The last day

The last part of my placement culmniated in seeing Alexis perform live in Montreal at a 'Words and Music' night. It was strange because Alexis' soundscape technique was used by another artist, but in a more structured way. After reviewing all of her documentation and learning about her practice, it was the perfect way to end the placement. Knowing that most of the time she is improvising in sound and in speech made the live moment more compelling. It also emphasised the difference between documentation and 'liveness'; an issue I have reseached avidly and with enthusiasm. It reinforced the performance artist's notion of liveness.

I also managed to speak to one of her friends who disclosed to me that Alexis had appreciated my time here, which made it all the more worthwhile.

Boot camp with more boot...

After the second day of the Boot Camp workshop, I feel more enthused about my creative work. The focus really was on drive and getting it out there. I feel like all artists have the same struggle; creativity is 50% of the work, and the other 50% is composed of all the other administrative tasks that go with that. Ivan Coyote was really effective at passing on a passion for writing and the easy and attainable way of getting a complete work done. The thing to bear in mind is that whatever work you do today will be more work than you had done yesterday and it's a positive step towards getting to the end.

Although it feels like this is 'stuff you should know', knowing that it is practical advice from a writer that employs these techniques gives it some kind of gravitas, making it seem publishable and attainable. A little work each day will eventually go a long way.

The workshop was good enough to make me want to start writing something right now...

Writing dates...

As it is the 'week end', I decided to continue my artistic development by joining a writer's workshop that was part of the 'Edgy Women' festival taken by novelist Ivan Coyote. It was called 'Boot Camp for Procrastinators' and really it was a refreshing take on those things you should already know about writing, and how to motivate yourself to write. The most imprtant thing was deadlines; I know I work really well to deadlines so I must create this sense of urgency to get it finished. Also, it's much easier to disappoint someone else rather than yourself, so if you make a deadline for you, you are unable to keep it. Make a deadline with someone else, and it's more likely that you will stick to it.

The rules are applicable to my performance work too. I must have the discipline to see thing through to the end, find out what distracts me and remove it, then have these mini deadlines so that I can keep going and create this urgency. Another important thing is 'first draft'. No matter how hard it is, as long as you have a completed draft you can always go back and revise later.

It was really inspirational; it's really made me want to write and get things done for a change. I think I've felt it before, but being at this stage in my life where I have taken steps to improve my creative career like, for example starting my MA, these practical tips mean a lot more to me. I have a story to tell, but it's always easy not to tell it than to commit it to paper and provide the discipline to make yourself heard. These simple little steps could become habit in the long run and improve the way I approach my work.

Cataloguing, compiling...

After 2 and a half days of reviewing documentation (!), the next half of the third day was spent cataloguing and making notes for Alexis. I also made her a DVD of what I thought were the 'best bits' and colour coded the tapes so that each colour represented a different performance outlet (like performance poetry, live music, theatrical et cetera). I later quizzed Alexis on the footage and she told me that most (not some) of her work is actually improvised, and that scripting her next piece is a challenge. I said to her perhaps that she should just have some key lines to go back to and improvise around them rather than totally throw it out the window. After all, this her performance 'style'.

I also went to see 'Hot Hot Gossip' by Dayna Macleod as part of the 'Edgy Women' festival. It was a lesbian theatrical soap opera, and was very sexually explicit, but enjoyable. I was in a dilemma as to the politics, or in this instance the lack of, staging a lesbian drama. Queer plays were initially staged to counter and introduce queer politics, but now I think it is possible we could be 'post-politics'. I suppose that could be a thing to celebrate... But I'm starting to sense a very big lesbian influence in the performance scene here. Alexis' contemporaries have also suddenly become very interested in me and asking me about myself... And why I have chosen to come to Montreal. I think it really reflects more on her than it does me!

I am now back to researching record labels that will be of use to Alexis

More documentation

The endless documentation and taking notes has perhaps made me think that I should be meticulous about my documentation and select the best bits as I go rather than doing it in one huge bite. It has taken me two days to go through, import and notate the timings of the videos and yet I am still not finished cataloguing or making notes on why I like the bits I have selected. I am now caught between balancing my 'work' and time to myself; a skill we all have to master. I am meeting Alexis later to hand over all the documentation.

After knowing and speaking to Alexis more, it becomes more and more apparent when I review the documentation exactly where she is improvising; something I know the audience would not suspect or catch on to. It's both a skill and a dangerous area. I think the real lesson to learn here is how to get up on stage with just a vague plan to improvise around without freaking out, feeling weird or nervous. I guess it's more to do with being comfortable on stage; being 100% 'okay' with the people there and just performing. I can learn that this may be one of the ways in which I could improve... To 'spill my guts' as I mentioned before I have to be comfortable with this almost Freudian freefall of words, actions, movements and noises onstage and that is totally valid. Perhaps this is more something I have to be comfortable with as a rehearsal technique. Anyway, this is definitely something to think about incorporating in my practice. 

I went out to see a student organised night called 'Art Matters' which was music and contemporary art by the students of Concordia University. I managed to meet a few visual artists as well as bumping into Alexis completely by accident. Still, it was nice to get out and 'mingle with the locals'. It never fails to amuse me when they try and imitate my accent. Someone in the street passed me and said 'Vous avez la classe!'.

I was very impressed...

I also went to La Musee D'Art Contemporanien (or the contemporary art museum) and I was lucky enough to see a 'Sound and Vision' exhibit they had on. I was most intrigued by a piano modified by Jean Paul Gauthier in which the piano began to play as soon as someone entered the room. The funny thing is, I managed to navigate my way around the piano and didn't find out until I was about to leave the room when there was an almighty clang! But still, it was anther example of performance in art; the piano requires a presence to work. I mention it as I keep thinking about installations and this is another example that could easily be worked in to something. I also got to see Christian Marclay's 'Telephones'; something I have read about about never seen., so it was worth it for that alone.

The woman on the door of the art museum said

"Etes-vous un etudiant?"

"Err... Oui. J'etude en Grande Bretagne"

"Ooo... Internationale!" she exclaimed excitedly... 

I think I'm starting to find everything slightly endearing.

Documenting practice

Today I've been mainly reciewing and selecting Alexis' 'best bits' from her WHOLE ARCHIVE of performance. In one sense, I am very lucky to have seen her whole archive of performance. Most people only ever get to see bits and bobs but having seen archive footage from 2000 to 2008, I have tracked Alexis' development as an artist and seen how it may apply to my own practice. Starting out as a performance poet, Alexis started using technology to manipulate her voice for effect, which then turned into building live soundscapes, and in turn then developed into any medium from cabaret to interactive installations. I see a lot of similarities in the way that I started as someone who made music, then someone who put performance pieces into my music gigs which, in turn, led to me going back to do my MA to develop my performance practice.

Reviewing the documentation has also forced me to consider opening up' my practice. I have always felt that it should be one thing or the other, when instead there is a time and a place for all parts of my practice. For example, the spectacle and 'song and dance' nature of my work has fitted into cabaret and entertainment pieces, but the thing I must, must realise and have discussed before is discarding this notion for 'forced entertainment'; as in worrying whether the audiece will like my work or not. Again, to go back to a work that has not created (perhaps it has even become a metaphor for 'that work which I have yet to create'), I believe that 'Maquillage' is that piece... A piece where I need to just pour my guts onto the stage and say, "Here it is; this is what I am. You can take it or leave it now." I don't want to be one thing, and yet I do not want to be all things. I don't want to just be a funny, happy cabaret entertainer, but at the same time I don't want to be that seriously 'deep' and pretentious artist who no-one gets. Is there a balance?

Still, there is supposed to be versatility in artists, and if I did not believe I could equally apply my hand to an installation or cabaret piece, then I would not be a so-called 'performance artist'.

Aside from my placement work today, I thought I would relay some more thoughts on my cultural development within Montreal. I went to a restaurant by myself today. It was nothing special; our equivalent of a greasy spoon. But the waitress spoke to me and I understood, then she made a joke and I laughed, then I was strangely touched... She obviously knew I wasn't French-Canadian, but she also knew during our conversation that I understood the nuances of French well enough to introduce a joke to our dialogue. Strange, and yes it was only a restaurant, but very significant to my cultural development. I think after just over a week French has become more natural. It's a shame really... I think the Canadians are lucky to live in a bilingual city. I'd love to stay and practice more so I could be perfectly fluent!

Meeting for documentation

Today, I met up with Alexis for her to exchange some documentation for me to review and compile as well as taking an opportunity to ask Alexis some more questions. She revealed to me about how 'slow going' she thought her practice was and referred to the 'hard copies' of work produced. She has one book and one CD released in 8 years (both of which she gave a free autographed copy of to me). This took me back to my research around issues of documentation, and how artists measure themselves perhaps not on the number of performances produced, but more on how much 'evidence' of their work exists, provoking me to once again ask myself the question whether performance documentation and detritus is necessary for the economics of art. I also thought about what Marilyn Aslem said at a panel discussion at the NRLA; "We make the work, and we want to keep it as well". Even if performances are committed to tape, do they still 'die' in our memories? This was furthered when Alexis spoke about being filmed professionally. As she finished her performance, he then said 'Can we try it from a different angle?"

To which she replied, "This isn't the kind of performance that can be reproduced; it's improvisational". This adds to the credence of 'liveness' to performance artists, although when I quizzed Alexis on the se of analog musical instruments and their 'liveness', she said that that wasn't an essence I had to use in live presence. 

I also asked Alexis about the organisation issue. Alexis did say it gets better, but her artistic practice is the only area in which she 'fetishises' organisation

On initial revew of documentation, I see that Alexis' wrk encompasses many different characters... Perhaps me having one is restrictive. I will feedback more on her practice tomorrow