Maria's Story

Found them ! Pictures of Royal de Luxe, in Nantes in 1992 !! (Céline)

2009-02-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

The "lifting dresses machines" !

The "sending love letters flying in the air machine".

People picking love letters from Brazil.

(I already looked crazy ... )

Dates

2009-01-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hey ladies
Lisa is chasing up a date with Kerrie
Fantastic! Still thinking about a Sunday. School of Art? Cath?
I can do Feb 1st, 8th and 15th
then March 8th, 15th, 22nd
What about everyone else?
Lets hope its Feb
So looking forward to getting going

Sorry the blog has blagged heads but we're all still here so that's great.
X

BACK back back !!

2009-01-10T10:04:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone !
Yeah, let's all get back to it !!
I've posted a new entry to my "Crazywomen" blog and I hope I'll put some more very soon ...
Let's get back onto tracks !!:)

http://thesecrazywomen.blogspot.com/2009/01/back-to-crazywomen-with-some-writings.html

Happy New Year Ladies

2009-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

I know everyone is likely to be super-busy, but shall we try and meet up some time soon? I have some over-ripe bananas that need eating up in a cake-based format and besides I have been missing y'all. Shall we try for a Sunday again as being more likely for lots of us to be free?

In the meantime, here are some pics of Deb's sewing machine:

the next steps

2008-10-01T15:38:00.001-07:00

OK so the next bit of the plan is to have a day where we can get used to working together, explore roles a bit more fully, and also start to draw some work out of people.

Kerrie is going to be our facilitator on the day and I would also like to run some exercise/ experiments.
If anyone else wants to lead something on the day then comment or contribute to this thread, so we can see how the day is shaping up.

The day is currently 2nd November- a Sunday 10.00 til 4.00 at Burslem School of Art.
Everyone is to bring lunch to share

We are then looking for 2 more days before Christmas (a weekend?) with a ten day intensive production period sometime between Jan to March 2009- and a finished piece performed straight after that.

Fund raising is ongoing- Cath, Susan and Madame P are helping with that with some more people supporting from the outside.

Signing off now. More thoughts on this later. love Betty

What I will do

2008-10-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Thinking about what I'll do in this project.
I'd like to take part in a whole range of artistic collaborations and process, with whoever will work with me. Music and singing I enjoy. Making things, work with objects (Deb's lost things)
I may have to choose!
In some contexts I'd like to be told what to do and in others I'd like to tell other people what to do.
I am a performer- a clown as I say - so I would like space to develop performance work from the inside- both alone and group performance with others. I'd like to develop the work Hilary and I have already done (lots) with Gill, around theatre using gesture, both abstracted and in context, mask, physicality, objects, and more, with others' practice

I feel very strongly about the whole piece and how I'd like it to work.
So I would also like to direct and shape the final performance from everyone else's ideas, inputs and pieces. I will continue to present provocations and will be prepared to be the person to choose or edit work
I will also go a long way down the funding/ producer route if needed and so that's enough for now. I don't like heights so won't be very good if something has to be hung up in a high place, and I don't get electricity.

Full stillness - rage and dignity - Medusa and Buddha ...

2008-09-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

In response to the exchanges in "Calling for rain rather than waiting" :

http://nswomenartists.blogspot.com/2008/08/calling-for-rain-rather-than-waiting.html

Trick of the light

2008-09-03T01:35:00.000-07:00

Oops, I forgot to say that last post was from me (Eleanor). Here's another photo from that shoot when somehow the projection seems to have registered layers of light (I wish I knew quite how I'd done it).

By the way, would any of you be willing to sit for a portrait? I've been wanting to do a series of documentary type photographic portraits of women artists in their working environments (could be your studio, office, under a tree if that's where you have your ideas...) and a call for submissions came round this week from Ladyfest Manchester on the theme of a celebration of women in the arts which has given me the required kick up the bottom to start doing something about it. Not sure if they would be interested as we aren't Manchester, but it's something I'm keen to do anyway (let's have our own Ladyfest I say!) and perhaps they could find their way into Maria's Story.

2008-09-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Here (at last!) are some photographs I took when I spent the day working with Celine at the Barracks.

The ones in the window remind me of Alice in Wonderland:

I've posted more on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26212687@N03/page2/

link to a blog that talks about more poses

2008-08-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thai-blogs.com/images/richard/IMG_5573.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/2007/07/12/the_80_poses_of_buddha%3Fblog%3D5&h=300&w=450&sz=59&hl=en&start=3&usg=__4hNqF8bhZaFQ0X_TNvNMqb8E9b0=&tbnid=t1nsWwhs7pu89M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbuddha%2Bposes%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

calling for rain- rather than waiting

2008-08-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Lovely pictures of Laotian Buddhas calling for rain
Starting points for movement work

tidying up is always there for you

2008-08-20T02:28:00.000-07:00

I was pigging out my email account and found this
Sent to lots of people from Tricia, a friend- doesn't matter who she is, from her travel emails from Thailand and Vietnam. It came two months after Gill died and spoke to me then so I publish it here to keep it and share it.
(The idiosyncratic typos are Tricia's)

"In Luang Prabang, there are thirty two lovely Watts , or temples. The
have tiled roofs that sweep from the ridge down in a graceful swoop , as if
ready top take flight.
At six a.m. every day,the buddhist monks process around the
streets, receiving food into their bowls, from the Lao locals. I took part
in this , during an important time here, during the full moon. This is
respected by all, takes place in silence, and is part of daily life.A
privelidge to be part of.
Images of Buddha can be seen in different stances, each celebrating
different aspects of buddhist teachings. Two are particular to Luang
Prabang. One that stands upright, hands vey straight at the sides, is "
Waiting for Rain ".
My favourite though, is one which is again standing upright, arms are
bent gently at the elbow, with palms of the hand facing forward.This on
represents " Stop fighting"
Consider this with the character of Lao, and also its ancient historical struggles with China, Vietnam and Thailand.
In the more recent " Secret War" , the U.S. ran one point five times more
bombing runs into Lao, than their whole period of time that they were
fighting in Vietnam. One plane load of bombs every eights
minuites (Ref.Lonely Planet)
As it was a " Secret War", the usual rules of engagement for bombing did
not apply. i.e. no bombs within five hundred meters of a temple, village
or hospital. The rules could be ignored. Anything in sight could
be hit.
Buddah ---------" Stop fighting ".
Tricia"

What I think is interesting is the description Tricia gives us of the postures of the Buddhas.
I am beginning to think I am looking at women and war

Maybe I need to think about today too- the wives and mothers here and in other countries who loose their lives, lovers, children, mothers in war.

Hey it just gets jollier

which is not final

2008-07-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

We spent several years working in Bosnia after the end of the war-1996 onwards and it gave me some of the most moving experiences of my life- uplifting and joyous as well as downright shocking and horrific.
I have been reminded of that time again with the arrest of Karadjic recently and listened to an report from the BBC's Andrew Hensen from Postichari and Szrebrenica.
He describes a woman of my age has travelled from Sweden, to visit the graves of her husband and seven year old son who were killed by the Serbs during the war. She cannot be sure how many of her other male relatives are buried there because they have not recovered complete bodies.
The sign that explains what you are seeing says that 8,372 people are buried there and then adds "which is not final"
There is something in this that I would like to look at, something here that is not the horror of the thing- and yet it is. What she expected to get out of life, and her son's life and now, she has- what???A nice red umbrella to shelter her from the drizzle as she visits their graves.

One of the awful things about death and pain and sorrow is that maybe the only thing to know is that it is incomprehensibly awful, and yet life goes on around it, beyond it, in spite of it- the clocks do not stop, the birds do not stop singing, the sun rises again, people buy coffee and sit and talk in cafes, people rent flats and practice alternative medicine.
Hmm don't know where this is going
Pause for now.

Hi everyone !

2008-07-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

This is a bit intimidating to write in this blog ... I feel like I am officially art-collaborating here rather than bla bla-ing in my own blog(s !) and that I should try not to speak rubbish !

This project is all so fresh ... Do I have any ideas of what I would like to do ?
At that point, I think I enjoy looking around, getting to know people and their ideas/work.

But I must say that I've already got an idea of what I would like the show or the room I'd like to work for, to be like ... I'd like it to be dark with lights (Hilary ?) and all sorts of projections ... with sounds .... I'd like the audience to engage with the work as being part of it. It would be some kind of "all senses" experience that would bring you to another dimension (that's my idea of a "story"). More something of an atmosphere to experience, a space to discover with all your senses. Maybe somewhere to sit or lie down and observe ... taking time, relaxing, contemplating ...

I love this image of Eleanor's camera obscura

Eleanor, do you know that making pinhole cameras and camera obscura is one of my dreams ?
Lisa, wouldn't you see yourself moving in such an installation ? ... it reminds me of your performance with dancers+screen+coloured lights. (could you add some to that blog ?)

Is that possible to obtain images of moving people in/with a camera obscura ?
Or to get the audience in it/interacting with it ?

Here are some photos of my first trials of projection (overhead projector) onto tissue paper. I like the fact that you can see the projector itself.

And a video : the paper was moving because of the heat of the projector

Anne : this is not high technology but I love photocopying and scanning.

Well, I think that's all for today.Oh, also : I made a new entry in http://thesecrazywomen.blogspot.com/

I'm struggling

2008-07-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

OK I'm really struggling now

We have all decided to do a practical session tonight and everyone is to come with a starting point- a handbag/ bucket full of bits and bobs and something they want to chase.

I am stumped- I feel completely confused- not afraid just
A whirl of stuff going round in my head- how do I marshal my thoughts. I try and focus on one idea- the investigation of a bucket of water- thinking about women who have just that bucket of water and make it last- do all that you need water to do in a day.
Then that doesn't feel very open...

Then I think about "Life Expectancy"- the idea for a show about what we thought life was going to hand us and what has happened (so essentially a show about managing disappointment and learning to celebrate) and then that sounds like middle class Western luxurious whinging.
How dare I when other women's lives area daily battle for survival, for sanity and safety.
Oh stuff maybe it has to be the bucket of water. Go for the first thought- the trivial or seemingly trivial- but open enough to let us go somewhere with it.

What will everyone else come with....crikey moses this is about the most exciting it gets- I have to remember to enjoy it!

Stuff I've thought about

2008-05-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

So far I think I am seeing a piece of work in a non-theatre venue that gives the audience the chance to go on a journey.
Literally move around and also an emotional/ thinking journey
Somewhere like The Leopard Hotel, with different spaces.
It's important to have a rhythm or a really strong structure to the spaces.
It could be an office block- I guess because what I am seeing us do will be dense and complex and the space will inform or structure it but shouldn't dominate.

I'd like the work to use all sorts of media and forms of making performance- it's very much a theatre experience in my mind at the moment - rather than visual arts/ installation work.
In reality it'll probably sits in some strange in between/ cross over world.

I'm as interested in the process as I am in the outcomes I think.

Can we, WE, THIS group of women artists, can make something really stunning, something that does shift our aesthetic, emotional and intellectual landscape.
It needs to be beautiful, upsetting, generous, engaging and thought provoking.
No pressure there then.

So far I've invited Hilary Hughes, Lisa Wetton, Cath Ralph, Peta Murphy Burke, Anne Kinnaird, Mary Keith and The Cultural Sisters (I didn't specify...so they can self select). We are not very diverse- we need a different cultural perspective in there I think.

I'm interested to see if they invite more people and who! I have ideas who else I'd like to pull in but I want to see who they suggest. What will happen when someone suggests a woman I or someone else couldn't work with? No idea.

At some point we'll have to work out how we pay for it....what we pay for....money and the harsh realities. They will bring their own opportunities.

Of course if we're scheduling this for early next year perhaps it should coincide with International Women's Day....maybe that's a construct we may not want to engage with? How perverse. Not really.

Just because we are badging this project a women artists project it doesn't mean that we all automatically click/ get on/ can work together/ want to be associated with one another- or should feel obliged to work in a particular way or in a pre-determined set of external reference points or indeed deal only with "women's issues".

So why are we women artists coming together? Because I look round and one way of grouping the artists I want to work with is "women". Another grouping might be called "visual artists", or "non professional artists". I started work properly in theatre in groupings based on women being in control of their work and this has always nourished me, helped me grow, and produced work I felt at home in. I need some structures, some rules, so "women" is a rule I feel good about.

It has to work from the group though. Whoever is in the group will shove and direct the outcomes and how we do it. So I'll stop now and we'll see what happens after 11th June.

Maria's Story

2008-05-09T01:25:00.001-07:00

My email said

I want to explore with a group of women artists who work in North
Staffordshire the possibility of us creating a site specific performance
piece together to take place in early 2009 in North Staffs.
This might be a series of linked pieces
It might be in a place that offers the possibility of working in "modules", but in new collaborations with one another
I'd like it to work to a theme and at the moment in my head it's called
Maria's Story, and the (very open) theme from that is women's stories.

Beyond this I'd like to hear what other women have to bring to the table (!) and if a group of women artists would be interested in taking this project further and how we'd do that.
There is no funding in place, so everything to play for!
At this stage I am offering up the idea and seeing what happens.
On the day we may need to introduce ourselves to each other, as not everyone will know everyone, so if you need pictures or access to equipment to do
that please let me know!

If you'd like to contribute in some way to the planning of this evening or you would like to suggest another woman practitioner you'd like to invite or you just want to quiz me further about this, then call me or email or
facebook me.

In any case please let me know if you can make it or not sometime before the day itself and the least that will happen is we'll have a lovely meal

We started

2008-05-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

After that weird process of wondering, talking to other people, reading about other people's projects and looking at other work we have taken the first steps on this journey

I have invited a number of women artists to a meal- at the Barracks, B arts base, to find out if we have a group of women who would like to make work together, who like the idea of making a different sort of performance piece in North Staffordshire- where we live/ work.

I know so many good women artists based and working here and who need opportunities to do what they do, experiment, try stuff out and could get more support and enrichment from working with each other.

I am inspired by The Magdalena Project- an international network of women theatre artists and seen first hand (if only briefly) the power of the work that can be made in that environment.

And I don't know what will happen
It's exciting, terrifying even, but I feel impelled to try.