Postal Art Collective- The Art Department: third intervention (my second)

so... here's the second intervention i made, inverting through the photogram darkroom technique and not fixing the resultant images. how much will they fade by the time they return to me? will it be obvious they are changing, what will the response be? am intrigued. i like the ghostly trail of these lost identities through the inversion, inspired by or the actual photos, from this book i bought on ebay. for the previous images I was responding to by E. Brass, and for more about the project see here

the den last night @ electrician's shop, trinity buoy wharf- comments and feedback welome :)

phew!! am going to be reflecting on here over the next few days when i get my breath back......nonetheless am feeling both really excited and really humbled about what happened inside the den and the where next of making dens' in other people's houses...hmmmmmm

any comments welcome: some from my comments book;

• thank you very much- wonderful concept and very engaging
• everyone wanted to know what happened to me when I went in. I WON'T TELL THEM. The den took me back to my childhood. A great experience and process.

meanwhile...hugest thanks to the participants for giving so much, and lora and imelda, and of course, roland barthes and the mortality of photography. x

den show,scratch event in my lounge :)

decided to trial two of the 3 proposals in the end;

1. in the den, asking the participant to get an object from the table outside, bringing it in and discussing it, putting the object in a pillowcase, and leaving its trace in a frame on the sideboard (objects on the sideboard are nostalgic feminine nan type objects including sweets in a side dish.)
2. in the den, asking the participant to write a birthday/greeting/blank card from a shoe box in the den, to a female you once knew,discussing its story between the female and the participant, photogramming it, tearing off the card front and replacing with the photogram, leaving its trace as a photogram card on a sideboard outside. possible shredding of card?? use of walkie talkie to attract attention of participant placed under the table
   

here's the setting up;



preparing the table- nostalgic feminine type food/objects






various chairs/coverings experimented with......






the photogram appearing from the den left by the participant

upturned furniture

inside...blankets, darkroom objects

feedback from participants;

participant one: option 1:

• didn't like pillowcase, try squirrelling the object away under the blanket. (did this for the second participant, worked better, more kid like)
• felt ok with only one object, equal exchange, as i brought my connection into their story- previous work has been their object, my object.
  
• liked that it wasn't fully light tight, can see pattern of curtains and photogram technique still worked.
• possible sew/tack together the sheets for a little less likelihood of collapse of the den
• the two participants were both small women, larger men may find it difficult to sit up, need higher chair etc
  
• this piece had a more fun, less serious element than my previous work, more playful like a true kids den
• maybe say 'pick an object or part of the object and see you in the den'
• really liked the fan
  

participant one: option 2:

• liked the shredding idea: symbolises what's gone in your life well
• liked idea of using walkie talkies, keeping me in the den all the time and being invited in
• questioning how people would respond to the theme of a female who was important in your life- preoccupation with death, how would i feel if i was asked to do this?
• liked use of cards, choice of cards and presentation of these

participant two: fedback after experiencing both options:

• liked second one better, more personal, able to directly work with own material for the exchange. felt was something specific to hang onto, something meaningful
• a journey that had been on to take away with them, and continue to reflect on
• felt wanted to now get back in touch with the person that was important
  
• finds it easy to talk to strangers, nothing to hide, no prior knowledge to bring
  
• liked the shredding, very cleansing
• didn't feel like therapy, wasn't guiding/encouraging them to resolve conflicts, i was sharing similar experiences
• option one- liked way thoughts went from one onto the next, started and ended in completely different places. this was also centred on an experience with a male, instructions weren't clear- although conversation went on to that
  
• found it enriching finding out about another
• chose to write the envelope rather than a card- the card was quite thick and couldn't see the photogram of it (poss longer exposure?)
• always had to be a was important? means it will always be able discussing loss, death, conflict, someone lost contact with
• the photogram didn't work so well, liked the fingerprint mark left behind by them though
• walkie talkies- liked me bring in there already, playful element, meeting a stranger in the half dark
  
• hot in there- no air, can i be i there for 3 hours?
• liked to have greater difference in heights of furniture making the den
• get older frames, charity show, with a history
• would have felt ok if had recorded this, liked the idea of someone going back in the den and listening to our encounter on headphones
• liked the locked box, very kid like, secrets locked away
• suggested i do it in her home for a girls night in, she liked the idea of an evening happening in her own home with activities and relaxing conversation around it. we talked about the ideas i have for it becoming a more portable event, den made from anything people have in their homes, or using their own private spaces

refelctions overall:

it felt sooooo good scratching my work again, i didn't do this for First Thursday Private View, and really felt it, now very much refinding the energy, revalidating and reclarifying my thoughts and centering myself back on my work.

decided to go with option two, meets more directly with the thematic of the show, about sharing female experiences. it also felt more personally heartfelt, and in keeping with my ideas around working with memories and photography

i need to now really consider making the space taller for bigger participants, finalising the furniture, writing the score out, and really considering how and why to use the walkie talkies, and how to start and end the piece without usher. do i really think this works best with me in the den the whole time: does however adds to the mystery of dens, and the element of meeting with a stranger is heightened, you don't know who's inside and what their private world is.

the space in trinity buoy wharf is apparently fairly dimly lit, which is good, and no dj in the end so noise levels with me talking. will however need a table lamp to see the images. how will it feel outside of my lounge in the space? and in relation to the wider experience of the thematic of the show?

more to follow in revisions this weekend......

SPRINT Festival proposal

This is the proposal submitted to SPRINT, the Camden People's Theatre event June 2009

Harriet Poole: Live Participatory Photography:
The Darkroom (or name adapted to site)

Preferred space: Starting in the bar/foyer/populated area moving to a small private, light tight space, and then back to bar/foyer. Small, light tight closet/office/bathroom/shed type space or small space that can be made light tight and into a photographic darkroom. Ideally around 8 foot by 3 feet but can adapt to space given. Using an existing working room with side bench or shelf as found would be particularly ideal (moving some items if necessary to accommodate myself and participant) e.g. mops, buckets, screwdrivers, old equipment etc welcome in the space. If two small rooms could be found, there could be a performance installation of the photogram relics. If the space(s) were more ‘behind the scenes’ or away from black-box theatre, this would be ideal, I have responded to sites such as redundant factory/warehouses rich with history situating my work in amongst other performance events.

Duration of work: Durational, intimate performance for one at a time (approximately 10 minutes per encounter) There could, and ideally would, be multiple encounters happening simultaneously. Ideally happening on a busy night, people socialising, waiting for a show, or after a show. Could also work on a pre-booked basis with an usher entirely in a given room, I have worked in this way before. A visit would be good to determine this and make the piece entirely site-responsive, maybe drawing connections with my other work such as shed (see http://www.harrietpoole.com/work.php.)

The number of artists involved: One (myself) or more (performers only). If taking place during a busy event around the area with a ‘found’ audience, I work with a score allowing for individual and fluid happenings around that and have worked with more than one performer having their own one-to-ones.

Description of the work (provisional, pending site visit): In The Darkroom, people are approached in the bar/foyer and asked if they would like to go to the darkroom. Using a mobile phone camera, the image of the strangers together in the foyer/bar is taken by another person in the bar, and then the performer and participant move to the private room in red light. Stories are told in the private room through objects from their pockets, the objects as a trigger for finding and sharing a human connection: for example, from the ordinariness of a train ticket they could talk about the funeral that it enabled the person to attend. The last person that was phoned and shouldn’t have been. The objects are laid onto photographic paper and exposed and developed- they surface momentarily through a photogrammed memory of the object but are not then fixed. The closet idea is about referencing those tucked away spaces maybe under the stairs, amateur darkroom in the attic, child’s den, inventors quiet paradise to be able to sit and consider one’s thoughts, make new discoveries, or share secrets. The fleeting exchange of memories between two strangers is, as is the problem with photography, of the moment that has passed. This performance thus culminates in marking this fact through the death of the photographs created, the mobile phone image’s light kills the photogram and is deleted. This denotes the end of a period of togetherness as two strangers then leave one another and the performer and the participant return to the foyer/bar.

The Darkroom has been developed from (in)visible exchange, the above piece is based on my Duckie show and could, I would hope develop further with SPRINT; elements have always been quite different. My work explores theories in the work of Roland Barthes and Tino Sehgal, the first for his theories of the ‘mortality’ of the paper based photograph as an ‘impossible’ record of ‘now,’ and the latter for the fleeting materiality of his art works. I work with principles of non-matrixed theatre and audience participation through the subversion of time/lens based media practices. I experiment with pushing the temporal nature of performance through marrying with the temporal nature of photography, placing the process of image making intrinsically at the heart of an intimate performative experience.

Technical: Creating a staged light tight darkroom providing own equipment being small darkroom (box) tray, photographic developer, photographic paper, red safety lights, blackout.
Ability to lock door or shut it very firmly so light tight.
Depending on room set up as to whether would need a bench or a table and depending on the height of these- chairs or stools or standing- I can arrange these where necessary.
Access to water nearby and electrical sockets in the room or very nearby.
If possible I would like to view the room in advance of the event so I can plan for the right materials, and any slight adaptations to the performance if layout of room etc dictates.
Please note- I have a lot of experience in constructing make-shift darkrooms if the above sounds horrendously off putting- and I am able to do it myself. There is no Enlarger or other traditional darkroom equipment, processing troughs etc, but would put down suitable protective sheeting as applicable. Depending on how much black out was required would dictate how long I would need to set up; if time is short I could get assistance.

Should hear by end of February whether successful or not....

The Darkroom @ Duckie 18th October 2008: Part two

demo photo taken and manipulated to reinforce the private nature of the encounters and just simply show idea of the sort of mobile phone photos taken at the start of the piece

performance installation of some of the photogram relics drying pegged up in the laundry room/second darkroom



with the red light on


unluckily, both the darkroom safelight bulbs blew and I only had one spare, simon the duckie producer gave us a torch with a red gel, this added a focused light and uplight some of the photograms to cast a shadow on the wall, happy accident :)

selecting a peg

setting up the lines
stair case bannisters covered in fairy lights where we sat for the conversations

Note: As with all my work, the encounters themselves are not documented and remain true to the private nature of the things shared/divulged. The relics, performances writings including this blog and the rather lovely posts about Lucky Conkers and all by Pogonophile and The Darkroom and the whole Duckie night , as well as from Laura who co-performed, are the documentation so far- do feel free to leave your comments too to help me in future work:)

Some reflections of my own and in conversation with laura;

• overall, despite not feeling 100% well, this piece felt my best yet, simple, and edited to the basics of human interaction and simple photographic elements. i LOVED the duckie crowd and the site was, i felt perfect for the piece.i LOVED seeing the digital image of the two strangers reflected back off the photogram in the sink. mitch set up the piece extremely well in his leathers and harness, as some of the crowd seemed to really be expecting a gay club darkroom (!), and often laughed in good humour when they realised it was a photographic one! i felt entirely comfortable working with a score as framework but without rehearsed story elements- felt very me and made me think about why i went very much into a very constructed and scripted, (more theatrical, if i'm honest which i don't feel comfortable with) piece for my MA show shed- hmmm needs to be evaluated. [If i went back to shed which I'd very much like to perhaps there are greater possibilities with the participants alone in the shed and elements of chance, passers by in a more natural environment eg allotment? the great thing about duckie was a living breathing site-offering me a truly site-specific response, the sheds i brought into an unnatural environment and invented a narrative for it based on the very concept of sheds rather than the site of a shed. that said, the photogram potted plant garden i did love and all the little cat kitsch elements, is it just to admit it really was just two shows in one? ]
  

• conversations and stories. with the previous incarnation of this piece Mitch saw at the LADA EEC Platform i was re-telling the same story about a matchbox that once lived in my pocket as a defining moment leaving childhood behind. i then asked the participant to tell me a story about what was currently in their pocket- this felt odd at the time, unequal exchange, and too rehearsed (in run-throughs of this piece people said my story was 'boring' or 'unreal' so i found myself colouring the story to make it 'more interesting.') the piece at duckie through working with stuff i normally walk round with in my handbag, i found to me a more engaging experience as it felt more real, the object directly triggering the memory as it occured to me in the moment here and now. that said, i did know i had a train ticket to my father's memorial in my purse but i wanted to leave it to the moment of sharing, if i felt it to be right, to choose this item and say what felt natural to me, responding to the direction of the interaction. i also found that if i had the same item in my bag that people were sharing eg wallet, i too got out my item and rummaged through picking out bits and pieces making a connection with our everyday paraphenalia: we don't know one another yet we have lots in common. these interactions given that they were actually between two strangers, felt pretty genuine, sometimes startling, and on the most part, comfortable.
  

• two performers/hosts. fleeting overlaps and different experiences. this decision was entirely taken due to the fact that duckie wanted to have 5 minutes per encounter and that the idea i had proposed would be more like 10 minutes. i felt really comfortable in working with laura who knows the piece very well and was also actually quite excited about the idea that a score could be given with a few guidelines and letting the person feel their own way through it in their own encounter. some differences thus occurred, for me i didn't want to have more than one person at a time and laura felt okay with this where it was a couple, so she did this a few times.the other thing that i found very interesting was how much the human connection was of paramount importance to me, actually in the end, over and above getting a high quality photogram image which is something i NEVER thought i would say. and in lauras case, maybe because she knew how my work centered around the act of photography, she found herself repeating photograms where they turned out less effective. repeating actions and/or overlong conversations in the bathroom, meant at times we found ourselves left waiting for too long to get in there with our own participant, a couple of my own conversations were drawn out a little too much as a result and total number of the exchanges (26, with i think, 32 participants) could have been more with use of another bathroom OR how about the office and cashbox developing tray?? loses the seediness of going into a bathroom together though like you get in a club.
  
• gender issue- the only females who wanted to come to the darkroom, even if they had a sticker, were a couple of friends/contacts we had invited.
  

• use of space overall. this worked really well en route manoeuvring through all the different rooms and bumping into other 'couples' being the other pair in an exchange. i really liked the starting and ending in the thrust of the club, starting off as strangers and then sharing a secret moment to then depart still as strangers, the did that really happen? the sitting on the stairs when they were occupied with another couple added to the mystery and intrigue of the piece. we both liked the knocking on the doors.

• technical issues. the chemical dilution of the second batch, i think i mixed up wrongly resulting in lengthy exposures. the sink plug leaked water, so i used a universal plug. did we really need to let the solution run away each time? could it just have been kept filled as a processing trough- filled up more for me would have given a more even development as i ended up with tidal marks from a shallow sink. this element i should have tested more.
  

to the future;
i think this piece has still got legs, which in conversation with mitch, he agreed.

• find out places to take this piece in an art-club setting, eg bistrotechque, bethnal green working mens club
• research more score based non-matrixed practices, see actual examples eg tino sehgal, fluxus, happenings, i know they were used but not actually read them
• practice photo-technical issues more in future sites in a walk through
• consider how my role in my work may be expanding, what if i have even more performers/hosts/facilitators that i am directing? what do i lose, what do i gain?
  

AND FINALLY, I was so chuffed that Pogonophile really got the piece although the photographic elements seemd to be less significant, as they had also become to me. Was it obvious the digital image was being erased after its light killed the photogram? And these 2 comments on his blog just made this event for me, particularly as i have never performed in a club before (am excited about how transferable this piece is);

"That's the added ingredient to Duckie, the extra something that takes it from being The Best Club Night Ever to a whole different plane altogether."

"For me, it was probably the best Duckie this year, with music, cabaret and individual interactive art melding into one exciting, affecting whole."