How do you build site-related objects in the grandstand out of chairs and tables? This was the dilemma our group was faced with. Whilst trying out ideas for our site-specific performance we thought about constructing a horse out of the objects we had available. So how did it go? The evidence is below…

You can see a sort of outline of a horse, however it was pointed out to our group by our tutor that what we had created could be a tank. So running with the idea of the tank we tweaked our creation slightly to create more of a tank shape. By merely moving the chairs on the table to a more central position and turning the top chair around so as the legs represent that of guns.

Going along with our theme, of the grandstand’s use in the World Wars, we created a tunnel out of chairs and a trench out of tables. These can be seen below…

(Picture above shows the tunnel we created out of chairs)

Exploring the site allowed our group to use our imagination to re-invent the site. We felt that using the objects within the building really shows how the grandstand has changed. Our group idea is still a work in progress but there is a lot of potential to create something powerful that makes the audience think.

Sometimes creating a performance within a space can alter the image the audience had of it, “…people had a real familiarity with the space that was being worked with yet they were invited to experience the environment from a new perspective due to the performance that was enacted within it” (Govan, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, p.120). This can be for the better or for the worse or even just to make an audience aware of the potential the space had or has.

That same quote could be used to reflect on how a performance we did at the Grandstand caused the audience to feel different about the site space. Before I talk about the performance I must first explain how we found the inspiration for it…

Having learnt the grandstand could (or might) have been a mortuary, we ventured to the archives to delve further into the history of this somewhat mysterious building. Whilst at the archives we discovered a detailed plan showing the layout for the mortuary within the grandstand, as shown below.

                                                                    Mortuary plan, courtesy of the Archives (Lincoln)

Although we knew that a mortuary is what the building could have been used for, seeing the plan really made me think about the space and the layout of the grandstand. For example, they had planned to place the mortuary in a room where children now run around and play with toys. Witnessing the plan created more awareness of how close the grandstand was to becoming a mortuary, but there is no evidence either way to suggest it was or wasn’t a reality.

So for our performance we expanded on the chair performance which we did a couple of weeks ago. However this time we incorporated text. On post-it notes we wrote down sayings to do with death, sadness and the war. This allowed us to focus on the destruction the soldiers and families went through during World War II. The destruction could also be a metaphor for how, if the grandstand was used as a mortuary, the family friendly place it once was would no longer exist, destroying the grandstand’s family friendly image.

Our performance involved the performers walking through chairs that are knocked over as if something has ruined the site. The performers then slowly, and when they feel like doing so, lie down on the floor. This represents the victims of the war and highlights the area as a place where bodies could have lay. Then one-by-one the performers rise up and collects their shoes and find a post-it note which they then read out. Once they have done this, the performer proceeds to stand in front of the audience just staring emotionless. Once all performers are lined up they read out their post-it note again and put it on the post. They then walk into the kitchen and lie down on the floor (one-by-one) where I covered them, from the waist up, with their coats. Then another performer brought the audience into the kitchen and in this tiny cramped room the faces of the ‘bodies’ (the performers on the floor) where revealed whilst the audience were being asked if they recognised anyone.We chose to use the kitchen in our piece because we discovered it would have been the viewing room, according to the mortuary plans.

We wanted the audience to feel a part of the piece, that is why we made them feel like they were involuntarily in a room identifying bodies, similar to how the families of the World War II victim’s would have felt, “…the work is constructed so that the performers interact with the people who inhabit a particular place” (Govan, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, p.122). By having the audience crammed into a small room and showing them faces of people, as if they were dead, caused the grandstand to be seen as a dark place rather than the happy one it is depicted, through the brightly painted walls.

Through our research and performance we managed to give the audience a different view of the grandstand and one which will, hopefully, open their eyes to what could have been!

Work Cited:

Govan E., Nicholson H. and Normington K., ‘The Place of the Artist’ Making a Performance, Oxon: Routledge, 2007, p.120-135

The Mortuary Plan courtesy of the Archives in Lincoln.

Usually objects and people will have to conform to the space available to them but last Friday we had to take it to a whole new level. Using the inspiration of Will Dorner’s Bodies in Urban Spaces, that our tutor showed us in our seminar, we set out to find hidden spaces and put them on show by forming our bodies to the spaces around the grandstand.

In the picture above two performers took up the space inside a small tree to show both the potential of the space in which the tree takes up and also the fact that it is not noticed due to its location. It is situated by a metal fence, which people walk through,  to get from the golf course to the car park.

Another picture we captured was the one above which shows three performers using their bodies to fill the space of an old metal turnstile. This created a layer effect which we then decided to use in our next task; which was to re-create a shape we made outside in a space inside the grandstand. We choose to use a space which consisted of a small area with lots of stacked chairs. The use of chairs worked to our advantage to help reproduce the layers of the shape, we previously made, through changing the height of the chairs.

Our last task was to create a piece from the spaces we had used inside the building. We made our piece to focus on a lively place becoming an abandoned place. we wanted to depict a place going from being popular to not being noticed. It was, however, interpreted differently by our tutor who felt it was almost like a destruction had occurred and we were then piecing it back together. Our tutor felt it linked back to the idea that the grandstand was considered to be a possible mortuary in World War II. This was something we didn’t consider and then when it was pointed out to us we realised that it could be seen as that. We then instead ran with that idea and decided to take our shoes off and dot them around the floor by the chairs. We then, as performers, had to retrieve our shoes. One of our group members also suggested that the 3 performers that were stacking the chairs could try and form shapes on each others spaces until they ended up in the space they should be in. In running with the mortuary theme, this could have been seen as soldiers putting their lives back together (putting shoes on and stacking the chairs), then trying to find their way home (forming shapes in the wrong spaces) and then finally finding their way home (the shape that is formed at the end).

Work Cited

• Will Dorner (2008) Bodies in Urban Spaces, USA

Upon arriving at the grandstand in Lincoln it is clear that the building does not have the same purpose it did when it was built. There is no clear area where horses could race and instead a main road separates the grandstand and a field filled with horses. The building has almost  been ignored since the function it was created for no longer occurs in Lincoln.

As this was my first visit to the Lincoln grandstand I was astounded by the difference between the two sides of the building. The front of the grandstand, where the stairs are visible, is dreary and dull. The wooden steps have been left to rot and the paint is clearly cracking. However the back of the building, with its two levels and windows, could be mistaken for a large house or even a small hotel. The brick work looks good considering its age and the building appears to be in good condition; a complete contrast to the front of the building. The second level windows are painted on to make the grandstand look like a normal building. This was done recently suggesting the site is partly maintained but not recently as the litter around the site would suggest.

The area is very isolated considering it is joint to a busy road, as the houses and shops disappear as you approach the site. It is found opposite a field where horses are allowed to roam; partially giving the public an insight into what the grandstand could have been like when it was used to watch the horse racing.  The only sign that the area is has not been totally abandoned is the car park next to it, and the golf course and stables behind it. The locks on the metal gates preventing access to the stairs makes it harder for the outside of the grandstand to be used to its full potential, further isolating the site.

After exploring the outside of the grandstand it is clear that the building needs a rebirth to bring the public to see the beauty that it has to offer. It is obvious there is potential for it to once again be a site for people to visit in Lincoln.

A grandstand is a place normally found at a horse racing site. It is where people would gather to watch the races. The grandstand in Lincoln is where our performance will be taking place. I am not familiar with the site itself or the story behind it but I am intrigued to find out more as the weeks go on.

If the grandstand is similar to other grandstands it will look almost like stairs and may be covered over with a small roof. This is a great site to explore and will mean we will have many levels to perform on and will be free to use a lot of space for the performance. I am looking forward to finding out more about this site and the Site Specific Module.