Urban re:passages

A choreographic installation exploring the notion of the spatial resonance of a photographic image.

An exercise in performance devising and image making processes
by Beatrice Jarvis.

This will be first shown in 124A Crofton Road in my attic as a means of exploring residential dwellings as potential grounds for performance exploration, removing studio pressure and encouraging creative development space use.

In an age where galleries are expensiev to hire and we are over saturated with artists; i am keen to develop ideas about independant art spaces; non traditional spaces which further develop my pratice ethos of using the cityl in its multifaceted form as studio.

I am interested to develop notions of a tool kit for expectations of performance spaces and teh psychological effects and affects that can be explored through subverting traditional expectations as to a performamce or a space for the arts..

house as studio ..  as space..  part one..

The first venture: Sunday 9th August; Documentation to follow. The house will feature a collection of multidisciplinary works from film by Rosie Carr and Installation from Liz Warrington; illustration by Hannah Abbo and many more.. relative due to house size.. by invitation only

Creating a movement dialogue of a narrative form; an exploration of the components needed to form a narrative environment. Embodied in a choreographic investigation; this installation forms a discourse as to the photographic image making process. The notion of image as field, as depth, the notions of intimacy between viewer and image; reality and imagination. The dancer, the pedestrian; a duet of the notation of conversation that allows form to generate, subside and withdraw to a realm of mass movement.

The lines of the hand that traces a table; the scent of a movement that leaves no remorse.

The body is a moving sphere; convulsing space with dynamic and progression; a transitory figure through emergence. Using techniques of key Laban notation; I will attempt to create a performance improvisation which structure the body in relation to space and space in relation to the body. This piece will be an intimate exploration as to the realms of the potential for creative image making process through spatial installation with live performance.

The space in which this performance occurs will be in my room/ attic/ studio/ space in my house. This is an attempt to form an exploration as to how performance spaces which are removed from traditional gallery or theatre confines and encourage the individual to make more creative use of their individual environment. The home space can be both a space for reflection and inversion; and performance and externalisation; the juxtaposition between these realms forms an interesting dialogue that strives to remove the normative function of a home as a place to ‘switch off’

Research rationale: ‘Using the home / residential space for interrogation and provocation, this performative installation opens up the concept of home to allow a more creative response to the residential abode.’

By locating my installation in the realm of my living space; I aim to positively influence the ‘urbiculture’ with creative interventions within all levels of spatial habiataion. As flaneurie is an individual practice of in-habiting and appropriating urban space so my practice is an interpretation of flaneurie with more socially investigative overtones.

The emphasis in successful creative modern Urban housing Planning must centre on the activity of the primary user,‘ how people experience and feel the city emotionally and psychologically takes centre stage in planning’ arcing back to the significance for the practical applications of observational practices as a resource for planning theory. There must be a; ‘focus on the physical infrastructure’ which can; ‘tend to see the city as a complicated machine with component parts that need adjusting, aligning an oiling.’ Such parts of the city need to be directly correlation, relating the primary user to the space in such a way that a creative outcome is a natural progression; ‘the built environment is essential for establishing a milieu. It provides a physical platform upon which the city’s creative activity base or atmosphere develops
Creative Space can be constructed in any pocket of the city where there is the resource physically and creatively to maintain it. This does not have to be defined to specific architectural projects or even temporary space projects, it can simply be a small intervention within existing space that encourages thought and causes space users to review their surrounding habitat more closely due to added external stimuli ‘at all levels of society people use urban space creatively and often such creativity is bought about through adversity or diversity.’
‘ Creativity in design of urban space is not confined to forms of large squares and boulevards, up market residential developments or shopping malls and office parks, but can occur in poor areas of the city and often in small spaces.’

Residential spaces can dynamically and quickly adapt to fit the demand of a charged creative society; high rise blocks with a desolate play area do not call for dynamic activity and interaction of inhabitants. As Landry highlights the; ‘creative city identifies, nurtures, attracts and sustains its talents, it mobilises talent’

Creative public spaces and residential dwellings comes with risk. In the theory if creating creative space, the risk factor of the public’s relation to this space cannot be over looked. There is a need for clarity in within the designated use of creative space in cities. Do space users fully appreciate the risks to their personal space? The paradox of risk and creativity in public/ private space has undoubted effects on the creativity possible in urban planning as the; ‘opportunity side of risk taking culture begins to disappear.’ leaving often dry shells of projects, over burdened with safety legislation, so the pedestrian is a walking safety hazard in themselves, as; ‘consciousness of risk comes in myriad forms’

In the creation of the creative urban habitation response I conclude that there needs to be in-depth and lengthy observation of the particular space and space users, creating a channel of consistent dialogue which creates openness between planner and user, artist and watcher. Such dialogue has positive impact as to the social and creative impact of the space. There is a growing need in modern development to remember, to celebrate, to observe and to consult, the individual within mass development projects, as this helps to create an enriched relationship between dweller and the city, encouraging more creative activity and less hostile environments due to increased sense of personal relationship with space.

The creative dwelling cannot be founded like a cathedral in a dessert, it needs to be linked to and part of an existing cultural environment, we need to appreciate the complex interdependencies and not simply use one to exploit the other if we want a real creative environment’

This piece is inspired by a series of existing architectural installations and photographic documentations by of architectural installations; however this forms a strand of personal enquiry to the wider themes explored as a means of forming a unique movement notation for pedestrian movements; creating a new movement lexicon for the activity of the everyday. Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch and William Forsythe I have developed my use of Laban Movement notation as a means of notating the conversations that occur in improvisation of body in space. With strong focus on weight of effort of body dynamic; this piece aims to explore the ranges of potential for the human body to develop theoretical notions of spatial progression; transgression and projection. I aim to develop a tool kit for choreographic image making; by slowing down the principles of the ‘Harmonic Cross’ developed by Laban in the 1930’s to encourage a more conscious awareness of the dynamics of the fluxus body spatial patterning. I am creating an environment within an environment which can function as a blank canvas for the dynamic moving form.

a body
an attic
a experiment
a home
a notion of space
the architecture of movement
lines draw an area
the body consumes
the space notates
improvisation
installation
photograph
what is to dance
expression of theory
practical research

( all concepts and images subject to copyright)