Jan 8, 2013
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Francis Fay & Eleanor Lawlor (Performance Workshop)
Francis Fay and Eleanor Lawlor are both well known performance artists who are closely associated with the Market Studios. It was their goal to open our minds to the art of live performance. Because it is an area that seems to be neglected in terms of education, this was an invaluable opportunity to partake in.
They started off the morning with exercises that loosened everyone up. Both Francis and Eleanor seemed to understand how a group of students work - they know that people in a small group are self conscious and may be awkward or nervous when it comes to doing seemingly silly things in front of their peers. Once they had taken note of the names, they wrote them on name tags and asked everyone to give their own to the person next to them and technically assume their identity. This was closely followed by a hand holding game that require us all to be quick thinking and on high alert. People were handling these activities well because the artists required everyone to do exactly the same thing, I think if they only selected certain people, it would have prevented us from loosing our inhibitions.
The remainder of the morning consisted of games that helped us work in groups. They explained how it is a common thing for performance artists to work together in group of two or three or maybe even more. They wanted us to understand that you must have a connection with the person you're working with, that you have to have faith in them. By giving us blindfolds, stick of bamboo and various other props, it forced us to rely on the trust we had with our partners. Inevitably, some groups worked better then others, some glided through the exercise and some crashed (into each other, literally).
For me, live performance art is something that does not interest me, in fact it would be quite uninspiring. I recently realised that I enjoy performing my own work on camera, but only if it's just me and the camera. I can reach my full potential when I am left to my own devices. Having the power to shoot something again and edit out the parts I dislike, is something that is invaluable to me.
I think I learned quite a good deal from Francis and Eleanor. It appears that they are one hundred per cent committed and very accomplished in their chosen fields. However, I still don't quite grasp everything that they do. I have seen both Francis and Eleanor perform live and I can honestly say that it is not for me. It's not that I am too self conscious to do it, for lack of a better phrase, I just don't get it. I can't relate to the appeal or excitement that some artists get from it. I have yet to come across a live performance that has kept me intrigued and engaged. The element of having an artist there in front of you performing their work, is the initial draw to me, but beyond that there is very little. For me, it doesn't captivate you as much as a video could.
Francis Fay-Site 2012 BQFTID
http://www.francisfay.blogspot.co.uk/