Dancers 2

Sydney danced for me this afternoon; it was cool to have a different interpretation of my project from her. My instructions were a bit more specific, developed from more thought on the movements I want from my prop/dress.

More, as always, on the picassa album.

Dancers

Sarah agreed to dance/pose for me as inspiration for my project. See more on my picassa album.




Shooting with Sydney tomorrow.

Foucault

Reflection / Summary on : Heterotopias by Michel Foucault

Heterotopias = the "un" or "inbetween" spaces.
............... = the nowhere space with a fixed location

"places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society"

significance, purpose to reality
but worlds within themselves:
both open for access,
but inherently isolated:

libraries
boats
cemeteries
gardens
prisons
psychiatric hospitals
brothels
vacation villages
fairgrounds
casinos?

-----> juxtapose reality
-----> step away from self
-----> all the world and of the world


"heterotopia begins to function at full capacity when men arrive at a sort of absolute break with their traditional time"

Daily Life

I was going to avoid talking about my day-to-day life outside of school on here, but this past week has had a few interesting moments, so I think I'll share.

In the last 7 days, I have:
-been in Texas
-flown first class for the first time
-snuck onto the airplane before I was supposed to
-drunk half a bottle of wine at one sitting
-gotten a shoe stuck on my foot, and had to cut it off (the shoe, that is)
-had to ask for an extension on a paper (for the first time ever!)
-had a really incredibly awkward conversation about "feelings"
-bought some killa new boots
-done 2 nearly-all-nighters
-become the proud owner of a cheetah print sweater and an obnoxiously sequined shrug

Anyways, there are some exciting new developments ahead for my studio project, if I have time to get around to them. It's been really hectic since I got back because all of my midterms were to be due this week. Thankfully, by some miracle, they have all been pushed back a week, so I have a realistic chance of getting them done.
Sobek is here tomorrow and all weekend, Mike comes to visit next week, there's a really awesome symposium this weekend about the Future of Architecture, and Kevin is having a blues party.

As for studio... My "dance theater" is now a wearable piece of 'architecture.' For simplicity, I'll call it a dress. I have absolutely no idea how it's going to work, but trust me... it's gonna be awesome! haha... oooh, fingers crossed =)

Inspiring blogs

Two new posts from Pruned I found particularly interesting today:


Chicago 2018, or: A Proposal for the First Wholly Urban Winter Olympics

I, for one, am completely convinced. Who wants to design floating 'olympic villages' when you could design an inhabitable mountain!


Secondly:
Clouds

Flash inspiration for a different kind of temporary mobile dance theater... One made entirely from balloons!

Dream home

This is what I want:


Photo from Inhabitat

Anyways, my review with professors went well-ish yesterday, even though I didn't get to talk to them until 9pm. I'm cramming as much work as possible into today before heading out to Dallas in the morning.
I have 2 midterms (papaers + projects) due the day after I get back, and I'm expecting to spend the weekend watching movies and thrift shopping. Rough, I know.

I am currently researching how to mold and shape leather for my CNC class... we will be making a simple shape out of leather, and I spent the morning buying a piece (only $4!) from a really cool shoe supplier. I'm excited to try it out, and to make stuff with the extra.
Will post photos with the process.. should be interesting.

Aside from that, I had a brief conversation with Peter Land, my old EcoStructures professor who also attended AA. It's nice to get encouragement from someone you respect... especially when your plans are less than conventional.

Also excited about writing my paper for Theory. Can I say that? I'm excited about writing a paper! Haha!

Concept Development

The last few weeks have been rather hectic in trying to come up with a solid concept for my dance theater. I've spent (too much) time reading contemporary dance theory, thinking about the definition of a theater, and sketching abstractly.

I developed two concepts last week for a brief email crit, neither of which I was entirely content with.
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The first looked at the relationship studies between dancer and spectator- defining the "connection" between the two by changing the environment of the spectator (height relationship to dancer, proximity to stage, lighting, sounds). I did not want a centralized stage, certainly no "picture plane," and the audience memebers to be fixed in their seats.
I went with a radial / spiral plan, with seating and stage "weaving" together loosely. My interest in this scheme remained with the height levels, and was not fixed to any form or horizontal spatial arrangement.




My second concept created a "kit of parts" that could be taken anywhere, attached to anything, defining the dance-space entirely from the "structural elements" found en situ (buildings, trees, light posts, garbage bins, etc). It called upon Expressionist and Cubistic art (the art forms conceived at the same time Tanztheater was), the concept of dance as a temporary artform, and relied heavily on environment to shape the experience (no seating defined for audience members, base lighting provided by sun, prop movement by wind, etc).
The interest in this concept lies for me in its dependence on site for specificity, its direct relation to natural elements, and its rejection of "solidness."



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For more development sketches, things like the one below, please go to my Picassa album here!

Letting my mind wander, I worked on sketches and spaces like this, which are fun to look at but difficult to do at IIT.



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My next steps for our Crit on Wednesday, is to develop a concept somewhere between the two. I'm thinking of interlocking platforms, responsive walls, and simple technologies to combine the elements of relationship (height and light) with the elements of temporary (open air) and environment (shaped by wind, sun, site elements).
Sketches and comments to come soon.