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| research_report_parenzana [2013-10-15 06:30] – [Methods] sarah.neville | research_report_parenzana [2013-10-15 06:56] – [Context] sarah.neville | ||
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| - | Along with my family I was in residence at foam for 3 weeks in October 2013, firstly at Castello Parenzana near the legendary town of Motovun in Istria and then amidst the urban landscape of Brussels. In company with my five month old daughter Florence and together with Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney, I investigated ancient and contemporary myths formed from making meaning of natural disaster. My husband Matthew and four year old daughter Miranda contributed to the project remotely from home in the Adelaide Hills in Australia. Miranda shared her understanding of the natural world through creative storytelling and painting and Matthew participated by responding to the concepts emerging at Castello Parenzana through an exploration of sound. | + | Along with my family I was in residence at foam for three weeks in October 2013, firstly at Castello Parenzana near the legendary town of Motovun in Istria and then amidst the urban landscape of Brussels. In company with my five month old daughter Florence and together with Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney, I investigated ancient and contemporary myths formed from making meaning of natural disaster. My husband Matthew and four year old daughter Miranda contributed to the project remotely from home in the Adelaide Hills in Australia. Miranda shared her understanding of the natural world through creative storytelling and painting and Matthew participated by responding to the concepts emerging at Castello Parenzana through an exploration of sound. |
| 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 and feel that this project has been finally seeded in suitably fertile ground within the cultural laboratory of foam. I have enjoyed a couple of successful collaborations with Nik Gaffney in Adelaide in the late 90's and with this project it seemed like the right time to pick up the collaborative thread. My husband Matt also collaborated with Nik in the past and was looking forward to participating in the residency in Croatia along with Miranda. However, when state funding fell through our family had to ecomimise and we decided that Florence and I would travel to Europe and Matt and Miranda would contribute to the project remotely via daily skype meetings and email. | 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 and feel that this project has been finally seeded in suitably fertile ground within the cultural laboratory of foam. I have enjoyed a couple of successful collaborations with Nik Gaffney in Adelaide in the late 90's and with this project it seemed like the right time to pick up the collaborative thread. My husband Matt also collaborated with Nik in the past and was looking forward to participating in the residency in Croatia along with Miranda. However, when state funding fell through our family had to ecomimise and we decided that Florence and I would travel to Europe and Matt and Miranda would contribute to the project remotely via daily skype meetings and email. | ||
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| Working around the sleep, feed, play schedule of a baby meant that the methodology needed to be flexible and not fixed in time. Whilst this meant that ideas and tasks were sometimes left unfinished until a later time, everything remained in focus and most tasks were completed.The method of informal discussion allowed for the consideration of Florence but it is also a way of eliciting a personal and felt response to the range of ideas. By listening and questioning others and ourselves we managed to narrow the field of interest and begin to play with creative output. | Working around the sleep, feed, play schedule of a baby meant that the methodology needed to be flexible and not fixed in time. Whilst this meant that ideas and tasks were sometimes left unfinished until a later time, everything remained in focus and most tasks were completed.The method of informal discussion allowed for the consideration of Florence but it is also a way of eliciting a personal and felt response to the range of ideas. By listening and questioning others and ourselves we managed to narrow the field of interest and begin to play with creative output. | ||
| + | Lastly, 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. | ||
| ==== 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)// | ||
| - | Traveling and working with Florence by my side has been a joy.During my residency, Florence’s smile, giggle and attentive observation of the world was a delight. My journey was enriched by her look of awe and surprise at Dubai airport, her fascination with all the safety videos on the plane, her cooperation in falling asleep promptly whilst travelling or when in transit no matter whether she was in a car seat on the floor under a table in an airport, her ability to laugh at almost any situation, her love of baby food from 3 countries, her loud and confident contribution to all serious arts discussions with her own baby babble, | + | __Family/ Work balance__ |
| 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. Often my paid work has included caring for other people’s children, so having Florence with me as I work is a familiar challenge and joy.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, | 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. Often my paid work has included caring for other people’s children, so having Florence with me as I work is a familiar challenge and joy.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, | ||
maja