After visiting the Lincolnshire Archives, I felt I had a lot more to work with in terms of being inspired to create a performance within the Grandstand. The session on the site the next day began with a whole group writing task where we individually wrote letters to the Grandstand, about what we had learnt at the Archives, how we felt afterwards and our thoughts towards the site itself. Many members of the group wrote letters about how they learnt of the sites past and several uses and how this has made them feel a certain way. The activity after this task was to use the letters to create a collage of thoughts about and towards the building. To start with we got into groups of 3 or 4 and then later we worked together as a massive group where we all said a sentence of our letter in turns, creating a combination of many thoughts and ideas which linked really well and created an interesting dramatic atmosphere for us to work with. I think this task has a lot of potential to turn into a full group performance work.

Later in the session, we split into 2 smaller groups where the aim was to develop previous 2 ideas shown last week; one performing outside on the gates surrounding the site and one which I worked on which was to explore the use of the main space in relation to the original blueprint plans for that room to become a mortuary. When seeing a part of this work last week I felt some speech and maybe a situation/theme was needed to link the action together so taking inspiration in the realisation that the main room was going to be used a mortuary allowed this transition to take place.

A lot of what people had said in their first task letters related to the mortuary plans and specifically personal feelings about it, so to add some speech I thought it would be interesting to turn it into dialogue. We used sticky notes to gather and write down particular parts of letters that related to the mortuary and stuck them around the set which was created with around 50 chairs to create a war/destruction scene. I directed the group to combine the same elements of the performance last week like hiding their shoes and lying down within the set as well as adding in some new concepts such as picking one of the sticky notes, saying it out loud and then sticking it to themselves to symbolise a mortuary tag.

When we performed this to the other group, during the end of the piece the performers in the group laid down side by side like dead bodies in the kitchen area, I led the spectators into this area which we had decided on as it is on the mortuary plans as the ‘Viewing Room’, a place where family would view the main room to identify their past loved ones. This piece overall was shown as a re-enactment of the situations that could have possibly happened years ago, as well as adding in contemporary dialogue and thought process. In relation to my previous post, this piece along with many others to follow was heavily reliant on the documents and pictures that were discovered in the Archive, showing the high importance of historical backgrounds of a site.

‘Where physical traces of a building’s past operate metaphorically to render absent present and function to introduce the spectator into other worlds and dimensions of our world that are other. The material traces evoke worlds that are intangible and unlocatable: worlds of memory, sensation, imagination, affect and insight’ (Irwin, 2007, p. 37) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 10)

References

Irwin, K. (2007) The Ambit of Performativity: How Site Makes Meaning in Site- Specific Performance. PhD. University of Art and Design: Helsinki in Pearson, M (2010) Site Specific Performance. London: Palgrave Macmillian.

‘Work emerges from a particular place, it engages intensively with the history and politics of that place, and with the resonance of these into the present’ (McAuley, 2007, p.9) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 10)

Last week as a group we were given the opportunity to visit the Lincolnshire Archives with the intention to gather more historic information about the Grandstand which would allow us to further our knowledge of the site and offer us inspiration for our performance work.

After independent research of the Grandstand through online sources, I felt that I knew a fair amount about our site but when getting to the archives and looking around at the documents that were placed on the tables for us; it was quite clear that there were many aspects of the Grandstand’s history I had no knowledge of at all. The room was full of documents, maps and artefacts from newspaper articles and prints to blueprints and old pictures, revealing this site’s past life which was highly fascinating to look through and explore.

Even though I found the whole experience extremely worthwhile and inspiring, my particular interest was researching more about the Latin/foreign phrases that can be seen on some of the architecture and artistic work within the Grandstand. With help from Adrien, one of the professionals that worked in the Archive, our visit allowed me to explore the meaning and relevance of these phrases towards the site in a lot more detail.

I was able to find out that ‘Per Ardua ad Astra’ which is the phrase featured in the war memorial in one of the rooms translates as ‘through adversity to the stars’. I then went on to discover this was and still is the motto of the Royal Air Force as well as the other Commonwealth air forces and the Royal Flying Corps connecting to the theme of War that radiates from the site. The other phrase I wanted to know more about was ‘Dieu et mon droit’ from what we know now as the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom situated on the roof of the Grandstand. I discovered that this was a French medieval phrase which translated as ‘God and my right’ which Adrien informed me is the motto of the British Monarch in England. After discovering the translations, I learnt that the building was built as a part of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebrations which allowed me to make further connections. Now the building wasn’t just linked with the theme of War but also the Monarchy which gave me a unique viewpoint of our site and realisation of the potential this theme has for creating performances.

To echo some of the other posts, we talk all the time about how the site has lost it’s effect/importance on the community and I think we know how much history the building has to show but sometimes we feel the need to ignore this to try and find something ‘out of the box’ to motivate us. The fact is the building has so much character and historical background that it would be ridiculous to not allow ourselves to be inspired. In relation to this I think the Grandstand holds a lot of potential for us to create contemporary ‘performances’ from historic events and topics that we can use after visiting the Archives.

References

McAuley, G. (2007) ‘Local Acts: Site-Specific Performance Practice, Introduction’ in About Performance in Pearson, M (2010) Site Specific Performance. London: Palgrave Macmillian.

During the second session in the Grandstand, I was given the task by Michael to sketch out the areas of the site that we had been exploring last week. I took this opportunity to also draw some of the areas that were given less attention but still have a lot of character and performance potential. The drawings are a bird’s eye view of the specific area which highlights important/characteristic features that possibly interact with the site’s history and narrative in one way or another. ‘The real power of site-specific work is that it somehow activates, or engages with, the narratives of the site in some kind of way. That might be with its formal architecture, or it might be with the character of the building. It might be to do with the history of that building. (McLucas, quoted in Morgan, 1995, p. 47) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 35)

I felt that sketching the site and focusing on the architecture of the building was extremely helpful towards my further knowledge and understanding of the site as a whole. I found myself thinking and imagining about how the individual spaces would have been used in the past in comparison to how they are used now; picturing scenes of wartime and horseracing events, casting inspiration from many of the architectural features. ‘Site may directly suggestive of a subject-matter, theme, dramatic structure: it will always be apparent as context, framing, subtext’ (Pearson, in Pearson and McLucas, no dates, p.7) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 35)

References

Morgan, R (1995) Y llyfyr Glas; Brith Gof 1988-95. Cardiff: Brith Gof.

Pearson, M (2010) Site Specific Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillian.

Friday 31^st of January was our first early morning session at the Grandstand, and for most of us, it was the first time we had the opportunity to explore the site in a lot more detail. Throughout the week, I began to feel extremely nervous about the module because it is a subject that is completely out of my comfort zone and I felt a lot of pressure about creating something for a very different style of theatre to what I was used too. However our seminar the day before made my worries settle slightly as we spoke about our personal definitions of we thought ‘Site Specific’ was as well as reviewing some professional practitioner explanations. From this exercise, it was evident that this module leading to the creation of a final ‘performance’ would be a journey and very much an open-minded process where extensive exploration and discovery of the site will frame for our ideas into much further development. Something that will take a lot of research, hard work and time.

As I arrived at the site, I didn’t expect the building to radiate such a strong sense of abandonment and sadness. I suppose the miserable weather didn’t help this and there are definitely a few people in the group who will disagree but looking closer at the exterior of the building, it most definitely felt lifeless. Our first task was to look around the outside of the building, capturing images of the surrounding areas and other interesting parts of the landscape that intrigued us.

The images below are just a few of the outside spaces on the site that I found rather captivating. This is generally due to the mood that is exposed from each space but also  the potential they all have to inspire or even develop a ‘performance’. The discovery of these spaces made me think more about the aims of the module and how working with non-theatre venues such as like the Grandstand could possibly allow for a wider range of concepts and influences for ‘art’… ‘Not only does the use of non-theatre venues contribute to ‘an enquiry into what theatre is and might be’, it also incorporates ‘a set of productive spatial metaphors, whereby practitioners use their focus on geographical space to explore a range of theatrical, conceptual, political and virtual spaces. Thus the potentially restrictive specificity of the work is expanded to allow for ambiguity and multiplicity’ (Wilkie, 2008, p. 100) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 9).

In the next part of the session, we went inside to take a tour of the rooms within the Grandstand. This again allowed us to take pictures of that we found exciting or interesting. There were a few rooms within the main building that seemed as cold and drab, just like how I felt about the outside of the site.  However in complete comparison to this, there were many rooms that were filled with outstanding character and identity. Roms (2008, p 115) stated that it wasn’t just the location that provides a performance with ‘a sense of identity’ but it is the memories and historic associations that mean a great deal (Pearson, 2010, p. 9). With reference to these images, I agree with this idea as the character that I feel oozes from these rooms definitely have a strong connection to the World Wars. This piece of art work will be something I would like to do some further research on when visiting the Lincoln Archives as I feel it may reveal unknown facts and inspire us all towards a potential concept and War themes.

We later got into groups to produce a 2 minute experience within a space on the site. This was difficult for me as I had made a connection to many of the spaces. From taking a picture of stained glass windows, I discovered a charming, green tiled, narrow corridor that myself and the rest of the group instantly connected to. One side of the corridor was tiled and had stained glass and on the other side were huge windows, which we used for our main idea. We used the windows to blow hot breath and write words we felt described the building. We stood on the outside of the corridor whilst the rest of the group were standing in the corridor. Our reasoning and concept for this was that the writing would eventually fade everytime but we would keep writing over it, as if we were trying to keep hold of the building’s character and history that seems to be forgotten and somewhat lost.

I look forward to studying and researching more into the building itself with particular focus on some of the art work and architectural remains, such as the ones that have Latin phrases which can be translated and further explored.

‘Site specific’ performance engages with the site as a symbol, site as a story-teller, site as a structure’ (Wilkie, 2002, p. 150) in (Pearson, 2010, p. 8)

References:

Pearson, M (2010) Site Specific Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillian.

Roms, H. (2008) ‘Staging an Urban Nation’ in Holdsworth, N. and Luckhurt, M. (eds) Contemporary British and Irish Drama. Oxford: Blackwell.

Wilkie, F. (2002) Mapping the Terrain: a Survey of Site-specific Performance in Britain. New Theatre Quarterly. 18 (2) 150.

Wilkie, F. (2008) ‘The Production of Site: Site-Specific Theatre’ in Holdsworth, N. and Luckhurt, M. (eds) Contemporary British and Irish Drama. Oxford: Blackwell.