Ukiyo other blogs

There are other two blogs started parallel to this blog.

By Michele Danjoux

By Doros Polydorou

Ukiyo - workspace

I think Katsura's initiative of creating a shared space were we can post our ideas (thoughts, images, music, video, ...) is very good. I hope to put some examples from the continuing work Caroline and I are doing next week.

Lab @ Brunel Univeristy, 25th October 2009

From a note by Johannes on Thursday 22 October, I like this bit:

"regarding UKIYO, one of the questions that I had was the transitory space (still/ movement) (real/ virtual) (first/ second), what happens is the relational space, the in between or, if you want, the "interval" (Erin Manning's term, from her book Relationscapes), when something, as with the clothes or the bandoneon and your bandoneon pleating, when something is folded and refolded."

I love it. I even feel ecstasy imagining the transitory space. I feel this is one of essences in art. A subtle time/ space between more defined two moments/ place creates profound nuance and meaning.

This applies to everything in space and time in performance. For example, thinking of UKIYO;
What is between Act 1 and Act 2?
What is between physical space and virtual space on screen?
What is between this performer and that performer?
What is between this sound and that sound?
What is between this movement and this sound?
What is between this performer with the garment and virtual space on screen?
etc.

It is like there is magnetic power between everything in space and time.
If you draw a line between each aspect, it looks like a web.

With this way of looking at performance, Ukiyo still need lots of lines to be drawn.

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By the way, the idea of transitory reminds me a Japanese concept 間, ma. It has been said that Japanese people has a special sense of ma. Ma can be used for time and also space. If it is in time, it is sense of rhythm by wide definition. It is not something metric that you can count. It is something more organic and intuitive. But there is the right ma between two events in relation to the context. Ma in space is pretty much same too. Here it leads to Zen culture...

Ma
For those who got confused with my explanation, here is a link for more explanation just to confuse you more.

I am talking about this because of Japanese connection with the UKIYO project.
And I just like the concept so much. It is beautiful.

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From the conversation we had in the lab, I have realised that the most unique thing in our work may be different perspective of sound and space.

Sound that come from
living body: breath, voice, body percussion, footsteps
costume and props
amplified sound from a speaker (and there are different possibilities of its place)
recorded sound from a speaker

Combined with each other, performer's movement, projected image and light, it can create fantastic effect.

What about space and body?
We have live physical performers in space and virtual performers and space on screen.
3D vs. 2D.
3D cannot exist in 2D (or may be can?)
2D can exist in 3D, though it is becoming a cliche to project on to a performer's body or costume, but it always depends on how you do it.
The screen may not need to be in fixed place.

My imagination expands. But it is probably becoming irrelevant from UKIYO, so I stop myself.

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Definitely great to do some actual practical physical work in the lab. The above is enough blah blah blah.

Watch the video above.

So we were trying to make more voice as we move. By the way, this is my current interest on my performance generally.
Caroline lead us to warm up the body, voice and mentally very nicely so when we finished a session with her, I felt another warm space in my bronchus that I normally don't feel, and I found myself difficult to stop hissing, booing, woffing...whatever nonsense sound.

It is great fun!

And performing should be great fun, otherwise nothing good comes up.

For me, the mental and also probably physical barrier to get into this absurd state to start with is the most challenging thing. We have to keep practicing this again. And we will naturally find a way to bring ourselves to the absurd state.

Thanks to Olalla Perez-Hervada Lemus, for the video footage.
Performers are Ann-Laure, Katsura, Helenna, Caroline and Olu in the order of appearance.

I would appreciate any casual comment on the video, please!

To begin with,

This blog is on the creative process of Ukiyo at DAP lab at Brunel University.

I am starting this blog from the frustration of not being able to meet with other members and to work intimately. I feel a lack of communication among us. The blog title Floating Worlds is in plural because at the moment everyone is in one's own bubble such as thoughts and imaginations. These need to communicate and interact if we want to create a work together.

So I first make myself a place where I can open up and express my thoughts and imaginations, which is this blog. I am hoping that other members join me and the blog becomes a place to exchange and share one's thoughts and imaginations. But if it does not happen since everyone is busy with their own agenda, I would still effuse mine here.

This is also my experiment in documentation. I am interested in documenting my subjective feeling and thoughts that comes with my exploration into my performance. In this multidisciplinary project, live performance is one of the disciplines that utilize our own living body. The living body does not reach at a conclusion all at once. It needs its own journey to receive information, to process, to interpret and to express. I will write, draw, take a picture etc on this process in order to be aware of itself and enrich my work by approaching from different dimensions after digesting the raw information in my body.

The idea of the relationship between performance and documentation has been inspired by some workshops I have participated at Independent Dance, with Simon Forti, Rosemary Butcher and Deborah Hay, and also a residency at London Metropolitan University facilitated by Thomas Kampe. I just want to mention that the idea did not come only over a night.
Here, you can read more about my starting point of this blog.