“Devised performance, as contrasted with conventional theatre, results from the identification, selection and accumulation of concepts, actions, texts, places and things which are composed and orchestrated in space and time according to a set of governing aesthetics, ideologies, techniques and technologies.” ((Pearson, Mike and Shanks, Michael 2001, Theatre/Archaeology, London:Routledge, p.55))
The T.A.N.K group started with a fragment of information from the Lincoln Archives about tank test-driving on Lincoln’s West Common, and we added to our collective knowledge with other such fragments; masks the tank crews wore, the motto they had, the dangers they faced. Our first attempt at constructing a performance based on these fragments resulted in something too theatrical. The text we used at first was made up of dialogue that was too character based, and didn’t work. The focus had to be the tank’s history, not ours, if the piece was to work. We re-wrote this, but then we were unable to procure authentic-looking tank crew masks. We tried to create our own interpretations from the resources we could find. They were very stylistic and consequently jarring when put into a performance that was aiming to be more factual. Mike Pearson says “Assemblages – performance and document – are inevitably partial. Rooted in uncertainty, they all require acts of interpretation. And there is no end to what can be said about them, to how they might be interpreted.” ((Pearson, Mike and Shanks, Michael 2001, Theatre/Archaeology, London:Routledge, p.56)) This is true, but when working as a small group alongside other small groups to create one collective performance you must keep in mind whether your style of interpretation of your data compliments the rest of the complete piece.
We discarded the masks and the original dialogue and used soldier’s diary extracts found in a documentary instead. The end result was more factual, perhaps too presentational in places for some people’s tastes, but it was the best way of doing it because our research had taken us down a very specific route. Our task had been to create a site-specific performance relating to the grandstand. We found some information on tank-testing occurring on the land immediately surrounding our site but the more research we realised there was comparatively little and most of the testing happened further away. Consequently we ended up with a performance more specific to Lincoln than the actual grandstand. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Tim Etchells’s performance “Nights In This City” took place in a bus touring a route through Sheffield and was later adapted for specificity to Rotterdam so that it could be performed there.((Kaye, Nick (2000) Site Specific Art, London:Routledge, p.13)) Nick Kaye says in Site-Specific Art, “If one accepts the proposition that the meanings of utterances, actions and events are affected by their ‘local position’, by the situation of which they are a part, than a work of art, too, will be defined in relation to its place and position.” ((Kaye, Nick (2000) Site Specific Art, London:Routledge, p.1)) In this context, it is arguable that our place was the city of Lincoln and our position was the grandstand.
On the day of the performance, I had to miss the 1pm preview due to illness. I knew that if I managed to make it to the grandstand in the afternoon, I would be unable to cope with the repetitive motion of moving the chairs. My team made adaptations to the actions to accommodate me, which I was grateful for. I don’t think the piece suffered too much for it. It may have lost a little of the emphasis on the teamwork required of a tank crew, but two people moving the chairs with everybody reciting the motto were sufficient enough to illustrate it and it meant I could participate in the rest of the sequence with them. If we had the chance to improve it, I would have liked to create a much more immersive and interactive experience. If we had the resources it would have been interesting to build more accurate representations of tanks made of different materials. In the early stages, we discussed making a tank out of hay bales to focus more on the link with the mechanisation of agriculture, but cost and transport prevented us from doing that. With no constraints, we could have attempted something very outlandish like the tank Hans Hemmert made out of balloons ((Hemmert, Hans (2007) German Panther in balloons, air and glue, Urban Gallery Nordhorn))
“Artists use their professional skill, as well as their personal experiences, to create work that both investigates and activates social space” ((Gova, Emma et al (2007) Making A Performance, London:Routledge, p.135)) If this statement is true, I believe we have succeeded in it through researching an event that took place in this city and bringing it to light in an active way in a still-used, but often neglected space nearby. There is a possibility we have made people think about how something recognisable all over the world can have humble beginnings on the outskirts of a small city, close by to this equally humble and now forgotten about landmark.