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Day 7 - A pause to think

By Elena Brake

I travelled home to Plymouth on the coach, with plenty to think about and lots to be excited by.  I have really enjoyed this week: being able to produce work at a faster pace, less concerned about the quality and more concerned about producing lots of moments that could end up going somewhere.  This caused us to have a relaxed but intensive approach to creating which has taken us in a direction we couldn’t have predicted beforehand.  Looking back through the past week it has been a really productive time.  Some of our pieces have ended up being much more polished, where others have left room for us to explore further.  

I am looking forward to showing Devon around Plymouth.  It has been great to meet so many artists based in Liverpool, and to explore the character of the city.  I think that the benefit I have felt from creating art in a different location will be repeated when Devon comes to the Southwest.

In the meantime we will both be coming up with ideas to make the second half of the exchange really dynamic, as well as having a well deserved rest from all the creating we have done over the past 7 days!

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A lot of cake was bought this week: Carrot cake can be used to cast a spell for ideas. 

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Day 6: Chlorine & Talcum Powder

By Devon Forrester-Jones

Thank You was my performance for Chlorine and Talcum Powder. This involved me handing a small ticket of paper to participants, saying the ticket was unable to swim and so I would appreciate it if they could take it with them on their swim. Upon their return I would thank them. Once they returned the ticket to me I would thank them and give them a kiss on the forehead - I was wearing red lipstick and so left a stamp on each participant, linking them together through this branding, but a branding which was temporary due to the watery nature of the pool.

The experience of performing in the pool was surreal. It was difficult dealing with the dynamic of the v. serious swimmers who were training in the other lanes of the pool, creating a splashy rhythm that created a background track to the show, which was posited against our event which was much more low-key, relaxed and meditative. It was lovely seeing visitors slowly bobbing up the pool, sometimes supported by bright yellow floatation noodles, and stopping to watch Elena’s performance Pairing/Unpairing [Live]. As her performance was her repeatedly pairing and unpairing 9 pairs of yellow socks, our event purposefully created its own rhythm to operate by. It took time to adapt to this pace, but I feel like it created a bubble of intimacy for us all. Just before the end of the show, Elena and I got in the pool as well, becoming part of the audience and really substantiating that feeling of connection. Given the size of the pool, both the visitors and Elena looked very vulnerable, especially when they were all at the other end of the 50m pool, and so I feel like those connections, through my performance and the swimming together as a group, fostered a supportive feeling.

I would love to do this again. The dynamic, though uncomfortable at first, was so rewarding. It felt like a life-drawing lessons, where the anxiety in the beginning gives way to a level of relaxation previously thought impossible in such odd circumstances. Perhaps this could go on to be a series of events?

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Day 6 - Chlorine & Talcum Powder

By Elena Brake

Today we performed in the Liverpool Aquatic Centre as part of our organised event, Chlorine & Talcum Powder.  The event successfully captured the attention and imagination of members of the public using the swimming pool, as well as the lifeguards and pool staff on duty.  The audience reported feeling a sense of calmness and a gentle atmosphere to the event, which was surprising because the lanes that we had not booked were being used for an intense training session.  The atmosphere was punctuated by teachers shouting aggressive instructions and the sound of swimmers thrashing through the water.

My performance was Pairing/Unpairing [Live] where I paired 9 pairs of socks before unpairing them again and repeating the performance over and over.  Each cycle caused the socks to get more and more damp from the floor of the poolside, so as the obsessive and repetitive routine continued the socks became more contaminated.  While performing I cycled through various emotions and levels of focus myself.  I went from being very absentminded and relaxed, to being extremely focused and frustrated by imperfections in the pairs of socks.

Having the audience swim towards me and away from me was also strangely meditating and enjoyable.  The audience were encouraged to swim from Devon’s side of the pool towards me, and then back again to initiate Devon’s performance Thank you where she kissed each participant on the forehead to thank them for bringing the ticket across the pool and returning it to her.

The feedback from the event was very positive.  The audience told us how intimate the event felt, particularly when we joined them in the pool at the end of the show to mingle.  All in all, I was so pleased to have been a part of creating this exciting and dynamic intervention.

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Origami poetry. Write the words then refold the paper to create a poem

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Graffiti ritual - Day 2′s leftovers

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Day 5 - Final Preparations

By Elena Brake

We went to a seminar at Liverpool Museum, Architectures of Displacement: Planetary Gentrification – China/ Liverpool.  I’ve found it fascinating during my stay in Liverpool to delve into its grassroots art scene, having now visited several artist-led spaces and larger developments.  The talk dealt with problems caused by top-down organisation of the art scene, and how the artists at the root of it all could ensure their voices are heard in order to protect them.  The examples were largely specific to Liverpool’s art scene, however the questions raised and advice given would be applicable within Plymouth, due to the similar expansion and development of its own grassroots art scene.

This afternoon we did a stock-take of the things we have achieved this week and make some plans for future, more longer-term projects that we could pick up on during the second half of this residency in Plymouth.

We also spent some time making the final preparations for tomorrow’s exhibition, “Chlorine & Talcum Powder” which will take place at Liverpool Aquatic Centre.  This included making some laminated tickets for the event as well as some rehearsing and talking through of the minor details to ensure we are well prepared.

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Day 5 - A Talk and A talk

by Devon Forrester-Jones

Today was a day of thoughtfulness. In the morning we went to  Architectures of Displacement: Planetary Gentrification, a talk in the Museum of Liverpool discussing the politics of photography, the urban landscape and gentrification. This was part of Look17 festival. It was such a rich talk, covering so many facets of this topic. It dealt with environmentalism and consumption, the role of the photographer in documenting and raising awareness of these issues, and culminated in in-depth discussions about gentrification. This was addressed via the situation of the North Docks  as it stands. The North Docks is an area of Liverpool that has been picked by the City Council to become the next creative ‘quarter’ of the city. There was a (at times) heated discussion about the role of artists in leading gentrification, and the role of creative production within the capitalist machine, and reminded me of my own issues of consumption that I deal with in my day-to-day life. It made me want to reaffirm it in my practice, and reminds me that it’s okay to be as minimal in staging as possible when it comes to my practice because it comes from this resistance to consumption.

Afterwards we came back to the flat and decided to flesh out some of the ideas that had been generated during this week. It was so important for us to take that time to rest our heads. They were buzzing from all the things we started. In order to function, and get ready for tomorrow’s performance, we had to quieten some of that, and so sat down on the floor with lining paper and marker pens to mind-map the hell out of all that noise. It was so cathartic to sit and chat about projects we could start from these ideas.

We finished off the day by finishing preparations for tomorrow’s show, which has left me feeling very nervous and excited for Chlorine and Talcum Powder!