observational drawing, Arts & Medicine Module, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

An exercise in close observation and heightened looking involved drawing from a range of objects used in a neonatal ward. Students were asked to draw the space around the object, to do a blind continuous line drawing and to enlarge a small detail of the object.

It's not what you think - Communicating Medical Materialities,conference at Medical Museion, Copenhagen

8-9 March 2013 we were selected to present a performative workshop to conference / workshop participants exploring the materialities of medical environments at "It's Not What You Think: Communicating Medical Materialities". http://www.museion.ku.dk/itsnotwhatyouthink/ The workshop call outlined the limitations of using language to analyse and explore the material world when these experiences are fundamentally embodied. 

We proposed a practical performance-based workshop based on material generated during our residency working with parents of premature babies in a Neonatal Unit.

Through our own research we came to understand that “too much talk” around this material carries the risk of objectifying and instrumentalising the words and experiences of other people. We were using a performative process to uncover another form of understanding. For the workshop, we proposed to redeploy and reflect on the processes we had developed to date, to explore how the specific materiality of the unit itself, and of the voices of the people inhabiting that space could be communicated and shared outside the original context. We hoped to discuss the issues this raised for us as artists working in medical contexts.

Unfortunately in all the excitement we didn't manage to take any photographs during the performance itself.

Day 2 - voice & space, research & development, Phase 2, Neonatal Project, with Susan Worsfold

Day 2 with Susan Worsfold exploring voice and space
















The aim of the day was to explore the voice, cut-ups in relation to the physical space.

What we did ......

• Voice warm ups and exercises & tone work.
• One line of parents' text at a time, full volume.
• One line on our own, one line together.
• Exploring archetypes: 3 zones (parents on a chair at the side, consultants on stool elevated, baby on floor facing projected slideshow of images from unit). Rules: to deliver one line at a time and then to move to different zone. The baby zone was to be non-verbal and continuous tone or choose not to make a sound at all; parents could choose any line from parents' cut up; consultants could choose any of artists' questions. You could choose where the or to whom the text could be directed to.

• Repeated above but introduced nurses cut up, consultant's cut up and artists questions. The artists zone was in centre and the parents' zone at the side, and the other zones were as above. The rule for the nurses was to be continually moving while reading the texts. Then changed the zones, so artist were at side and parents zone was in the middle.
• Repeated exercise and the changed what role was performed in each zone. Eg. nurses on floor, consultants were at the side, parents were in the middle, artists kept moving and baby high up on stool.

• Sentences from parents' cut up were placed around a chair, eg on base, on back rest, on legs. Kirsty sat on chair and delivered texts, moving around chair.

 

• Same set up as above and Steven sat adjacent and asked artists' questions to Kirsty. Kirsty replied but using one sentence of parent's cut-ups, moving around the chair.

 

• Steven delivered one line, "Waiting for cuddle was worth it, really worth it, but sometimes i just felt, will she know." Punctuation was a cue to take a breath, change physical orientation and deliver the words. Started will full energy and brought the volume down to emotive depth over time.

Observations / Reflections

What did we learn?

• possible exercises for parents and staff: observations of environment / photos. List of words, or conversations to which images are a backdrop. Eg, one each could generate 3 different responses from parent, nurse, consultant.
• give camera to them and ask them to each photograph an aspect of the unit, eg reflections, a space they are comfortable with, spend longest time. This may help represent their role.
• Axel Venvoordt - curator creates a whole to present art and antiques in a domestic type space, the way you can relate to art could be from a well designed couch, how your body's position relates or effects your experience of an art work or a creative space.
• dialogue important, nurses & nurses, nurses & parents.
• tight structure important
• physical orientation of body helps relational dynamic.

Day 1 - voice, research & development for Phase 2, Neonatal Project, working with Director, Susan Worsfold

We used the cut-ups of parents' texts as the basis for several days working with Director, Susan Worsfold. Our aim was to open up the process of working with the parents' text and to begin to relate this to some of the issues raised so far, including: the role and challenges of being the artist - facilitator, relating the texts to the physical space, both real or imagined.

We used Nadine George's voice technique as the basis for the practical research using voice, delivering lines of text to each other, while moving around the space, positioning ourselves in an imagined space of the neonatal unit, and using breath in between shifts in focus and orientation.


observations / reflections

• How do we treat the texts? Do re work and tidy up the cut-ups, or are they were work in progress after all?

• Space and the gaze as mediator.

• Video and audio recordings as mediators.
   
• Phrases on the wall and clear instructions or set of behaviours for delivering and selecting those phrases. Place these around a space.
   
• Would a "closed" performance be an appropriate format to explore?
   
• Develop techniques and approaches to help explore with parents and medical staff, to help them separate themselves from their words.
   
• What other material do we have which we haven't explored so far?
   
• Could we make something for them and present this back to them and invite them to develop aspects of this through performance? This approach worked while we were on the unit, but would it work now?
   
• In Phase 1 of project we created a context and situation and invited others to experience, shape and comment on this, ie. conversation, questionnaire, photographs. Could we develop this in Phase 2. Could the parents provide the "rules" / behaviours and we read / deliver a text or vice versa? This could combine interrupt / press pause / interject into this to shape what that becomes.

• How text can effect movement, and how space effects movement and text.
   
• Find specific spaces? Combine video material? Concern not to make too specific to one space. Find what is general to be able to apply this and make specific. Consider the question: What is the opposite of this space?