Tag: tank

T.A.N.K.s for the memories

Stephenie Clubley / / T.A.N.K

“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.

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The T.A.N.K: Part 2

Ben Middleton / / T.A.N.K, Uncategorized

Once we had decided on creating the tank as a model, like the monument to be established on the roundabout at Tritton road, we thought about how we were going to make the tank. Several suggestions were tried from hay to cardboard boxes but we decided on using the chairs from the Grandstand because ‘materials themselves have been limited to those that efficiently make the general object form’ ((Morris, R (1993) ‘Anti-Form’ in Morris, R’s Continuous Project Altered Daily: The Writings of Robert Morris London: MIT Press)) the chairs replicated the tank in an easy, but still ambiguous way. Plus, we liked the idea of creating the tank out of objects that were already in and or left in the grandstand because, like the grandstand they had equally been forgotten about .

Since we decided to build the tank out of the chairs, we experimented with looking at the chairs already being there when the audience walked into the room, this worked well because at first the audience had no clue what it was, being just a pile of chairs and some netting set up in a specific way the tank still looked ambiguous enough that the audience would not understand what it was until the performance was underway and the use of soundscapes and dialogue would help them to understand what the sculpture was representing. Alternatively, we looked at simulating the movement of the tank’s caterpillar tracks with the chairs, we thought this image worked well and we decided to build the tank movement wise whilst the audience walked in.

Furthermore, we looked at how this movement was quite repetitive and we believed that each movement we made should be precise and repeatable; this is since the tank was quite mechanical we wanted to replicate that mechanical sense by making the movements accurate and in a form of repetition. We did this by using the whole group to move the chairs where two people would be in perfect sync with each other on each side to make it look like the tracks were moving perfectly; also, we would hold the chairs over the line of the other chairs to make it look neat and mechanical. We decided to add the mantra of the tank force ‘From the blood, through the mud, to the green fields beyond’ here since we believed that the mantra spoke of the goal of the tank and its forces.

Once we had established this much we wanted to look at how we could integrate the tank to the Grandstand, although the tanks were never really used or tested at the grandstand, however, we know there was trench training on the west common ‘Crenelated earthworks just south of the grandstand identify the location of a former training trench from WWI.’ ((Heritage Connection Lincoln West Common online: http://www.heritageconnectlincoln.com/character-area/west-common/64/description (accessed 25th March 2013) )) Additionally we found a picture in the archives on the first tank, Little Willie on the west common,

Little Willie normal

we can assume here that maybe the tank was brought to the west common to test out on the practice tranches to see whether it would be able to cross the trenches on the warfront.  Even though the tank was never really at the Grandstand we still believed it to be a strong part of Lincoln’s history much like the Grandstand that had been forgotten.

Isolation T.A.N.K.

Stephenie Clubley / / T.A.N.K

The T.A.N.K. group originally wanted to to represent the claustrophobic environment that the interior of a real tank would have created by performing to a small percentage of the audience at a time. We were going to create a tent-like structure of material in between the caterpillar tracks made of chairs to make the body of the tank. Three actors would have supported this structure while one performed inside to between 1 and 3 audience members, and the speaker would swap with one of those outside each time new audience members arrived.

This idea partly stemmed from a discussion about The Long and Winding Road, a live art project by Michael Pinchbeck; particularly the section where Pinchbeck wrote a one-to-one performance piece intended to take place inside a parked car that had been the center of the project. ((Pinchbeck, M (n.d.) The Long and Winding Road, Online: http://www.michaelpinchbeck.co.uk/installation/the-long-and-winding-road/ Accessed 10th April 2013)) We had information about the experiences of those trusted with testing the first tanks, including the dangers they were faced with, and we wanted to impart that information in a personal and direct way. Inviting the audience into our vehicle to listen at close quarters seemed like an excellent way to create the level of intimacy we were looking for. Continue reading “Isolation T.A.N.K.”

Horse: Nature’s Athlete, Tractor and T.A.N.K.

Stephenie Clubley / / T.A.N.K

Whilst developing our group’s piece at the Grandstand, we wanted to explore the relationship between the tank and its evolutionary roots. During the First World War, heavy haulage tractors were used to transport naval guns. The concept of the tank was first touched upon by Admiral Bacon in 1914 when he remarked, “If a machine could be capable of laying its own bridge, being equipped with means of offence and defence, it would be of assistance in trench warfare.” (( William Foster & Co (1920) The Tank: Its Birth And Development, Tee Publishing))

 

Before the invention of the tractor and the complete mechanisation of farming, horses were the farmers’ choice in work animals. They were used to pull ploughs and transport everything from carts of produce and raw materials to people and their tools. Other breeds of horses were bred for the purpose of entertainment, such as the racehorses that would have attracted the crowds to Lincoln’s own Grandstand.We wanted to show the relationship and transition between horse and machine in our performance piece. We felt it would create a stronger link with the site, through Lincoln’s rural setting and the role of the horse at work and in entertainment.

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