The original theme set for our piece, as our set was undecided was that of ‘waiting.’ This daily occurrence and task of waiting is something as seen as an inconvience and not noted in a positive light. Shakespeare expressed his hatred for the ardious task of waiting ‘ I will wait, though waiting so be hell’ I began to explore the prospect of waiting by performing simple edits to my process of when I had to wait. Looking around and seeing something before unnoticed, overhearing somebody’s conversation and being educated on a different opinion or story, began to become regular occurrences when I was killing time for a train to arrive, or propped up in a queue for coffee. My mindset of waiting began to change, it made me take the time out to engaged with my surroundings when normally I would have impatiently be consumed with my own thoughts.
The idea of looking around more was explored further in set tasks of drifting. The idea of walking around a familiar place but taking turns I wouldn’t, entering doorways I hadn’t before, walking down unfamiliar streets. These tasks appealed to my inquisitive nature and I found myself captivated in the tasks and the reactions I Received when doing them.
The ten drifting tasks I was set varied from making conversation with a stranger to taking routes at different times in the day. The three tasks I felt that where the highlight of my drift were;
1.) Sit cross-legged in a public place and note people’s reactions
2.) Travel a short distance with you eyes closed
3.) Find secret places in a building
The first I received many confused looks and a buzz of attention from simply changing position, I became very self-conscious and uncomfortable as I noted the amount of looks I was attracting. The idea of self-awareness became drastically heightened and insecurity as my action of sitting down was met with judgmental murmurs and distasteful glances.
The second task, I found the hardest. I had to travel a short distance with my eyes closed, I chose the walk from the LPAC to the bridge next to the library, I got a friend to film and guide me if I was going to hit into anything dangerous! I found again my other senses heightened and my pace slowed down as my steps became tentative, as I was unsure of my surroundings that normally are so familiar. I felt foreign on a route I know so well, simply by removing one of my key senses. When I saw the site for the first time I was hit with such a similar sense of something being so familiar but foreign at the same time. Having seen the grandstand so regularly when I drove into Lincoln, I had never properly explored or admired it. Here is evidence of my eventful unneverying experience walking from the Lpac to the brigde.
The third task I found most intriguing was discovering secret places and stairwells. I chose a place familiar to all of us; the corridors of the LPAC and found without trespassing some hidden corners and doors I had never noticed/found before. I recorded my discoveries even though loosing my voice! And noted the excitement I felt opening doors I had never come across before. The sense were much more alert as I was taken into dark spaces and sight became not my main sense of translating where I was. The explorative vibe I often experienced as a child began to flood back to me and the idea of trespassing in a public building became evident, as the suspense of ‘being caught’ was overwhelming. I applied this notion of surprise and thoroughly searching unfamiliar doorways and stairwells when we got onto our site ‘ The Grandstand’, by discovering a hidden corridor connecting back offices from a regal conference room. In the video below I logged my findings on the site and the explorations I discovered in the Lpac.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akpDgOjzhNM&feature=youtu.be
The skills and inquisitive confidence I had obtained from these tasks lead me to view the site differently. Not wanting to use obvious spaces and exploring around the site externally.