Kiddofspeed

Got to talking with Peter the other day about Chernobyl remembering a photo account of a girl riding a fast motorcycle through the radioactive wastelands around the area and thought it relates to our theme.

Don't miss the fact that story is several pages long (the Next page link is a bit obscure halfway down the page on the right)

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

Especially this image:
http://www.kiddofspeed.com/367img/image14.2.jpg

I also found another photoaccount on the same theme by her here:
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/pluto1.html

Peder

Sorry to have left you.This period at Potsdam Fabriek is pretty intense hence no Blog postings for a while.
Bits of Bobs Life is really coming together! We will try to take some photos to post tonight. This last week we have been running the piece every day, every day changing, adjusting, replacing, erasing, reconstructing...so amazing how a piece can suddenly take form. Last nights run through was the first time it all starts to look like something we can really be proud of :) There is still work to be done...premier 7th May in Umeå, Sweden so still some time!

Dusseldorf

It has been a while since the last post. Since last the group has moved on to Tanzhaus, Dussldorf www.tanzhaus-nrw.de/ where we are in residency for two weeks with a work in progress showing at the end of the residency (Saturday 12th). Much progress has been made in the last week with the setting of material, always very tedious!, but we're getting there! Blurred memory is looking beautiful! Superimposed Apartment too! Looking forward to Peter (sound) arriving tonight as it is not quite the same without his amazing sounds! A few more ideas that we need to try out in regards soundscape and transitions etc. Also Superimposed Apartment t... we need to work on sound wise with the performers in order to set cues for them in the soundscape. The trees are back in force at the moment!
Next week we should be able to try our first rough run through of the piece!

G

Stroke of insight

Fascinating story from the inside of experiencing a stroke:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229

Peder

These are a couple of rehearsal photos. We have not been in the studio this week, back to the attack on Monday.

possessed

I found this link on Tim Etchells site http://www.vimeo.com/603058 It is a film by Martin Hampton called Possessed, a film about hoarders and their addiction to their posssions ...I was intregued by the woman (i think it's the third story) who sees her hoarding as a kind of time capsule. It is very touching, very sad and yet so beautiful.

G

now and the wolf

Philippe and I wrote a text for the Present Table...misunderstandings and misinterpretations occuring constantly... there are always problems with the now...based on the now and the fact that by the time you've said it the now has already become the past! now is now but it's heading towards the future.
...Vinny (Vincent) is the wolf! The wolf is a little homage to my childhood (i had an imaginary wild white wolf as a 'friend' when i was a child). Philippe also had a reoccuring dream about a wolf. I shouln't say too much about the wolf as this blog is now public, you'll have wait and see!...but he's beautiful!!!
...off to another day in the studio!

G

After the weekend

Super day today...going from the 'Past Bed' to an adaptation of Caroline's tunnel into ...?
We've been trying a few different 'transitions' in the last few days...So exiting to start to see all the different elements and 'sections' we've been working on morphing into one another... Thought processes, images and our logic actually starting to take form, so thrilling to see!!
'Superimposed Apartment' really progressing and taking shape.
Over the next week (after the 'Past Bed') we will work the 'Present Table' and then the 'Future Roof'.

G

struggles

We have been in residency at Piano Fabriek http://www.depianofabriek.vgc.be in Brussels for the last week now and will be here until 28th March with a weeks break in between. It is always a bit unsettling to keep changing residency venues like this. We had a very good Friday to finish off the week but it had been a tough one! ...Struggles, trying, failing, trying again...tedious... and general fatigue in the group...still no blow-ups as yet though (hope i'm not speaking too soon!) Here's to this week! It feels good after a weekend to think, to rest and to order thoughts inside my head.

G

bits of bobs life

The balance of home is precarious. The search for this place is a process of construction, de-construction and re-construction. Whether rooted or up-rooted our origins remain with us. The up-rooted with clumps of the motherland dangling beneath, finding nourishment here and there along the journey and all the while subconsciously searching for that place to call home again. This place is a mystery for many of us in today’s cosmopolitan and transient society where ephemeral dwellings become commonplace and the ease of access to information and travel sparks curiosity.
This place called home becomes caught between memories of childhood and aspirations for the future. It hurts to discover that the childhood home has been outgrown. The memory betrays us and it is only after futile attempts at rekindling the past that we learn to move on.
If this place called home is found, even in fleeting moments, it forms an extension of the body or it succumbs to the manipulation of society, the illusion of perfection, and is engulfed by the material home.
In the struggle to keep up in a world that is changing fast with borders extending, nostalgic memories and traditions tug against our hunger for the new and the better and the more comfortable. This evokes confusion and questions and most importantly the search for a fine balance between past, present and future.

Text & image by Gemma Higginbotham

BUDA-KORTRIJK

We have just finished a very intense week at BUDA in Kortrijk http://www.budakortrijk.be where we have had a new prototype of the set to play with. Nadine Grallinger (costume) also joined us with two big bags of clothes to try out...what fun! Pedar Lindbom (light) was with us for the last three days watching rehearsals too! All aspects moving forward.
Vincent and Anuschka working on a wonderful piece dicovering eachothers bodies with childlike innocence. We have also been working on a ''liquified baby bubble'', extremely soft mass of morphing bodies using the image of a litter of puppies. I gave them a list of 6 words to work from: snuggle, treasure, swaddled, haven, cosy and womb.

Gem

Going public!

Just came back from three intensive and fun days! It's great to meet everyone and see a little of the work. Really inspiring!
Just want to let everyone know that the blog has now gone public!

Welcome world!

Peder

moving/living bed

time machine

Here is an images of the set. There are many possibilities from it being an abstract landscape to shelters, dens, abstract 'organic' forms, furniture, beds, floors, walls, ceilings, roofs... This is a time machine! Working on past present & future. I belonged-I belong- I will belong...I was- I am- I will be... I remembered-I remember-I will remember!

working on getting images of the set to you...tomorrow for sure. Also hoping to get somw moving images posted within the next couple of days.

Gemma x

Tree Hugger

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/casulo_an_entir.php

Peder

Just letting you know!

Gemma!
It's great for me to be able to follow along like this! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and inspirations! Looking forward to seeing more from the day to day stuff -how the set is coming along and how you work the space.

Peder

tree mania!

Check out this for trees too!...beautiful, what an idea!:http://everyoneforever.com/content/2007-09-12/tree/

...and this is absolutly insane!!! can you believe it!:
http://everyoneforever.com/content/2006-11-13/prada_firewood/

G x

being a tree continued...

Being a tree

Here are the pics guys...think about it over the weekend.

G x

2 down

That's 2 weeks down already! it's going so fast. Today we have been working with home as an extension of the body..using some of these images for inspiration

G x

brick, body, branch, bed, border

Have been working on the tongue twisting "brick, body, branch, bed, border"...some wonderful ideas and images coming out provoking thoughs on BALANCE and THE HOME AS AN EXTENSION OF THE BODY.
We'll try to get some more images posted soon!

Gem x

Hi All,

After a wonderful weekend in the English countryside visiting my friend Barny (see pics!) and my folks with Caroline, Vincent & Anuschka...we are back in Newcastle in the theatre space. We have spent today playing with possibilities with our new prototype set instillation! ...Imporos on PAst,Present,Future...portrait, caption, perfection (so creating perspective time tunnel with the wooden structure or reproductions of the same wooden frame or form several times in degrading sizes)... We will continue on that track tomorrow too.
Gemma x

Dance city Newcastle

Pictures of the theater in Dance city Newcastle.



Philippe

Second Monday in Newcastle

Dear All



We began our second week where we finally received the prototype of the installation. We took pictures don't below today and tried different ideas to create dens. It is good to also have Tracy with us as well.

After the first week

Dear all

First week in Newcastle was rich on information concerning the performers. good to finally have started and see where we are. We have tried a lot of ideas but we still don't have some of the prototype of the installation but we are expecting it on Monday. We will move to the theater space on Monday as well and we are expecting Tracy (Our last performer) to arrive on that day.
We will send you picture of the place next week and keep you informed of the evolution of the work.



Philippe

Off Topic...

...as the title says. An amazing tool to browse the web for pictures. Seems to work better on Firefox than Safari on my Mac.
http://www.piclens.com/site/firefox/tutorial_pl_ff_16.php#

Peder

Todays morning paper

Found this in the morning paper:



Peder

Shaker inspiration

Shaker homes with their typical functionalistic peg rails for storing chairs and other stuff.










More pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=shaker+architecture

Norrlandsoperan Technical drawings

Can be downloaded from here in various formats:

http://www.scenrum.nu/frm_lokal_info.asp?niva=lokal&lanid=24&lannamn=V%E4sterbottensl%E4n&kommunid=80&Kommunnamn=Ume%E5&spelplats=Ume%E5&lokalid=2480110&lokalnamn=Norrlandsoperan,%20Black%20Box&valt=Ritn

Peder

Potsdam Technical info

Can be downloaded from here:

http://www.fabrikpotsdam.de/downloads/fabrik_equipment.pdf

http://www.fabrikpotsdam.de/downloads/fabrik_stage_top.pdf

http://www.fabrikpotsdam.de/downloads/fabrik_stage_side.pdf

Peder

Images from Potsdam

And some images from Potsdam. Looks like the walls are white, no?





Peder

Pictures from Norrlandsoperan

Here are some pictures of the stage at Norrlandsoperan:








Peder