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research_report_parenzana [2013-10-13 06:48] – [Context] sarah.neville | research_report_parenzana [2013-10-15 18:10] – [Discussion] sarah.neville | ||
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based on notes from [[parenzana residency notes]] | based on notes from [[parenzana residency notes]] | ||
+ | by Sarah Neville | ||
==== Context ==== | ==== Context ==== | ||
- | Sarah Neville and family | + | Along with my family |
- | This project has been on slow boil for me for several years. I have struggled to contextualise my research within the contemporary dance or theatre worlds | + | This project has been on slow boil for me for several years. I have struggled to contextualise my research within the contemporary dance or theatre worlds |
- | + | ||
- | Whilst in Croatia, the foam residency was structured to include my whole family so my husband Matt contributed a sound score and our daughter Miranda sent drawings and stories in response to the creative content generated. Foam founders and collaborators Nik Gaffney and Maja Kumonovic, not only contributed creative ideas but picked up the ‘hard to do with a baby in your arms’ tasks like note taking and documenting. I am not sure what I would have done without any of them. | + | |
The area of research stretches over the fields of history, psychology and anthropology. Artistic forms put into play include photography, | The area of research stretches over the fields of history, psychology and anthropology. Artistic forms put into play include photography, | ||
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- | * This project is based on ancient world fables that spring from anxiety about the future. I am investigating the time old tradition of looking back to look forward. Hence, mining mythology to decree the future of a conflicted world anchored in the anxieties of our times. | + | This project is based on ancient world fables that spring from anxiety about the future. I am investigating the time old tradition of looking back to look forward. Hence, mining mythology to decree the future of a conflicted world anchored in the anxieties of our times. |
Nowadays with climate change on the political agenda and summers becoming hotter, there is a real fear emerging about the future of the globe. Hail in Melbourne CBD in March might once have been interpreted as the wrath of an angry God. Delayed flights in Europe due to the explosion of the Icelandic volcano are named by insurance companies as, “An act of God.’ The question is how does the superstitious imagination make sense of all this? Why is the volcano angry and why are the summers too long? | Nowadays with climate change on the political agenda and summers becoming hotter, there is a real fear emerging about the future of the globe. Hail in Melbourne CBD in March might once have been interpreted as the wrath of an angry God. Delayed flights in Europe due to the explosion of the Icelandic volcano are named by insurance companies as, “An act of God.’ The question is how does the superstitious imagination make sense of all this? Why is the volcano angry and why are the summers too long? | ||
I am extremely interested in the sublevel panic that pulses through current media hinting at a dire future of floods, famine and fires. It triggers reasoning inspired by practical knowledge about the impact of greenhouse gasses and the evolution of natural disaster along side creative narratives born of moral blame. By referencing past myths through a highly contemporary lens, we can assure ourselves of our ongoing capacity to deal with and understand natural and social disaster through our imaginations and creativity. | I am extremely interested in the sublevel panic that pulses through current media hinting at a dire future of floods, famine and fires. It triggers reasoning inspired by practical knowledge about the impact of greenhouse gasses and the evolution of natural disaster along side creative narratives born of moral blame. By referencing past myths through a highly contemporary lens, we can assure ourselves of our ongoing capacity to deal with and understand natural and social disaster through our imaginations and creativity. | ||
- | * When we arrived in Istria I expected | + | *The aim of the residency was to consolidate the concept, locate methodologies of practice and to search for an aesthetics to guide the work |
+ | *The aim of the project is to work with a concept and series of methodologies that can be extended in multi-platform processes and outcomes. Potential outcomes might include; live performance, | ||
==== Methods ==== | ==== Methods ==== | ||
+ | This residency was situated in a house amongst vineyards in an old part of Istria. Florence and I were among friends and we are all highly motivated individuals. Therefore we began an informal discussion that developed over a week, with ideas becoming more focused over time. Simultaneously we continued to expand our scope of research as we shared our knowledge and experience and chased down leads. Whilst not consulting literature or media we firstly located our own knowledge and feelings about climate change and the stories that have and could emerge to make meaning of this. From this we narrowed the area of interest from clasical mythology to weather lore. | ||
- | * //concise description | + | In line with my research practice, this led to the construction |
- | * // | + | |
+ | Tasks included: | ||
+ | *Nik focusing on highlighting | ||
+ | *Staging photographs around the gardens with the characters of The storyteller, | ||
+ | *Researching weather lore | ||
+ | *Noting proverbs about weather | ||
+ | *Putting | ||
+ | *Aiming | ||
+ | *Recording a storytelling soundscape | ||
+ | *Creating storyboard movies to narrate stories based around weather lore | ||
+ | *Considering how design fiction might construct a futurist narrative around the staged photographs | ||
+ | |||
+ | This residency was structured to include my whole family so my husband Matt contributed a sound score and our daughter Miranda sent drawings and stories in response to the creative content generated. Foam founders and collaborators Nik Gaffney and Maja Kuzmanovic, not only contributed creative ideas and creative content but also picked up the ‘hard to do with a baby in your arms’ tasks like note taking and documenting. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Working around the sleep, feed, play schedule | ||
+ | |||
+ | In Linz at Time's Up, I took part in the workshops for the Future Fabulators kick off meeting in Linz. By participating I was able to consider how the workshop might be adapted to work with communities in Australia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In Brussels I engaged in a discussion with Rasa Alksnyte about possible future developments of the project in respect to performance/ dance/ theatre and participatory performance. | ||
==== Solution/ | ==== Solution/ | ||
+ | Outcomes included: | ||
- | * //concise description of the actual outcomes | + | * Narrowing |
+ | * Establishing a constructive working methodology around family life | ||
+ | * Locating possible structures to work with communities on weather lore | ||
==== Discussion ==== | ==== Discussion ==== | ||
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* // | * // | ||
* //comments on the response of the public (if applicable)// | * //comments on the response of the public (if applicable)// | ||
+ | |||
+ | __Family/ Work balance__ | ||
+ | |||
+ | The beauty of the family in residence at foam is that the foam team lends itself as an extended family.As I was traveling without my husband or my extended family who have been very hands on in assisting me with a new baby, The help that Maja and Nik were able to give me was invaluable. Not only did they assist me with the day to day practicalities of cooking, washing and domestic planning but also the 'hard to do with a baby in your arms' work tasks like note taking and documenting. I do not know what i would have done without them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In my experience working in the arts cannot by design be a selfish pursuit, so there has not been a giant shift in perspective in my life now that I am responsible for a baby. Just as in the art world, where teams of people work together, the responsibility of caring for Florence is not mine alone. My husband is informed and involved in everything Florence and I do and his opinion along with the point of view of Florence’s Grandparents and wider family is always considered. My work has always depended on working closely with other artists, whilst simultaneously working one or two full-time jobs outside of the arts to support my practice. It goes without saying that if I didn’t always have a sense of others in the world then collectives would fail, partnerships dissolve and collaborations would bomb. Once again, at foam the artistic collective/ extended family model is paramount to the time and management of creativity. I am not doing any of this alone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | All in all I am arriving home with a creative vision dreamed up, a new network of futurists met, a very creative collaborative experience and a world of possibilities to develop my work through avenues opened in Europe. For Florence I hope she has gained a sense of herself in a larger world, a tolerance of travel and somewhere deep in her conscience the knowledge that the world is full of creative and strong personalities who can envisage a fantastic future. For Miranda I hope she learns that no matter where I travel and for how long, I’ll always come back (and perhaps next time she can come with me). More importantly I know Miranda realizes that wherever I am, my life includes her and I cherish her involvement in my work. For Matt, we both know that creative collaboration is part of the glue of our relationship, | ||
==== References ==== | ==== References ==== |