Angharad whwd

SLOPPY WHAT Sloppy is a performance. In the performance I (Angharad), read from a piece of printed paper a sequence of statements. The statements are almost identical in form, they use a variety of adjectives to describe the effects of different substances, and the substances effects on the narrators behavior. The performer (Angharad) reads the text very quickly, drawing deep breaths between each statement. The performance is an ongoing piece of work and the performances length depends on the number of statements in the collection. Currently there are 36 statements. The project could be described as a writing machine.

HOW Myself and a group of artists from the Piet (Katherine, Natalia and Madison) were put in a group for our seminar with Katarina (Performativity), with our main concerns being ‘Liveness’. As a group exercise we agreed we would present performances at a ‘Sloppy’ dinner of soups at Madison and Clara’s home. This is how the performance came about in a practical sense. How the work manifested, I cannot remember. I made a connection between the word ‘sloppy’ and being under the influence of specific substances and losing inhibitions so it made sense to develop from there.

WHY Why? Well, I love writing, we had just recently in class discussed writing machines and it seemed an interesting new for me to write and explore the spoken word. It seemed logical and fun to read something aloud which was ambiguous in terms of its authorship. Also, I was / am interested in reading aloud, storytelling, with particular interest in reading to a multi-lingual audience at a quick speed, so what is remembered by the audience is more fragmentary and abstract.

HOW COULD IT DEVELOP? Sloppy could develop in many ways. I could not be the performer, the text could be read by someone else. The text could not be read aloud. Based on a recent performance of Sloppy I have been invited to work with another artist (Dan Mitchell) on a new issue of his publication (Hard Mag) using the text from Sloppy. I very much see the project as ongoing, developing and sourcing new adjectives to describe “drunkeness” (ostensibly) and new slang for drugs and illegal substances.

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LOOK DOWN AT YOUR FEET WHAT

LDAYF is a performance lasting approximately 10 – 15 minutes long. LDATF is read by performer to a score written and rehearsed by/with Angharad. LDAYF is a dialogue between two individuals read by the same narrator / performer in distinctly different voices.

HOW

Performer will enter space. Performer will gradually and quite slowly begin to assemble the “set”, lights will be established and augmented, possibly with the assistance of the audience members. Performer will quietly test microphone. Which will be used throughout duration of performance. Performer must sit at the same general height of the audience. The door – entrance to the space must be regulated or closed thought the duration. LDATF is read by performer to a score written and outlined and rehearsed by Angharad. LDAYF is read in and English accent imagined as a middle aged middle-class woman and the response (Pilot) is read as shakey broken and tired male voice. The performers body must remain physically rigid throughout performance.

WHY

The performance came from unused text that I developed in 2011 for the Studios Open event at the Piet. I wanted to experiment with performance and style and the written word. I wanted to see if I could embody the voices and carry the audience through a particularly slow rendition of this text.

HOW COULD IT DEVELOP?

I have twice realized this performance. The first time, I felt confident it was a successful rendition. I would give the performance a 70% rating. The second manifestation of the project was a complete flop. So, I am fairly clear now in what parameters make this a successful performance and what is necessary. When working on performance I generally have a very clear idea of the parameters.