Walking The Texts of Modernity June 29, 2006
Posted by thesilentlandscape in Uncategorized.2 comments
An experiential investigation of place and placelessness
The idle stroller, the beggar, the busker, the outsider, the nomad, the invalid, the pilgrim, the loner, the lunatic, the poet, the misfit…
For the perfect idler, for the passionate observer it becomes an immense source of enjoyment to establish dwelling in the ebb and flow, the bustle, the fleeting and the infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel at home anywhere; to see the world, to be at the very centre of the world, and yet to be unseen of the world, such are some of the minor pleasures of those independent, intense and impartial spirits, who do not lend themselves easily to linguistic definitions.
Charles Baudelaire
Generative Improvisation Labs Monday and Wednesday 10 – 12 Friday 10 – 2 at Irene Community Arts Warehouse 5 Pitt St Brunswick.
*Sessions by donation
*Extra Performance Workshops Thursdays 6.30-9.30pm exploring tools for solo, character and ensemble. Cost $12 (See other classes/trainings)
Contact Mandy Field on 0401 017 471 or the_silent_landscape@yahoo.com.au to register your interest
Sessions explore walking as an experiential tool, encouraging the receptivity of the senses and generating physical and textural narratives.
Physical training will drive the sessions, based on techniques that activate the subtle systems, and ultimately lead to new ways of mapping environments. The work draws on Butoh, Body Weather, physical character, spatial and ensemble dynamics. With a conceptual framework inspired by the work of Baudelaire, the Situationists, Deleuze and Rella.
Site specific explorations follow on from intensive training sessions. Breaking down the elements and dynamics of different urban landscapes. Sessions end in an open ‘derive’, described by the Situationists as ‘a mode of passage through the urban environment in deliberate wastes of useful time.’
The outcome of the labs will be a mixed media remapping and restaging of generated ideas around the themes of place and placelessness. Artists are encouraged to work physically whilst drawing on different media and representations, exploring themes in the context of their own creative practice.
Mondays and Wednesdays are open training sessions, focused on body conditioning and endurance building. Attendance at these sessions can be flexible.
Fridays will be more specific to the project, and ongoing commitment is required.
Artists from all disciplines are invited to participate. A short briefing/interview will be arranged as an entry point to the themes and ideas covered in the trainings/labs.
Mandy is currently undertaking a Masters by Research in Dance Animateuring at the VCA. This work is the physical core of the research, exploring a system of movement and creative production that deconstructs the elements of the urban landscape.
