miss it. There is something about the beach that deeply relaxes me. It was my happy place. Whenever I wanted to escape the stresses in my life, the beach is where I would go.

Response to second image:

Fuck it all! Fuck the kids, fuck Angela and fuck work!

Oh how he has had enough. He decided that he would take a break. A break from it all. Just himself and the ocean. That is all he needed for exactly one week.. Then he could get back to it all. Back to his life, back to his wife, back to his kids and back to his work. This one week enabled him to put things into perspective. It reminded him to appreciate those things in life that were currently driving him up the wall. He would go away angry and annoyed and come back the man he was when he sis not let life get in his way. The man he wanted to be. A kind, gentle, patient and loving man. The man who would do anything for his family, simply because he loved them. The man who expected nothing in return but the joyous sensation he felt as a result of pleasing his family. The man who could remain calm no matter what life threw at him. The man who did not run away to the coast for a week when life got too hard. That man he wanted to be.

Response to third image:

Today is the day. Today is the day I die for my terrible sins. Sins that I am falsely accused of. Last night from the comfort of my dark and dreary prison cell, I prayed. I prayed and prayed and prayed for god to have mercy on me. Much to my dismay however, I woke up this morning still scheduled to be executed. I am to be hanged in the town’s public courtyard. I will die, remembered by my village as a sinner. When I thought about the ways in which I may die, dying as a falsely accused sinner was not one of them. Today I will die over a loaf of bread. One single loaf of bread has determined my fate. I had no idea that such a food could be so powerful.

According to the baker, I stole this single loaf of bread. This loaf of bread I apparently stole was found in my bag, when members of the guard were ordered to search me. I honestly have no idea how this single loaf of bread made its way into my bag. I do not steal. I never have an never will do because I know the consequences, which I am ironically about to face. I had enough pennies in my satchel to pay for the bread and I even tried to do so after they had arrested me. The baker and the guards decided to show me no mercy. Now I will die over a single loaf of bread that someone else placed in my bag.

Response to fourth image:

The dog hotel. A place where pampered pooches can reside and relax in luxury. We are located in a converted and newly renovated manor house just outside of Surry. We have ten acres of land where the dogs can roam freely during daylight hours. During the summer, we have a luxury paddle pool for each individual dog. Our staff then will be waiting on the dogs with premium treats and doggy cocktails. If they decide they have had enough of the paddle pool, our staff will assist them in drying off their precious coats with our luxury Egyptian cotton towels. We also have an exercise course to keep the dogs looking lean and slender. During their time on the exercise course, they will learn discipline and to respond immediately to their owner’s commands. Any dog that is struggling to follow instructions, will be taken aside for private coaching. When the dogs have had enough of our outdoor amenities they will be taken aside to experience the many activities on offer. We have the pampered pooch parlour where they can have their nails clipped, a wash and blow dry and a full trim. We can even paint the dog’s nails and style them in a particular way upon request.

Composition Tuesday 21st February 2017

Writing task: choose an image out of several on the floor in front of you and write what you see:

-A women in army gear with a pack back on her back

-she is located in what looks like an airport

-she is down on her knees, crying, holding a small toddler in her arms, I am assuming the child is hers.

-I am also assuming she has not seen her child in a long time. Maybe she has been deployed to war?

-I can imagine the rough material of her stiff uniform embracing a soft gentle child.

-The way she is embracing her child indicates to me that she does not want to let her go.

-I cannot understand how women can leave their children to go off to work like that. Maybe it is the only job she can do though. Maybe she has tried lots of other job but her final option was the army. Maybe she loves being in the army so much that it takes president over her own child.

-The slumped, relaxed nature of her body gives off this great sense of relief. Like she can finally breath properly again as her baby is finally back in her arms.

-She has blonde died hair as you can see her brown regrowth coming through

-She has a strong and disciplined side to her that is required for her role as a member of the army but she also has a soft and gentle side that she can embrace when with her child.

-Her body language suggests that she is saying to the child- ‘it is okay I am here now, I am all yours.’

Tube activity, we split the class into two groups and staged a tube scene half the group were on the tube the others were required to pick an individual character on the tube and write about them:

He is wearing a green shirt.

He is also wearing a lanyard around his neck with a badge on the end of it. Maybe it is a key to get into a work place, a university or school. Actually he looks too old to still be at school. He looks too casual to be going to work so most likely he is on his way to university. He is listening to music and on his phone he is even gently mouthing some of the words, I don’t think he thinks that anyone has noticed. He is not completely still, he fidgets around every now and again.

Task: Take the character you described on the tube and the one you described from the photograph and write a piece of text where they meet.

It was time for the women to take her baby girl home. She had finally had her in her arms for the first time in 6 months. It was the longest time that had ever been separated for. She held her for what felt like forever, she did not want to let her go.

The women and her family had to get the tube home as their car was currently undergoing repairs at the mechanics. So, the soldier, her baby and her husband got on the next tube that arrived at the platform. They sat down in the three available seats opposite a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, early twenties. The tube was fairly empty at this time as the women’s flight had landed at 11.00am, late enough to miss the early morning rush hour and early enough to miss the evening rush home. Her daughter was so excited to see her that she would not sit down properly on her seat. She kept clambering from her seat to her mothers.

We then had to pick a phrase out of a hat and respond to it in any way that we wished. I received the phrase 'what volume do ginger people like?

Response: I have always wondered why society feels the need to label people. For example 'ginger people'. Why does their hair colour have to be a predominant identifier for that individual? Just because lots of people have ginger hair does not necessarily mean that one has to classify them as 'ginger people'. For all we know 'ginger people' could come from multiple socioeconomic backgrounds, they could all come from completely different job disciplines or have no job at all. They could be of multiple genders and sexualities. So why are these people all grouped together by a genetic or possibly non genetic visual trait and why is it so strongly associated with their identities? The colour of ones hair means very little when looking at what makes an individual a particular individual.

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Notes on theoretical Articles

The Public Sphere: An Encyclopaedia Article (1964)

Author: Jürgen Habermas

-The Public Sphere- the realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed.

-Access is guaranteed to all citizens

- The emergence of a public sphere comes from private individuals assembling to form a public body.

-Citizens behave as a public body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion.

-A Public Sphere provides a guarantee of freedom of assembly and association and the freedom to express and publish their opinions.

-For large public forums this kind of communication requires specific means for transmitting information and influencing those who receive it.

-Examples of the media of a Public Sphere include newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

- A Political Public Sphere is when public discussion deals with objects connected to the activity of the state.

-Public opinion refers to the tasks of criticism and control in which a public body of citizens informally and formally practices the ruling structure organised in the form of a state.

- The Public Sphere mediates between society and state.

-It is through this mediation that citizens were able to fight against the arcane policies of monarchies and make possible the democratic control over state activities.

-The concepts of the Public Sphere and public opinion arose during the 18th century.

-It was during the 18th century that a distinction between ‘opinion’ and ‘public opinion’ was established.

-Public opinion by definition can only come into existence when a reasoning public is presupposed.

-Public discussion about the exercise of political power are both critical in intent and institutionally guaranteed.

-History:

-There is no indication European society of the high middle ages possessed a public sphere as a unique realm distinct from the private sphere.

-However during this period symbols of sovereignty such as the princely seal were deemed public.

-A public representation of power was present.

-The status of the feudal lord was oblivious to ‘public’ and ‘private’ but the individual represented their position publically through their embodiment of an ever present ‘higher’ power.

-The representative public sphere was first linked to feudal authorities (church, princes and nobility), during the process of polarisation.

- By the conclusion of the 28th century they had broken off into public and private sectors.

-The representative public sphere yielded to that new sphere of ‘public authority’ which came into being with the national and territorial states.

- ‘The bourgeois Public Sphere could be understood as the sphere of private individuals assembled into a public body.

-During the 18th century the public body included only the Bourgeois social institutions but towards the end of the century the public body expanded beyond the bounds of the bourgeoisie and lost its social exclusivity.

-Social organisation which deal with the state act in the political public sphere, whether through the agency of political parties or directly in connection with public administration.

-A ‘refeudalization’ of the public sphere occurred due to the interweaving of the public and private realm causing political authorities to assume certain functions in the sphere of commodity exchange and social labour and social powers now assume political functions.

-More often than not in today’s society the process of making public simply serves the arcane policies of special interests; in the form of ‘publicity’ it wins public prestige for people or affairs, thus making them worthy of acclamation in a climate of non-public opinion.

-The central relationship of the public, parties and parliament is affected by this new function of ‘making public’.

-This lean towards the weakening of the public sphere as a principle is opposed by the extension of fundamental rights in the social welfare state.

On the Necessity of Turning oneself into a character

Author: Phililip Lopate

The problem with ‘I’ is that a writer may think that they have said or conveyed more than they actually have with the one syllable.

‘I’ promises engagement with the author in the midst of more stolid language.

It does not give us a clear picture of who is speaking

In order to overcome this, issue a writer must build themselves a character.

The authors character must become knowledgeable enough in their broad outlines to behave ‘believably’, while at the same time as free willed enough to intrigue us with surprises.

The art of characterisation comes down to establishing a pattern of habits and actions for the person you are writing about and introducing variations into the system.

You are teaching the reader what to expect when building a character.

How does one turn themselves into a character?

Acquire some distance from yourself

Begin to take inventory of yourself so that you can present yourself to the reader as a specific, legible character.

Start with your quirks, the idiosyncrasies, stubborn tics, anti-social mannerisms that set you apart from the majority of your fellowmen.

The mistake many essayists make is that they try so hard to be likeable and nice.

Literature is not a place for conformists

The skills of the Kaffeeklatsch- restraining ones expressiveness, rounding out one’s edges, sparing everyone’s feelings- will not work well on the page.

We must dramatise ourselves- positioning the traits that are already in us under the most clearly focused, sharply defined light.

It’s a subtractive process- you need to cut away the inessentials, and highlight just those features of one’s personality that lead to the most intense contradictions or ambivalence.

An essay needs conflict, it will drift into static mode, repeating your initial observation in a self-satisfied way,

A good essayist knows how to select a topic that will generate enough spark in itself, and how to frame the topic so that it will neither be too ambitious nor too slight- so that its scale will be appropriate for satisfying exploration.

What stands in the way of most essays is not technique but psychology

The student essayist must be taught that life remains a mystery even one’s so called boring life.

They must also recognise the charm of the ordinary: that daily life that has nourished some of the most enduring essays.

There are also multiple tonal extremes available to the essayist.

Ethnicity, gender, religion, class, geography, politics- are all strong determinants in the development of character.

When working with these categories we must be bold, and not afraid to mediate on our membership in this or that community, and the degree to which it had informed our writing.

Assume the reader has little or no knowledge of your background even if you have mentioned it in previous essays.

The personal essayist must be like a journalist, who respects the obligation to get in the basic orienting facts- the who, what, when, where and why.

You must sketch yourself to the reader as a person of a certain age, sex, ethnic or religious background, class and region, possessing a set of quirks, foibles, strengths and peculiarities.

You must also solder your relationship with the reader by springing vividly into their mind so that every ‘I’ you use seems somehow characteristic.

The reader must find you amusing and in order for this to happen you must be self-amused.

The first paragraph must suggest your writing will keep the reader engaged.

A lot of essay writer struggle to get past the superficial self-presentation and dive into the wreck of one’s personality with gusto.

‘I’ should represent yourself, not entirely but rather a character drawn from aspects of yourself (less stylised or bold perhaps).

Maintaining one’s dignity should not be a paramount issue in personal essays.

The essay thrives on daring, darting flights of thought.

If you want to reveal someone’s character- actions speak louder than words.

Consciousness can only take us so far in the illumination of character.

By showing our complicity in the world’s stock of sorrow, we convince the reader of our reality and even gain his sympathy.

Character is not just a question of sensibility: there are hard choices to be made when a person is put under pressure.

Personal essays require one to go beyond the self’s quandaries through research or contextualisation, to bring back news of the larger world.

When ‘I’ plays no part in the language of an essay, a firm sense of personality can warm the voice of the impersonal essay narrator.

The process of turning oneself into a character is not a self-absorbed navel gazing, but rather a potential release from narcissism.

The process enables the writer to achieve sufficient distance from themselves in the round; a necessary precondition to transcending the ego.

019. Manifesto (First Provisional, December 2015)

Author: Simon Bowes

- If you get paid for it understand the conditions

- Write as you wish to write

- If you do not get paid understand that you are free to write on your own terms

- If your writing replicates and submits to the demands of journalism, reportage, reviews, or scholarship - to the point where you cannot write as you would wish to - write as you would wish to elsewhere.

-If you do not get paid, understand that you are free to write on your own terms, in whatever form, to whatever purpose.

-Make sure that the purpose is this: to elevate the discourse - to further, to deepen, to enliven and enrich - the dialogue concerning the art form.

-Write as though you are in dialogue with the artists.

-If you do not like or understand something, examine your tastes, aesthetics until you see them for the prejudices that they likely are.

-Often the problem is with you, and not the work in front of you.

-Where the work in front of you does present a problem - aesthetically, ethically, politically - judge how and why this problem emerges.

-What does it seem that the artist is trying to do? Is it worth acknowledging? What difference will an acknowledgement make? Can your acknowledgement - and your critique assist them.

-Write in dialogue with other critics - acknowledge those points of convergence or divergence insider to further that dialogue.

- Where you must object to something - either the work you see or another’s treatment of it ask yourself what do you think would be just.

- Make clear the context in which you view the work.

- If the artist is a stranger - if you are coming to the work cold - imagine that you have known them several years, and that you owe them a debt.

- The chances are the work you have seen was made in difficult circumstances. If you suspect this, honour it.

- If the work made is made from a position of privilege, is it apparent? If it becomes apparent, acknowledge it, and explore it critically. If necessary, hold the artist to account for it.

- Seek out work by people that aren’t (in whatever sense it might apply) like you.

- Write about past things from the present as a vantage point. Recognise, though, that the present may not be an ideal vantage point.

- Take care over your language. Typos and spelling mistakes are fine, but amend them wherever you can.

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Dramaturgical Analysis

Caryl Churchill's ‘Seven Jewish Children’

Written in response to the volatile political situation in Gaza during January 2009

When it was first staged, it was available to see for free and over 2 weeks

It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London on 6th February 2009

The Royal Court premiere was directed by Dominic Cooke and performed by Ben Caplan, Jack Chissick, David Horovitch, Daisy Lewis, Ruth Posner, Samuel Roukin, Jennie Stoller, Susannah Wise and Alexis Zegerman.

Reaction to the play was mixed

The Board of Deputies of British Jews criticised it as 'horrifically anti-Israel' and 'beyond the boundaries of reasonable political discourse'

Playwright Tony Kushner and academic Alisa Solomon, both Jewish-American critics of Israeli policy, argued in The Nation that the play is dense, beautiful and elusive, and that '[a]ny play about the crisis in the Middle East that doesn't arouse anger and distress has missed the point.'

Caryl Churchill, responding to an article written by prominent novelist Howard Jacobson and published in The Independent on 18 February 2009, defended herself against the accusation of anti-Semitism and argued that the play was primarily about the difficulties of explaining violence to children (The Independent, 21 February 2009).

On publication alongside the first performance, the play was immediately made available for anyone to perform royalty-free, with consent from the author’s agent, provided no admission fee is charged and a collection is taken at each performance for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

The play could be described as a loop- In a way it is about education children. Children often take their parents opinions above any others especially in a time of conflict where they need to feel protected. Ultimately the views that these children adopt towards the conflict will be reflective of what their parents would have told them at the time. Therefore, these ideas are inherited by further generations.

Demonstrating that even if you are all on the same side of the conflict mentalities are different. Motivation and passions to do and not to do certain things are based on this idea.

Overriding meaning to ensure that the children won’t be afraid

Raises the debate of what we should expose our children to

To what extent is protectively lying to your children okay? What do you do when you don’t even know what the truth is?

Given Circumstances:

No stage directions given

The characters are different in each small scene as the time and child are

It has seven short scenes

In each scene, a group of Jewish adults discusses what to tell – and what not to tell – an unseen child to whom they are related.

The lines are not attributed to characters; an opening stage direction makes it clear that 'The lines can be shared out in any way you like...

Each scene refers to a moment in Israeli history

Each scene has a different context.

The lines may be delivered by any number of actors.

No children appear or speak

All the text is spoken as a command

Implied circumstances:

The dialogue alludes indirectly to events in recent Jewish history, from the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel, to the building of the West Bank barrier and the Gaza War of 2008–09.

Due to its title one could suggest that the play is written from a Jewish perspective

Hesitation is present in the text

Independent research on Carly Churchill

British playwright

Born in London but spent most of her youth in Canada

She wrote her first plays while studying for oxford in the 1950

She then went on to mainly write for the BBC Radio

Her first full-length stage play The Anticapitalistic Satire owners (1972) was produced in the Royal Court and this premiered most of her subsequent work.

She also worked extensively with the Joint Stock Company and the radical feminist group Monstrous Regiment whose methods of collective creation greatly influenced her work.

Churchill enjoyed the greatest commercial success of her career with Serious Money (1987), an exuberant Jonsonian satire set in the City of London during the frenzied boom year that followed ‘Big Bang’. Having opened at the Royal Court, the play went on to enjoy a long run in the West End, where it played to packed houses of the very City traders it satirised. It opened on Broadway just after the stock-market collapse of October 1987.

In Churchill's plays formal experiment has been accompanied by a pronounced move away from any kind of realism.In 2009 the Royal Court presented Churchill's Seven Jewish Children, a brief, highly stylized piece inspired by Israel's military action in Gaza; this has proved much the most controversial of Churchill's plays, provoking charges of antisemitism and equally fierce rebuttals.

Independent Research on the 2009 Gaza Conflict

The Israeli offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip on 27th December 2008 ended on January 17, 2009 when both Hamas and Israel announced separate ceasefires, which have turned out to be quite fragile (attacks started the day after, for example).

The 3 week offensive claimed some 1,300 Palestinian lives mostly civilian, 400 of which were children. Another 5,000 were injured including some 1,800 children and 800 women. 13 Israelis (3 civilians) were also killed.

The offensive left much of Gaza in ruins. The aftermath also saw a humanitarian crisis with tens of thousands left homeless and hundreds of thousands without water.

The conventional, mainstream, version of events is roughly this:

Hamas started firing rockets into Israel after ending a ceasefire with Israel.

Israel felt it had no choice but to defend itself. In doing so, it decided to teach Hamas a very harsh lesson and go in hard.

But the offensive resulted in many civilian casualties because Hamas was operating in the densely populated Gaza strip.

The “international community” (usually the West), while supporting Israel’s overall objective, was appalled by the civilian casualties and put pressure on Israel to prevent or reduce the civilian toll and humanitarian crisis.

It was the third major conflict between Israel and Hamas militants since the Islamist group took control of Gaza in 2007.

The Gaza Strip is a Detroit-sized area on the border with Egypt up against the Mediterranean Sea that is one of the most densely packed places on Earth with 1.8 million people living in just 139 square miles. Technically part of the Palestinian Authority, it has been governed since 2007 by the militant group Hamas.

Tensions were ignited in June when three Israeli teenagers, one with American citizenship and all seminary students, were kidnapped while hitchhiking in the West Bank and killed. They were kidnapped on June 12 and their bodies were discovered June 30. Israel accused Hamas of kidnapping the three teens, which the militant group denied. Within days, Israel arrested more than 300 Palestinians, many of them members of Hamas. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,000 private homes were raided.

On the night the boys' bodies were found, a barrage of rockets were launched from Gaza at Israel and Israeli warplanes carried out numerous air strikes in Gaza.

On July 2, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and burned to death in apparent retaliation. The death triggered riots in East Jerusalem, a largely Palestinian area. Three Israelis have been arrested and charged with his death.

The attacks quickly escalated. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have fired rockets with a reach that Israel had not previously seen, with air raid sirens going off as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Many of the missiles have landed in desert areas or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system.

Who Are the Key Players?

Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S. But while there is no Israeli military presence inside Gaza anymore, the effective control of Gaza’s sea, air and borders is under Israeli control.

The Israeli Defence Forces are the military arm of Israel and are well armed and exceptionally large given Israel’s population. Most Israeli residents must go through compulsory military service and are automatically enrolled in the IDF’s reserve forces.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel. After the Israeli teens were found dead, he said they were victims of "terrorists" and "human animals." When the Palestinian teen was found murdered, he telephoned the boy's father and said the murder was "abhorrent." Three Israelis have been indicted for the murder.

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Movement Documentation

https://youtu.be/u6P58f4MCLgMovement Session Tuesday 17th January 2017

In today’s session, I became far more tired a lot more quickly as it has been a week since I last exercised properly and I was still jet lagged. Despite my tiredness I was surprised at how quickly I could focus on the work and I think that is partially to do with the training eta gave us last term. We began by exploring the space of the room in a neutral walking style, then gradually allowing our movements to develop into our individual style. We played with speed, levels and space. As I grew more confident with the space I found myself becoming far more experimental with my movements and allowing far more of my internal energy to be involved. We then explored the idea of ‘conflict’ with the movement context. I found that I had to think about my movements a lot more when doing this type of exercise compared to the earlier ones.

Another exercise we did was where we started on the ground lying on our backs then began to embody all the elements similarly to the exercises we were involved with last term. I found it a lot easier to embody them this time as we had explored them so much last term. I found myself looking back at some of the objects we used last term, for inspiration. I always find when doing this exercise that there is not one particular element that I am drawn to or find easier to embody. Each element makes me feel as vulnerable the other.

I found myself losing my embodiment at times as I became far more focused on my bodies reaction to the music’s change in pace than my specific physicalisation.

Tip: It’s often better to start your embodiment in one part of the body then allow it to spread through your body gradually, that way you can slowly become more comfortable with the vulnerability that this exercise addresses.

Movement Session Tuesday 24th January 2017

What is neutrality?

When the body feels balanced but it is not a natural feeling, it is unfamiliar to the boy. We are engaging in a position that is different to our body’s normal movement pattern

Standing straight, shoulders back, arms hanging loosely, feet hip width apart in parallel, spine straight and head raised.

We are not looking at symmetry as we are biologically unbalanced as our hearts are on the left side of our bodies. We are looking at ways of inviting different types of movement that creates balance.

The more awareness we have of our own bodies the more successful our movements.

Tension in my body: For me most my tension is held in my neck, shoulders, upper back, my jaw and the lower part of my head. My lower back is not tense enough; it is weak and lacks muscle.

We then got up and watched each other walk in neutral; I struggled with too much tension in my stomach bottom and legs. I found I was tensing my stomach rather than engaging it. This meant that my walking looked extremely unnatural and stiff. Once I lost the tension and relaxed my stomach a little more my walking became much more lucid and a lot less contrived. Another issue was that my legs were walking outwards almost penguin like in style. I had to correct the positioning of my knees to make my walk more neutral. Obviously, it will take a lot of training for the neutral position to feel natural to me but after adjusting these issues I felt slightly more comfortable in this position. This exercise made me a little self-conscious of my body and I became hyperaware of movements I had never realised that I do.

Becky did not seem to struggle with the neutral body position the way I did. She was very good at engaging her core without adding tension to other parts of her body. Her knees went inwards a little but it was nothing a small adjustment could not fix.

We then lay on the floor and Fiona asked us to think of an image, a word, or a feeling and try and embody this with our movement. I chose the emotion of anger and I explored how one struggles when asked to supress that anger. This emotion was fuelled by the frustration I have towards the fact that I cannot tell anyone in my family what my father did. I want to scream it out into the atmosphere but I can’t. So, I began my movement laying down on my back with my feet flat against the wall and bent. I then lifted my chest upwards towards the ceiling while my bottom remained on the floor and my feet on the wall. My arms were bent at a right angle and my fists opened up. My mouth was wide open and I was imaging myself screaming out all my pain and frustration then after a moment I then realised I could not continue screaming and my body was clenched up into a ball. As a way of symbolising my suppression. I just feel like I am going to explode.

We were then asked to move from our internal and external impulses. We started by focusing on the natural sounds that were around us so the sound of construction drilling upstairs and the actors stomping above us. This was the influence for our initial movements. I struggled with this. I struggled to get into this as the rhythm of the sounds around me were erratic and often stopped and started so quickly that I felt I had not yet go a grasp of the movement.

The more one becomes aware of their alignment, the more aware they become of their body in space.

Rudolf Laban

For the majority of this term we focused on work by the theatrical innovator Rudolf Laban and the book Laban for it all, written by Jean Newlove and John Dalby.

Rudolf Laban changed the course of dance in the twentieth century and revolutionised our attitude to human movement.

He delighted in working with amateurs and ordinary workers who would otherwise never think of dancing. As a result movement choirs began to emerge throughout Europe. He sought ways to free dance from the restrictions of music; believing that natural rhythms of the body were more inherent than metric rhythms. Sometimes his choirs would move to speech patterns or dance in complete silence. His dance works were both short and lengthy that he often featured in.

Laban was a pioneer of freedom of movement in the body and mind that he sometimes assumed no set value on steps and any foot would do. This was because for him 'the step' was part of a whole movement and not a separate entity.

He did not think of dance in terms of steps and counts.Through his directions the steps simply emerged rather than developing from set choreography.

The Kinesphere

Fiona introduced us to the concept of one's Kinesphere.

Kinesphere is defined by Jean Newlove and John Dalby in Laban for all as, ‘the personal space surrounding each one pop us and extends as far as we can reach in any direction. Outside our kinesphere is general space; whenever we move, we take our lines-here with us and displace the general space. If we turn around our mines-here turns with us while the space remains the same. Sometimes another persons kineshpere can intrude on our own.

We explored several of Laban's movement and spatial division theories throughout this term.

The three dimensional planes

The door plane: You should feel very wall-like and flat in this position. The door plane is so-called because it is very much like standing in a doorway with your feet and hands reaching into its four corners. In this position you are dividing space around you into two halves- that which is behind you and that which is in front of you. There is an upward-downward stress to this plane.

The wheel plane: this forward/backward dimension is presumably called the wheel plane because it has a greater feeling of rotation than the other two planes. With this plane you are again dividing the space into two halves, that which is on the left side of your body and that which is on the right. The stress to this plane is forward/backwards.

The Table Plane: This plane stresses the sideways dimensions. To reach the front corners you will have to lean forward whilst your arms stretch outwards and forwards; to reach the back corners you will have to arch backward whilst your arms stretch outwards and backwards. With this plane you are again dividing the space around you into two halves, that which is above your waist and the which is below. There is a side-side stress to this plane.

Example of a movement sequence that develops as the body moves between these plains:

https://youtu.be/1WERS61OZfc

The Dimensional Scale

The dimensional movement scale: this scale is known as the defensive scale because its six positions are based on those used to defend the six most vulnerable areas of the body and head.According to weather the defender is left handed or right handed, they will hold his weapon in the 'strong' hand. Defence of the body depends on anatomical structure and the ability of the body and limbs to move well in their zones.It is also known as the 'stable' scale, as it is relatively to maintain balance as the body moves between a vertical or horizontal position, whilst supported on one leg.This scale moves in one dimensional direction at a time and has a stabilising effect on the body and the positions can be held.

Assuming the defender is right handed they will:

An example of this scale being performed using the right side of the body:

https://youtu.be/u6P58f4MCLg

The left handed defended will of course perform the same movements but lead with their left hand.

The Diagonal Scale

The Diagonal Scale: in this scale no position can be held as they are so fleeting and every point reached finds the body at its most unstable. This makes it a lot harder to do in slow motion which is necessary when one is learning it. Moving into three dimensions simultaneously, the mover, momentarily, is off-blancs before the pull of gravity swiftly intervenes and returns the mover to a more 'realistic' stability. The diagonals, as in all movement scales, continue beyond the performers reach.

An example of the scale being worked through as a series of continuous swinging pathways, with no interruptions.

https://youtu.be/NdS7VcKpDL8

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Approved Absences

Absence submission confirmation for 160112.

Absence submission are recorded and shared with your CSO and Course team.

Submission timestamp:

15/01/2017 16:44:19

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Full day (9-5pm)

Absence reason:

Travel delay

Absence explanation:

I will not be at university on Monday 16th January as I will be travelling back from visiting my parents overseas.

Submission timestamp:

26/01/2017 12:21:00

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Full day (9-5pm)

Absence reason:

Illness

Absence explanation:

I have currently been suffering from stomach problems and am having ongoing investigations. Last night my problems flared up again and when I woke up this morning and I'm not feeling any better. (Thursday 26th January)

**I filled this in thinking that I would be off all day but I came in for the afternoon session.

Submission timestamp:

30/01/2017 14:04:53

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Illness

Absence explanation:

I woke up feeling ill this morning. (Monday 30th January)

Submission timestamp:

01/02/2017 22:30:39

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Illness

Absence explanation:

I was absent this morning, Wednesday February 1st as I had to wait in for maintenance men.

Submission timestamp:

17/02/2017 14:09:13

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Other

Absence explanation:

I had a doctors appointment on Friday 17th February. This was the only time I could get an appointment, so I had to miss performance forum.

Submission timestamp:

24/02/2017 13:52:23

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Illness

Absence explanation:

I missed performance forum on Friday 24th February as I was feeling unwell.

Submission timestamp:

07/03/2017 21:19:00

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Other

Absence explanation:

I have a doctors appointment on the morning of Wednesday 8th March. I was originally was meant to have it last Friday when I did not have class but they cancelled on me and this was the only time that my doctor was available.

Submission timestamp:

14/03/2017 22:18:38

Student ID:

160112

Course:

Performance Arts

First name:

Maoliosa

Last name:

Phelan

Confirmation sent to:

[email protected]

Session(s) missed:

Morning (AM)

Absence reason:

Illness

Absence explanation:

I woke up this morning with an eye infection. (Tuesday 14th March)

#year1

0 notes

maoliosaphelan-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Presentation on the theme ‘Conflict’

These initial presentations mark the onset of your artistic and research process for this term. As we will be presenting at Central Bankside, it’s recommended you have all your content for the presentation – including any videos- downloaded to your laptop, as wi-fi access can be tricky.

You will have 10 -15 minutes to present the following:

a text-based work of art (play, text-art, performance score, script, composition etc) that deals with conflict, that you found moving, provocative or inspiring. This will be your starting point or inspiration for your own project, and your focus will be on how the artist or group of artists has/have approached the theme or concept of conflict. Pay attention not only to conflict as a theme of a work (ie something that is, in your view, about a situation of conflict)- think more broadly and laterally about how conflict can be an artistic, dramatic, political device.

Research into an aspect of conflict you are interested in; this might be conflict as a strategy for writing, conflict as a particular struggle, conflict as a way of viewing a situation, conflict as a mode of understanding performance, conflict as an artistic strategy, conflict as a social practice, autobiographical work, verbatim etc. You need to show that you have engaged with a range of sources, and that you have come up with a question that you want to explore in relation to the theme.

Some initial ideas on what you would like to do for your ten-minute piece in Week 9, which should include sketches, notes, inspiration, as well as avenues for further research. It would be good to have an idea of the form you might want to work in, though keep in mind this is the start of the term, so you might encounter artists and approaches to text in performance that you have yet to know. Have a look at your Text in Performance project brief for ideas. This can also take the form of a short reading or performance, if you have materials you want to try out.

Presentation Script:

Slide 2: Conflict can be defined as an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles. From a physiological aspect, it can also be defined as a state of mind in which a person experiences a clash of opposing feelings or needs or a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses. From a political aspect, it can be characterised as a positional difference regarding values relevant to society. Political conflict can obviously often lead to the conflict of war. Conflict is not always a bad thing. The social psychologists Lewis Coser suggests, Conflict functions as the primary driving force of social change and progress. Social Darwinist Thomas N. Carver. Said ‘There may be many cases where there is a complete harmony of interests, but these give rise to no problems and therefore we do not need to concern ourselves. About them. Carver felt that only where disharmony and antagonism prevailed could one speak at all of moral and of a scientific problem.

Slide 3: The compelling and disturbing text, Who is Afraid of Virginia Wolf? explores multiple facets of conflict. The text paints a harsh portrait of marriage as a vehicle for conflict, arguments and disappointment through the distinct characterisation of the central characters George and Martha. Their relationship is an undermining of the idea of a happy couple and their marriage highly dysfunctional. The play suggests that every marriage is marked with some conflict or turmoil but that, when all is said and done, they continue on. Given that the play premiered in the early sixties, it can be read as a reaction to the fifties, when unrealistic images and advertisements of the ‘perfect American family’. The text places pressure on the contrast between stable appearances and chaotic hidden realities. This is shown in the final line of the play when Martha admits that she is afraid of Virginia Woolf; a social realist who often depicts darkly realistic family lives. Through the admittance of her fear towards Virginia Woolf Martha is identifying the scariness of unmasking the truth and facing the reality of her life and confront the illusions in her marriage.

Slide 4: For my research project, I want to write a script as I haven’t had much experience with this writing style and I want the project to challenge me. I have not decided whether the project will be a live performance or a short film but I know it will be one of the two. The text got me thinking about deception in marriage and social situations in life. So I began researching into the disease mythomania otherwise known to most of us as compulsive lying. Mythomania can be defined as an abnormal or pathological tendency to exaggerate or tell lies. Prior to my research I did not realise it could actually be classified as a proper disease. It is not as highly recognised as other mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety and there is no specific medication to treat it. Through my project I hope to raise more awareness of it. Why do people feel the need to deceive? What do they gain from deceiving? How deception cause conflict with others in their life? What conflict arises when they are caught out? Are some of the research questions I hope to answer through the creation of my project.

Powerpoint:

conflict-presentation

#year1

0 notes