Tessel-project proposal
PROJECT PROPOSAL 08-11-2021
TESSEL LOSS A video work about being a woman in the contemporary time.
=== What do you want to make? ===
I want to make a work around the Dutch female poet Maria Tesselschade Roemer-Visscher. She was also a singer and glassengraver in the 17th century. She was unique at that time because she dwelt at the Muiderslot with famous poets Vondel, Bredero, Constatijn Huygens and PC Hooft. Her father was a fisherman and in the night he discovered that his wife was pregnant he had a great loss of one of his fisherboats near the Island Texel. He decided to name his daughter Tesselschade (Tessel Loss).
I want to make a work consisting of a combination of stories by Dutch women named Tessel, visuals of glass engravings and audio of the poems and interviews. I want to make a video installation with multiple screens but it can also become a film in the end. In this project I want to explore my filming method (macro video’s) in combination with images of the woman I interview.
=== How do you plan to make it?
I have this idea for a month now and decided this week to carry through with this idea. I will start by researching the person, life and poems of Maria Tesselschade. I also want to visit a glass engraver and make images of the process. I have already started to collect Tessel’s. I will make a potential list of women I want to interview and start working on a list of questions. I need to explore what I want to talk about with them and what the work addresses. I will interview and film the woman, maybe in a studio setting. Besides working on the project I will keep doing some experiments with my style(also for my thesis). Experiments with the images I already have on multiple screens. But I also want to experiment with my filming method. I will look for abstract moving images to film, combined with more realistic images. Few weeks ago I did an experiment, see here a sketch: https://youtu.be/sP00VzRK8b4 My method here consists of going to a place (visiting the AZC), shoot small video’s of details in the room and tape a conversation with the person (refugee Samson) in that place.
=== What is your timetable?===
I will use November to research the topic and think about what the work is about. In November and December I also want to do some experiments with imagemaking, also for my thesis. In January I will reach out to Tessels and make appointment for shooting. February and March I will collect the images and do the interviews. In April 2022 I will start editing the collected images. Mix and remix the images. Explore how it works when I put the images on multiple screens. I will also start editing the sound of the interviews and try to work on the sound(scape).
=== Why do you want to make it? ===
If there is one topic that is close to me, it is this topic. The last months I discovered that life became more social again because I had to explain my name more often to people. I did not do that for a year. I myself was named after Dutch journalist Tessel Blok but as a female artist I feel connected to Tesselschade Roemer-Visscher. In 1994 I was invited to celebrate Tesselschade’s 100th birthday at the Muiderslot. Together with 100 other Tessel’s we explored Tesselschade’s life at the castle. I admire this woman for her personal courage, her wayward way of life and her talent in many fields. She was a good singer, musician (luit, violin, klavecimbel), poet and had a good way to express herself in words. As a woman she was way ahead of her time. Her moto was’ Elck sijn waerom” which means freely translated ‘This is how I interact with friends’.
=== Who can help you and how?===
I hope to find somebody who makes glass engravings and who is willing to make a works especially for me and my camera. I also want to find somebody who is a master in calligraphy (the art of writing, something Tesselschade did while she stayed at the Muiderslot). I need somebody to help me with good quality audio. On November 19th a friend and former colleague (Ton Henkens) will look at my recording materials and we will check how I can improve my sound recordings. Besides that, I also want to work in the editing process with an audio technician (Laurens Palsgraaf) and a muscician (Tom Swart). Maybe I should look at female technicians and musicians for the project.
=== Relation to previous practice===
Most of my previous practice is documentary filmmaking and video art. Both genres will come together in this project. I want to make a combination of real stories by woman, poetry by Tesselschade, images of glass engravings and sound. I tried to explore this way of working already a little bit with the clips I made with refugees, especially because I was not allowed to film their faces. The challenge is to look for images that complement the stories and express the emotions from the stories.
=== Relation to a larger context===
In this project I can work on telling a story that is close to me and explore my working method. I think that this project can really help me find my own voice and empower me and other women (and men). At the end we are all humans with the same insecurities, problems and guilty pleasures as everybody in the past, the now and the future.
===
References/bibliography===
Morley, S., The simple truth: The Monochrome in Modern Art, Reaktion Books, 2020
Rieser, M. & Zapp, A., New media cinema/art/narrative, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
Books on Tesselschade:
Een onwaerdeerlycke vrouw. Brieven en verzen van en aan Maria Tesselschade
Maria Tesselschade Roemer Visschersdr – 1918 (1ste druk)
Smits-Veldt, M.B., Maria Tesselschade: Leven met talent en vriendschap, Walburg Pers, 1994
Own archive, collected by my mom around the Tesselday at the Muiderslot castle
Websites on Tesselschade: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessel_(voornaam)
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Tesselschade_Roemers_Visscher
https://www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org/schrijvers/maria-tesselschade-roemersdochter-visscher
https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=viss002
Docu Het muiltje van Maria Tesselschade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j5ZGthakw8
Websites on glass engraving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDWXjAnawcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6R-RH_essQ
Extra
https://www.vprogids.nl/2021/45/inhoud/artikelen/p25-Eva-met-Eva-s-vergelijken.html
Steve feedback and notes
Steve's comments [in Square Brackets] and edits in italics
PROJECT PROPOSAL 08-11-2021
[Thanks for posting the draft. It is well structured and clearly laid out. It is also evident that the proposal as it stands represents a recent decision. I have set myself the task of anticipating what my colleagues may make of it.
I would anticipate the following point coming up: the choice of women called Tessel is arbitrary- the name in itself does not define the personality of the person you interview, why this name? Why not make a film about red-headed people or left-handed people?
If you were to interview red-headed or left-handed people the interview would centre around the experience of left-handedness or red-headedness. But what common experience brings the Tessels together?
On careful reading I see that the aim is to find commonality through the name (what is the geographical, biographical commonality of their name?). I have made an edit that moves the proposal in that direction. Even after I moved some things around there remains a question of substance- you have to be clear about what unique element possessing the name Tessel brings.
The second question that may be asked is: why are you not following up on the refugee project for your final piece? The refugee project had the dual elements of 'macro video' and documentary; is in a further stage of development. Relating the 'macro video' element to an aspect of the refugee interviewees biography has a structural integrity which is not immediately apparent in the Tessel proposal.
below is my edit
TESSEL LOSS
A video work about being a woman in the contemporary time.
=== What do you want to make? ===
I want to make a work around the Dutch poet Maria Tesselschade Roemer-Visscher. She was also a singer and glassengraver in the 17th century. She was unique at that time because she dwelt at the Muiderslot [what is the Muiderslot? in a few words] with the poets Vondel, Bredero, Constatijn Huygens and PC Hooft. Her father was a fisherman and in the night he discovered that his wife was pregnant he had a great loss of one of his fisherboats near the Island Texel. He decided to name his daughter Tesselschade (Tessel Loss). I admire this woman for her personal courage, her wayward way of life and her talent in many fields. She was a good singer, musician (luit, violin, klavecimbel), poet and had a good way to express herself in words. As a woman she was way ahead of her time. Her moto was’ Elck sijn waerom” which means freely translated ‘This is how I interact with friends’.
I want to make a work consisting of a combination of stories by Dutch women named Tessel, visuals of glass engravings and audio of the poems and interviews. I want to make a video installation with multiple screens and would also like to use the material to make a single screen version. In this project I want to explore the filming method I developed during my time at the Pzwart (which I call macro videos) in combination with images of the woman I interview.
Why do you want to make it? === In 1994 [?] I was invited to celebrate Tesselschade’s 100th birthday at the Muiderslot. Together with 100 other Tessel’s we explored Tesselschade’s life at the castle. [this needs more information; are you going to trace the other Tessels who were at this meeting? If this original meeting is the starting point then it would seem less arbitrary.(see Adam Chodzko's project on the Salo reunion)] I was named after Dutch journalist Tessel Blok but as a female artist I feel connected to Tesselschade Roemer-Visscher. Over the last months I discovered that life became more social again because I had to explain my name more often to people. I did not do that for a year.
===
How do you plan to make it?
[I cut a sentence here, so that all the claims made for the project are positive] I will start by researching further the person, life and poems of Maria Tesselschade. I also want to visit a glass engraver and make images of the process. I have already started to collect Tessels. I will make a potential list of women I want to interview and start working on a list of questions.[this again hits the heart of the project.. what criteria do you have for choosing your Tessels I need to explore what I want to talk about with them and what the work addresses.
I will interview and film the woman in a studio setting.[why a studio setting? why not on location?]
Besides working on the project I will keep making experiments in the manner of the macro videos I have been making. Experiments with the images I already have on multiple screens. But I also want to experiment with my filming method. I will look for abstract moving images to film, combined with more realistic images. A few weeks ago I did an experiment, see here a sketch: https://youtu.be/sP00VzRK8b4 My method here consists of going to a place (visiting the AZC), shoot small videos of details in the room and tape a conversation with the person (refugee Samson) in that place.
===
What is your timetable?===
I will use November to research the topic. In November and December I will make experiments with imagemaking, also for my thesis. In January I will reach out to Tessels and make appointment for shooting. February and March I will collect the images and do the interviews. In April 2022 I will start editing the collected images. Mix and remix the images. Explore how it works when I put the images on multiple screens. I will also start editing the sound of the interviews and try to work on the sound(scape).
===
=== Who can help you and how?===
I hope to find somebody who makes glass engravings and who is willing to make a works especially for me and my camera. I also want to find somebody who is a master in calligraphy (the art of writing, something Tesselschade did while she stayed at the Muiderslot). I need somebody to help me with good quality audio. On November 19th a friend and former colleague (Ton Henkens) will look at my recording materials and we will check how I can improve my sound recordings. Besides that, I also want to work in the editing process with an audio technician (Laurens Palsgraaf) and a muscician (Tom Swart). Maybe I should look at female technicians and musicians for the project.
=== Relation to previous practice===
Most of my previous practice is documentary filmmaking and video art. Both genres will come together in this project. I want to make a combination of real stories by woman, poetry by Tesselschade, images of glass engravings and sound. I tried to explore this way of working already a little bit with the clips I made with refugees, especially because I was not allowed to film their faces. The challenge is to look for images that complement the stories and express the emotions from the stories.
=== Relation to a larger context===
In this project I can work on telling a story that is close to me and explore my working method. I think that this project can really help me find my own voice and empower me and other women (and men). At the end we are all humans with the same insecurities, problems and guilty pleasures as everybody in the past, the now and the future.
===
References/bibliography===
Morley, S., The simple truth: The Monochrome in Modern Art, Reaktion Books, 2020
Rieser, M. & Zapp, A., New media cinema/art/narrative, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
Books on Tesselschade:
Een onwaerdeerlycke vrouw. Brieven en verzen van en aan Maria Tesselschade
Maria Tesselschade Roemer Visschersdr – 1918 (1ste druk)
Smits-Veldt, M.B., Maria Tesselschade: Leven met talent en vriendschap, Walburg Pers, 1994
Own archive, collected by my mom around the Tesselday at the Muiderslot castle
Websites on Tesselschade: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessel_(voornaam)
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Tesselschade_Roemers_Visscher
https://www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org/schrijvers/maria-tesselschade-roemersdochter-visscher
https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=viss002
Docu Het muiltje van Maria Tesselschade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j5ZGthakw8
Websites on glass engraving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDWXjAnawcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6R-RH_essQ
Extra
https://www.vprogids.nl/2021/45/inhoud/artikelen/p25-Eva-met-Eva-s-vergelijken.html