#interdisciplinary practice

[benjiroworks]

Interdisciplinary Practice

 I choose an image from a ballet show which is one of my favorites. Its name is The Lady of the Camillas, by Svetlana Zakharova and Edvin Revazov, Bolshoi Ballet. Ballet is an interdisciplinary practice. Because, while you are dancing, you are not just doing some movements, also you are acting, feel the music and atmosphere, listening its music and there are people who play its music and record the scenes. Dance, music, acting, cinematography… In short, every branch of performing arts and more. For me, while doing ballet, you experience different emotions in every new piece. Only a ballet show can be successful when these separate disciplines that I mentioned work in harmony perfectly. That is why ballet dancers are expected to be talented in every discipline to shine on stage. We can clearly see and feel the passion between men and women in the image. Because it is reflected not only on their faces but also on their bodies.

[caffeinedesign]

WEEK 3: What is Design, Anyway?

The person I chose as a designer is Turkish Cypriot / British fashion designer Hussein Chalayan. We watched a video in Prof. Dr. Arzu Erdem’s lecture that was about “What is design?”. This video was the final part of the autumn/winter 2000 collection “After Words”, designed by Hussein Chalayan. This video got me very excited because this collection was not like the fashion shows which we all know and watch. In daily life, while we are watching a film, we start thinking about questions like “What will happen now? How is it going to be? How will it end?”. Likewise, I realized that I was thinking about these questions while I was watching this collection video. By exceeding the limits of fashion and fashion shows, something new had been created that arouses the curiosity of audiences and attracts the attention of audiences. Also, I think that chosen music increases the effect of the design. While watching the fashion show, in the final, everything used as decoration on the stage was unexpectedly exhibited on the models. The models removed the chair covers that had been on the stage from the beginning of the show wore them as a dress, and then these chairs were folded into bags. Another model wore the wooden table on stage as a skirt. Apart from the materials used in common fashion products, many different materials are used like wooden skirt. In the fashion show, the furniture we use in daily life had become wearable. It is a seriously creative and ingenious idea that the fashion designer in his collection used not only fashion items but also other products that are produced in the field of “design”. This idea has created a powerful design by revealing the interactions between our clothes and the products around us. When I researched this collection after the lecture, it was written on Wikipedia: “In Afterwords, Hussein Chalayan focused on the involuntary and dramatic aspect of mobility, and illustrated the sentimental impacts of forced migration.”. The immigrants who had to leave their belongings were considered, and at the same time, it ceased to be a thought and became a collection. I can say that I was more impressed after learning the main idea of the designs. I have watched many fashion show videos so far, but if I was asked “which one was your favorite”, undoubtedly this collection of Hussein Chalayan comes to mind first. Going out of the ordinary has turned this show into an unforgettable artistic show.

[maatpjasminmg]

Week 9: EXAM WEEK

Pre-Exam: For my exam, I have ended up running with the idea of story-telling performance. I keep seeing the imagery of my tree and my aim is to make the audience see it too. I have taken on board a lot of the advice given by my peers in my dress run last week. I am going to try and scale down my arm movements (which is difficult for me) in an effort to let the words tell the story. I have also been trying to decide whether to speak in the first or second person. My initial instinct is second but someone told me last week that they were against that. I will think it through.

Post-Exam: The exam is over and went pretty well, I think. I am consistently bad at being able to judge my own performances but I know that it was what I was aiming for and that I took lots of advice on board. Above is my presentation explaining my piece. I have included details about ‘Ski Jacket’ and re-presentation/reconstruction, as well as mentioning some of the inspirations for my piece. Go People have been in the back of my mind throughout this whole process and, whilst they are not strictly storytellers, I took on a lot of their ideas about world-building. Alastair also told me about Debs Newbold. I hadn’t heard of her before but she does a very similar thing to what I was trying to achieve and watching the way she spoke and performed was really helpful.

Overall, I have loved this process. I feel like I have learnt so much and I hope that I continue to grow as a performance-maker.

[maatpjasminmg]

Week 8, Part 2

For the second part of week 8, we have just been working on our solo pieces for the exam next week. I feel like it has crept up on me really fast and I have been struggling with ideas. I would like to try and combine reconstruction and my text-based learnings somehow.

Idea 1: Set up imaginary scenery through text that I would speak. This would be based on ‘Ski Jacket’ by Peter Doig that I found in the Tate Modern. I might combine it with ideas of gender or I might not – ‘when is a tree not a tree’ and ‘when is a woman not a woman?’ Could use similar techniques to the ones I saw in Go People’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

Idea 2: A movement-based piece inspired by ‘Head III’ that I, once again, found in the Tate Modern. It would illustrate the ‘cosmic anxiety’ that the artwork is meant to portray. Panicked and manic? Movement is not my strongpoint, however.

After discussions with Clare, I have decided to pursue the ‘Ski Jacket’ idea. I described the very initial imagery of the tree to her and she said that, out of all my ideas, that is the one that stuck out to her the most. It was also my first instinct and initial idea. So therefore I am producing a storytelling performance that is a re-presentation of Peter Doig’s painting. I hope it goes well.

[maatpjasminmg]

Week 3: Part 2

Interesting Exercises: 

- The rest of our sessions this week were based around the concept of deconstruction. During the sessions, we worked on deconstructing as much as we physically could. What I found the most interesting was the difference between the first and last pieces that we created. To start with, we worked in groups to replicate a tennis match as accurately as we could. We tried to copy the movements, the sounds, and the gestures. Then, bit by bit, we took certain things out. For example, we kept the moves but took away the gestures. Then we forgot about the traditional blocking of a tennis match and just did our moves at any time and in any direction. All of this led to a theatrical piece that was very stylised and expressionistic but still recognisable as a tennis match.

- From there, we took it one step further. The class began in our original groups, doing gestures and sounds without any semblance of order. We carried this on and started to infiltrate other groups until the studio just became a cacophony of sound and movement. James asked us to keep this up for fifteen minutes before slowly ‘dying’ and coming to a stop altogether as a class.

What I Took Away From It: 

These were the first Interdisciplinary Practice sessions that truly inspired brand new ideas in me. Up until this point, I had been working in territory that I had dealt with before. The ideas around deconstruction felt like something completely new. I began to think about acts that could be stripped down and how reconstruction could then play into this by building back up the component parts. 

[maatpjasminmg]

Week 2: Part 2

Interesting Exercises: 

- These sessions were more movement based and we started by working with the spine - trying to adopt a ‘fish spine’ which allowed us to move with fluidity and awareness. We got into pairs and took turns in placing hands at the back of our partner’s head and the bottom of their spines to try and support one another’s movements. 

- We built on this and then worked on moving in pairs without touching each other. I worked with Clare and we tried to move in reaction to each other, exploring levels and directions. 

What I Took Away From It: 

Movement of this type has never been something that I’ve been particularly interested in. These classes, however, taught me a lot about how bodies can convey emotion. Not everything has to be scripted and choreographed and sometimes it is more organic to just let two performers move together and see what happens. 

[artxneuroscience-blog]

Brilliant exhibition opening in Brick Lane Gallery on 26 June and will run until 2 July. The exhibition is the culmination of collaborations between artists and scientists. Work on display includes sculpture, painting and jewellery! 

Keep your eyes peeled for their FREE events at http://www.facebook.com/beausci

The AXNS Collective went to their public Live Discussion about the long-lasting relationship between science and art at Imperial last week and it raised some extremely important issues and questions about: whether art can really inspire new scientific learning; who benefits from interdisciplinary projects and the importance of wider interest in science for innovation.