Tag: live

report on Projectivisms symposium in Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry

A report by Andrew Jeffrey on the symposium Projectivisms:Way-making the Contemporary Projective, University of Cardiff, May 2018 mentions my performance there of ‘threaded insert’. It is published in the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry 10(1).

The discussion of the relationship between who is in charge in the interaction between a human being and digital technology was then exemplified by Mark Leahy’s (Independent Scholar) ‘“The threshing floor of the dance” A performance of threaded insert’. Leahy appeared in white gloves and bow tie in the centre of the room. He then put in some ear-phones and began making statements, ‘Agape, we perform’, moving forward a set number of steps, changing direction, moving again, making statements, ‘a portion of depressed hair’, describing the room, spelling out words, walking forward, spelling out words accompanied by a basic sign language, walking out of the fire escape, re-appearing through a different door. The performance with variations and repetitions lasted for twenty minutes. It turns out that Leahy was responding to various instructions played at random from MP3 files. All the contents derived from guides for ‘proper’ speech, conduct and bodily deportment. It made me think that Leahy was showing “what he is as a creature of nature (with certain instructions to carry out)”.

Jeffrey, A., (2018). Projectivisms >> Symposium Way-making the Contemporary Projective, University of Cardiff, 8th–9th May 2018. Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry. 10(1), p.10. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16995/biip.82

‘threaded insert’ at STREAM, Dartington on September 7th

I will perform’ threaded insert’ as part of the three-day programme for STREAM: a Series of Transdisciplinary Rituals & Experiments in Art & Music at Dartington on Friday 7th September 2018. My performance will take place in Studio 6 and the adjoining spaces from 2.00pm on the Friday. There will be live work, projected and installed works and social events across the weekend. The event is coordinated by Sarah Gray to mark the 10 year anniversary of the closing of Dartington College of Arts at the Dartington Campus. Work will be presented by alumni and former faculty members across music, performance writing, visual performance, dance and theatre.

‘Telling Time’ at Jamboree, Dartington, June 29th to July 1st 2018

As part of Jamboree 2018, happening at Dartington, Devon at the end of June, I will run a ‘communal making’ session titled Telling Time. Jamboree is devised & curated by LOW PROFILE. The session is listed in the Jamboree programme as:

‘Telling time’ is a making session where a group of up to 15 people will work with our words and voices to construct a story of how we are, where we are, when we are. No special vocal skills are needed, just a sense of your h/story, and how you might tell it. We will do some voice games, and work in pairs and as a group to create fragments of narrative. Having built a score, we will present a short speech-choir performance. Pens, paper and encouragement will be provided.

I have made a set of participant workbooks which we will use to structure the session, to fill in with our ideas and material for our score, and to take away as a reminder of the event. The workbook includes quotations from Karen Barad, Jack Halberstam, Walter Benjamin, Trinh T. Minh-ha and others. There are sections titled ‘extra time’, ‘queer time’ and ‘doing time’ among others.

Breath Pieces at Tramway, Glasgow; June 23rd 2018

On Saturday June 23rd 2018 I took part in the premiere of Rosanna Irvine’s Breath Pieces at Tramway, Glasgow. We had been working together on a section over the previous months, ‘material and transitions’ a vocal sound piece or ‘duet’. Irvine had also worked with three other dancer-performers on other sections of the work. The company of five spent a week working in the space at Tramway to develop the live event, which combined drawing, speech, breath, dance, movement, actions and blowing bubbles and deflating balloons. We had an attentive and supporting audience for the first public showing, and I look forward to touring the work to other venues in the future. More details of the project and the ideas we were working with can be found at the Breath Pieces website.