Let the sweeps begin!

Emma Huggins

Our first sweep took place in studio 2 as planned. We mapped out the 4×3 space and made it into a grid. We did 3 different sweeps, one where we drew around body parts, this put into context for us how crammed and condensed the bodies must have been to fit into the space. The second grid we wrote things about ourselves, where we lived, our parents names, where we live and have lived before ect. instead of seeing what we could find within the grid like a normal forensic sweep, we instead contaminated it with information about ourselves. The third time we drew out the grid we wrote information about our process, the key facts and figures such as 67 bodies, 37 Monks Road ect.

In the studio we set the lights to see what it was like in terms of a performance space. I like the idea of havng the footage recorded today playing at the same time as we map out the grid ourselves live.

The images below show the lighting and atmosphere we created in Studio 2.

Our second sweep took place on Monks Road, as you can see from the images above.

We positioned our camera facing number 37 and repeated the 4×3 grid as normal this time however, we got members of the public to write things about themselves, what they were doing, where they were going, their names and how they were feeling and we wrote key data about our performance in there too combining 2 of the grids performed in studio 2. We were dressed in our suits and full forensic gear for both of these sweeps.

In both sweeps we filmed from different angles creating different perspectives.

Our third sweep took place on west common. This time instead of contaminating the grids with our traces, we searched for other peoples traces. Our findings will be displayed in our live writing from the sweep, and in the grid we plan to fill with research.

Word Count: 313

Exposing Lincoln

Emma Huggins

The decision has been made, that as a group we will be ‘forensic sweeping’ Lincoln. We are going to take our 4×3 space and grid it out in various locations around Lincoln to see what we can expose. The sweeps will contain various role changes. Someone will be live writing throughout the whole process, typing what they can see, hear, smell and what they feel. We aim to then take this live writing to our performance and project it whilst the footage of the sweep is being shown.

We have set the target for 5 sweeps in 5 different locations, (though depending to camera loan time, this may change). The exact locations of the sweeps are still in query, however some interesting locations we have come up with so far include, Monks road – close to the place of the original excavation, West or South common, Studio 2 – the place where the footage will be played, and possibly the old medieval graveyard on Rosemary Lane.

What we do once we have created these ‘forensic scenes’ is not yet decided, we may ask for audience participation, we may ignore the fact that there are members of the public around, secluding ourselves even though we can be seen, it will not be clear to people what we are doing again relating to the aspect of the unknown.

An idea that has occurred is the idea of presenting all our research in one place, the grid, (this would have to be performed in studio 2). The idea that Pearson suggests of everything being “potentially important” (Pearson, 2010, P.g 36) in reference to our research is great. Even our very first idea of exploring the Kerr Pattern Building on Rosemary Lane is important, though it may have no relevance now, it is how we came across the excavation in the first place. The notion of its potential importance would be strained by the audience, if we crammed all of our research into one place it would create an uncertainty for our audience, they would know the paper and the videos, and the books would have some relevance but it would be up to them to make their own link.

When undertaking a forensic investigation, is there a certain procedure to be followed? do we have to wear a uniform? What do we do with what we find, once we have found it? – will it be preserved, or put back in its original place? A few things we need to think about and possibly ask Dr Ron Dixon when we meet with him again.

Word Count: 422

Works Cited:

Pearson, Mike: Site Specific Performance: Palgrave MacMillan

 

The Performance Proposal

Emma Huggins

Name:
Emma Huggins


 Email:
steffydoe@hotmail.com, emmahuggins92@gmail.com, charliecryan@hotmail.co.uk, ellierichards1@hotmail.co.ukemmarae@hotmail.co.uk

Title of your Project: Four by Three

Please describe your proposed work in no more than 50 words:

We are exploring the 2003-4 excavation of37 Monks Road, the forensic elements which were involved, the merging of sites and the layers of history. We are doing an audio/visual based performance in studio 2 collaborating film, interview, statistics, the theory of Derrida and the traces we leave behind.

Tell us what you plan to do and provide a sketch of the ideas behind the work: (250 words)

Upon researching our original site Rosemary Lanewe found an extract in Andrew Walker’s Monks Road: Lincoln’s East End Through Time which led us to the excavation. From here we found the measurements and a number of skeletons buried in the cellar of37 Monks Road. This was also connected to a murder in 2002 which happened at35 Monks Road and was the reason for the forensic excavation at number 37. We also wanted to explore the connection this created of deaths through time. We contacted Dr Ron Dixon who is a professor of forensic science at theUniversity ofLincoln who worked on the excavation. There is a wealth of resources available to us to do with the excavation such as bones, video footage and photographs which enabled us to create a very focussed site specific performance. After initial research we began to consider how we would use these elements in our performance. We started by concentrating on the four by three area and the borders that this created. The borders between life and death, past and present and the physical and spiritual. Due to the nature of our performance we wanted to merge all the fragments of research and connect to people’s perspectives of a place. We were encouraged to explore the numbers involved such as the number of bodies found, house numbers, the years, the area, the ages of the bodies etc. After our research in the archives and our interview with Ron Dixon we had the idea of typing a transcript of facts, thoughts and experiences in a verbatim style. We chose to base this in studio 2 to create an installation piece, projecting film and audio around the room creating a different perspective of a space to an audience. We are also thinking of performing a forensic sweep of studio 2 to signal the start of our performance.

Tell us about your target audience, and how your work will interact with them: (150 words)

Our target audience is students, locals and those interested in history. This performance would not be suitable for children due to its complexity, exposure to human bones and the exploration of the theme of death. We are considering taping off an area to contain the audience in someway and then introduce them into the performance space and challenge their perspectives.

When and where do you propose to present your work: (location, date and time)

Our performance will be in studio 2 on Saturday the 5thMay at 1.04pm (67 bodies / 5 group members) and may last 2 hours.

Provide a project timetable detailing key targets and actions between now and the presentation of your work. Include Permissions, Materials, Health and Safety checks where applicable: (250 words)

Between now and our performance we are arranging another meeting with Dr Ron Dixon to finalise permissions for borrowing materials such as bones and excavation footage. We are in contact with Darren Page (LPAC Technical Team) to borrow a camera to film footage of Monks Roadoutside the house where the excavation takes place. As the house is currently student accommodation we will seek permission from the residents prior to filming and may also ask them if they know anything about the excavations. In order to do this we will need to fill out a risk assessment for borrowing the camera and for the performance. We are thinking of perhaps borrowing forensic equipment or purchasing it ourselves.

List the equipment and materials you will need to deliver your project (and how you will source them)

Camera – LPAC Darren Page permission through email and risk assessment.“Mobygo” Projector – LPAC Darren Page permission through email.Laptop – Our own.Microphone – LPAC Darren Page permission through email.

Bones and video footage – Dr Ron Dixon, Science Building University of Lincoln permissions through email.

SD Card for camera footage – Our own.

 

Give details of your project budget (though be aware that there is no Module budget so any expenses will, unfortunately, have to be borne by you alone).

We may need to source some forensic equipment.

Audience suitability: is there anything in your work we may need to make audiences aware of (eg. Swearing, nudity, flashing lights etc)?

We will need to inform people that we will be using human bones and exploring the theme of death.

 

Include a brief artist’s statement that describes you and your work (100 words)

We want to create a piece designed to challenge and enlighten an audience’s perspective on a place which would otherwise have been overlooked.

Provide any images, plans, maps or other materials that support your proposal.

http://www.fourbythree.webs.com/ – our advertising web page, created by ourselves

http://www.facebook.com/events/175802349209904/ – our Facebook event page, where we will invite friends and family this is a photo from the original excavation.

Word Count: 869

Bibliography:

Photo from the excavation http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/images/skeletons3.jpg

Just a thought…

Emma Huggins

We have had the idea of merging sites linking back to our original idea of boarders. By merging sites I refer to the link between three eras, the Medieval, linking to original graveyard, the Victorian era where the majority of people were strict Christians and had a “fanatical obsession with death”. (Hunter, 2000)

In terms of performance, an idea that we had was recreating the 4×3 space on Monks Road for the public to see for themselves. We have decided to focus on the forensic elements of the excavation. We are aiming to challenge the audiences perspective on a place which would have otherwise been over looked. By presenting an audience with something new, it will be interesting to see their reactions. In order to film outside of Monks road we will need permission from the home owner/ occupier.

In terms of ‘the forensics’ we will look at the traces of what has been left behind. In his Theatre/ Archaeology writing Mike Pearson Suggests that “Every contact leaves a trace”. (Pearson, 2001) We will be exploiting this idea throughout our piece.

At this point in time we are not looking for a narrative, liner structure. We will be sticking by our original idea of visual and audio based piece, however we have now thought about including live writing and some live performance from us.

 

Word Count: 224

 

Works cited

Hunter, Lyn: 2000 http://berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2000/04/05/death.html

Pearson, Mike, 2001 Theatre/ Archaeology, London:Routledge

Eureka!

Emma Huggins

The buildings on Rosemary Lane were proving too difficult to find any background information on – the archives didn’t host much information in terms of the Lane or the Kerr Pattern Building.

We did however discover that the house the excavation took place within was number 37 Monks Road. We have decided to pursue with this idea to see what opportunities it hosts. Andrew Walker states that “Between July 2003 and January 2004, excavations were undertaken to recover some human skeletons from a medieval cemetery on Monks Road. The skeletons were found in the cellar of a house next door to the scene of a recent murder and the owner of the property had to be assured that the bones discovered during an operation to lay damp proofing course were really 800 years old” in his book Monks Road, Lincoln’s East End Through Time. 

Through our research, we found that an Editor to Walkers Monks Road, Lincoln’s East End Through Time, Dr. Ron Dixon, is a senior lecturer at the university and was also a manager of the excavation that we are researching. We are going to look into this more and Ellie has arranged an interview with him at a later date. He had given us permission to record this interview in case we wish to use it in our performance.

In finding this excavation, as a group we began to ask ourselves ‘what actually goes on behind closed doors and how well do we actually know Lincoln?’. There things that happen around us that we don’t even know about. What would happen if we presented these ideas to an audience? It would be interesting to see how they react to such things and see how they interpret them.

After having our interview with Ron (Which I was unable to attend) Steph Doe kindly posted it onto youtube and here is the final product:

 

Word Count: 315

Andrew Walker, http://view.digi-page.net/books/7020/7020.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=6uvJNMMyQUM