Category: A Restoration

Progressing on the idea of a tannoy, our group have decided to have the emotional narratives broadcasted outside on either side of the Grand Stand where the original tannoys would have been placed. This not only brings the voice exactly back to where it formerly resided but it also enables the spectators to hear the broadcast without difficulty as it will be transmitted when they are outside the site. The two main narratives that we would like to be played through the tannoy are: firstly about the gambling problems that would have occurred throughout the Grand Stand’s existence, those who lost all their money and those who were addicted to winning. The other is a first person narrative from the Grand Stand’s point of view in the past of what it may have seen during it’s time; such as how busy it may have been, the hustle and bustle of noises that are heard, the different horses which may have won or lost. This narrative carries on to the present time, how the site feels now, the quietness surrounding it and the loss of people which inhabit it. Our main aim of this device is hoping the spectators to question such things as “how did this place come to be as it is; and what will it shortly become?” ((Landscape and Environment Programme, Warplands, http://www.landscape.ac.uk/landscape/impactfellowship/peforminggeographieswarplands/warplands.aspx (March 2013) )) we would like them to reflect on the emotional accounts, understand what has happened to the site and what they believe the Grand Stand should become now they have relived it’s past life.

A journey of our restoration performance has been created for the audience to follow. Starting from the inside of the kitchen area it transports them through the weighing room, waiting room, outside the Grand Stand and finally to the right of it where the perimeter of the two destroyed stands will be re-built. The aim is to initially restore the crowd, entwine the past to the site and attempt to create a future for the Grand Stand. To help the audience to reflect on everything they see we intend to fill as much of the dead space in between everyone’s performance pieces with questions. Questioning what they see, what they think of the past and how it may relate to the present. Only by interacting with the site are the spectators able to each make a decision of its future. Through research it was found that some of the popular suggestions for its future included turning the space into a parcour area, a horse racing themed restaurant and a museum to celebrate Lincolnshire’s history.

Here are the drawings of the two stands we aim to recreate, with accurate measurements added:

We are concerned with the topography of our site. The tannoy device will assist in imagining the past landscape, very much like Mike Pearson’s ‘Carrlands’ research project in 2008. It took place in three different locations in the valley of the river Ancholme in North Lincolnshire, over the course 0f 12 months. He used three audio works to output his research, each 60 minutes in duration. They included spoken text, music and sound effects, inspired by these locations. The audio accompanies a series of walks at these locations, reflecting on aspects of their history. In Pearson’s piece and much like ours at the Grand Stand “technology plays a significant and transformative meditating role in the response of art to the environment: performance as a medium that can precipitate and encourage public visitation” ((Pearson M. (2010) Site-Specific Performance, London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 81)) so through the audio that the spectators can visualise its history. Following from this, Pearson created ‘Warplands’ which was more audio based work that built upon the same approaches he used in ‘Carrlands’. It is also situated in North Lincolnshire; an example of one of the landscapes that was used is Judith’s Bower, which is a turf maze (13 meters across) near the cliff edge at Alkborough. The spoken text in the audio-works are drawn from the work of early topographers, maps and photographs to “illuminate the historically and culturally diverse ways in which a particular landscape has been made, used, reused and interpreted” ((Pearson M. (2012) Warplands: Alkborough, Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts, 17:2, 87-95, p. 87)) with the aim of enhancing the public’s understanding of these places. We endeavour to achieve this aim also, to increase the public appreciation of our site. As within our piece “each movement seeks to evoke the particular character of the immediate and more distant landscape: at one’s feet and far off, in both space and time.” ((Pearson M. (2012) Warplands: Alkborough, Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts, 17:2, 87-95, p. 87)) We want to bring the past, present and future to the site; with the help of the tannoy the past and present can be brought to life and the public can reflect on this to create a future for the Grand Stand themselves.

Following on from my last discussion of attempting to restore the Grand Stand, our group have been focused on giving the site back its lost voice. 240 years of activity now lies silent and we want to bring it back to life. After spending a few hours inside the site – going from the waiting room, to the weighing room and to the kitchen – we were able to take in its present existence and what it felt like in the current bare space. We discussed where in this space we could inhabit, where we could create “a restoration of the absent present” ((Pearson M. (2010) Site-Specific Performance, London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 46)), what should still be alive. While those interested in Woman of War took the waiting room, we decided that we’d be the ones to guide the audience throughout their journey of the Grand Stand, through the use of a sound system. They will break up each of the groups live and/ or installation pieces and will then prompt the audience to move to the next section of the performance.

At the Lincolnshire Archives a copy of what appears to be a tannoy broadcast was found. From this we were able to take parts of the text to be recorded and announced through our speakers. For example, ‘Welcome ladies and gentleman to the second seasonal race for the Lincoln Handicap, day 3’.  We want it to be spoken in the same style of voice a race broadcaster would speak, quite fast, this gives the impression that we are at a day at the races. Here there is a potential have audience participation; there is around 15 different horses in a race, perhaps each person is given a horse name on a sticky label that they must wear. If each group’s pieces only want a few members of the audience to witness it at a time then if a few spectators have the same horse’s name it may be instructed over the speaker that it is their turn to move. An idea which can possibly be developed to help with the journey of the performance. However not only do we want the speaker to act as an instructional device to help move spectators on, we want it to convey emotions. Perhaps of how the jockey’s felt being weighed in the weighing room and the anticipation of waiting to go out and race in the waiting room. Research needs to be undertaken of past jockey interviews in newspapers and online to find authentic quotes and thoughts from these people. We also want to broadcast the issue of betting at the race course and the gambling problems that may be connected. By using emotional monologues the audience are able to imagine the people that stepped onto the Grand Stand and how they personally felt.

We want the space to appear as if it’s lived in, revive life back to the lifeless. Several of Jerzy Grotowski’s productions “created a sense of a living environment through utilising a mode of witnessing” ((Govan E. et al. (2007) Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices, Routledge: London and New York, p. 114)), so it is important we build a relationship between actor and spectator so they are engrossed in the ‘living environment’. The construction of this lived in space is also utilised by the British performance company Reckless Sleepers. In 2003 they created a performance called the Last Supper which was concerned with literally eating your words. Part of their research process was reading biographies and the requests for last meals from the prisoners on death row. From this the audience were invited to dine with them while the performers spoke the last words of the famous, not so famous, criminals and victims etc. Some of the audience members would receive a silver platter that would contain one of the last suppers. Lyn Gardner observes that the show “gives voice to the voiceless” ((Gardner L. (2004) ‘The Last Supper’, Guardian, 19 November)) as these last words are documented from those who are now dead. The past now inhabits the present space by re-enacting the last words, an effect we want to create with the past thoughts from those who stepped inside and outside the Grand Stand. Yi-Fu Tuan states that “the building or architectural complex now stands as an environment capable of affecting the people who live in it” ((Tuan Y. (1977) Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, London: Edward Arnold, p. 102)), which will hopefully be the spectators who get involved with our piece.  We want them to hopefully re-live the past, not necessarily be moved by it, but by gaining the knowledge of the past they have a greater understanding of what the site used to be. Also they may be affected by how bare the Grand Stand is at present day and how much it has lost.