easter weekend and after: saturday
Bleargh! I'm tired*. But yeah, anyway, the last few days...
Not massively busy, but more going on than there has been for a while. It starts on the Saturday.
This was Enemies of The North, part of Steven Fowler's year-long Enemies Project. It was held in the Cornerhouse Annexe which I'd never been in before. It's a good small space, at least until Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre move to their new joint base (the crappily named Home**) some time next year, apparently.
Back to the point, a large number of mainly Northwest based poets performed in a variety of collaborative formats.
There were 13 performances in all, linked below, all available through Steven's YouTube channel, and also linked from his blog of the event:
Steven Fowler & Tom Jenks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irfwTDwvGw
Sarah Crewe & Jo Langton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-LAMzfX1Y
Zoe Skoulding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-UHv9lFaxU
David Kelly & Daniele Pantano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkyqvxzUS1E
Matt Dalby & Steven Waling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBg1bC4bY1Y
Steven Fowler & Chris McCabe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96MDy8FUBCs
James Byrne & Sandeep Parmar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm9I2Odu85A
Alec Newman & Ryan Van Winkle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9BJI1b7mqE
Richard Barrett & Nathan Thompson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f87q-6KCGvY
Adam Steiner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4W8GlnLnOM
Steven Fowler & Marcus Slease http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k50ZyucJXb0
Chris McCabe & Tom Jenks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElDk44meVVU
Ben Morris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XtlJmiwfs
Highlights for me were Sarah Crewe and Jo Langton, David Kelly and Daniele Pantano's film, Steven Fowler and Marcus Slease, Chris McCabe and Tom Jenks, and sound artist Ben Morris at the end. But don't take that as your cue to ignore anything, there wasn't a weak performance really.
That said I wasn't especially happy with myself, I felt unfocused, and only really started to find direction when we came to the end. Judge for yourself though:
It was a fun night nonetheless, and good to be performing again. I really enjoy the process of improvising. It's a very different mode from everyday life, your brain works a lot quicker, your attention jumping between different points of focus (the overall sound, the sounds you're making now, what else is happening, where you might go next, considerations of the space and its acoustics, and the audience), and your sense of time is thoroughly blown.
*Some of this may be down to the anxiety and depression that made 2012 crash so badly partway through. The consequent lack of exercise, hibernation, and generally not getting out much seem to have depleted my energy. It's gradually getting better, but still sometimes an effort to motivate myself.
**If you care, the 'thinking' behind this name is here. The core of which is:
Home was a reference point for much of the workshop discussions (second home, feeling at home, home of great work) and following discussions with staff and stakeholders it emerged as one of the strongest possible names for the organisation.
It evokes accessibility, welcome and warmth, connection, a sense of ownership and personal relationships – all of which came out in the workshops as essential to the atmosphere and character of the new organisation.
Based on what we heard from audiences in the workshops and some of the discussions we had with staff, we also wanted to avoid anything that tried too hard, that came across as pretentious, convoluted or overworked or that needed a lot of explanation.
I have no words. The laziness of this, the implicit recognition that you're losing two strong and recognised (albeit site-specific) brands, the fact that it sounds like a pretentious hipster pub/coffee shop or a wannabe iconic office development makes me really fear for the future of both organisations.
Not massively busy, but more going on than there has been for a while. It starts on the Saturday.
This was Enemies of The North, part of Steven Fowler's year-long Enemies Project. It was held in the Cornerhouse Annexe which I'd never been in before. It's a good small space, at least until Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre move to their new joint base (the crappily named Home**) some time next year, apparently.
Back to the point, a large number of mainly Northwest based poets performed in a variety of collaborative formats.
There were 13 performances in all, linked below, all available through Steven's YouTube channel, and also linked from his blog of the event:
Steven Fowler & Tom Jenks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irfwTDwvGw
Sarah Crewe & Jo Langton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-LAMzfX1Y
Zoe Skoulding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-UHv9lFaxU
David Kelly & Daniele Pantano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkyqvxzUS1E
Matt Dalby & Steven Waling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBg1bC4bY1Y
Steven Fowler & Chris McCabe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96MDy8FUBCs
James Byrne & Sandeep Parmar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm9I2Odu85A
Alec Newman & Ryan Van Winkle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9BJI1b7mqE
Richard Barrett & Nathan Thompson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f87q-6KCGvY
Adam Steiner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4W8GlnLnOM
Steven Fowler & Marcus Slease http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k50ZyucJXb0
Chris McCabe & Tom Jenks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElDk44meVVU
Ben Morris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XtlJmiwfs
Highlights for me were Sarah Crewe and Jo Langton, David Kelly and Daniele Pantano's film, Steven Fowler and Marcus Slease, Chris McCabe and Tom Jenks, and sound artist Ben Morris at the end. But don't take that as your cue to ignore anything, there wasn't a weak performance really.
That said I wasn't especially happy with myself, I felt unfocused, and only really started to find direction when we came to the end. Judge for yourself though:
It was a fun night nonetheless, and good to be performing again. I really enjoy the process of improvising. It's a very different mode from everyday life, your brain works a lot quicker, your attention jumping between different points of focus (the overall sound, the sounds you're making now, what else is happening, where you might go next, considerations of the space and its acoustics, and the audience), and your sense of time is thoroughly blown.
*Some of this may be down to the anxiety and depression that made 2012 crash so badly partway through. The consequent lack of exercise, hibernation, and generally not getting out much seem to have depleted my energy. It's gradually getting better, but still sometimes an effort to motivate myself.
**If you care, the 'thinking' behind this name is here. The core of which is:
Home was a reference point for much of the workshop discussions (second home, feeling at home, home of great work) and following discussions with staff and stakeholders it emerged as one of the strongest possible names for the organisation.
It evokes accessibility, welcome and warmth, connection, a sense of ownership and personal relationships – all of which came out in the workshops as essential to the atmosphere and character of the new organisation.
Based on what we heard from audiences in the workshops and some of the discussions we had with staff, we also wanted to avoid anything that tried too hard, that came across as pretentious, convoluted or overworked or that needed a lot of explanation.
I have no words. The laziness of this, the implicit recognition that you're losing two strong and recognised (albeit site-specific) brands, the fact that it sounds like a pretentious hipster pub/coffee shop or a wannabe iconic office development makes me really fear for the future of both organisations.
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