Witnessing the Event / Capturing the Particular by Compass Live Art

Witnessing the Event / Capturing the Particular: Compass Live Art Symposium, 2011 Sarah Spanton Published by East Street Arts, Leeds for Compass Live Art, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-906470-10-4 ÂŠ Sarah Spanton 2013

Contents

Introduction

Compass Festival of Live Art

Definitions used during the Symposium

Politics of Access

Intimacy & Generosity

Sensing the City

Intentions & Un-intentions

Text from Auditeur in Residence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gillian Dyson

Biographies of Guest Contributors

Introduction Compass Live Art Symposium - 25-27 Nov 2011, Leeds Compass Symposium was a long weekend of engaging reflection and discussion on live art in the public realm and live art as socially engaged practice, led by Sarah Spanton, director of Waymarking. The delegates and Guest Contributors (those invited to facilitate and lead the sessions) were practitioners, academics, curators and programmers from a range of disciplines including performance, fine art, geography and architecture. At the Symposiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart was a series of active, participatory workshopdiscussions around four core themes; Politics of Access, Intimacy & Generosity, Sensing the City and Intentions & Un-intentions. These were accompanied by an additional complementary programme of activities. The Symposium took place within the context of the Compass Live Art Programme developed and managed by Compass Consortium; Annie Lloyd, Sarah Spanton / Waymarking and Karen Watson / East Street Arts. The Symposium took place alongside the Compass Festival of Live Art. Witnessing the Event / Capturing the Particular As director of the Symposium, my role since the event has been to sift 1 through the myriad threads of thinking that took place over the three days. To take these individual filaments 2 and to edit 3 or assemble them into a form for people to read and look at; a form that can be simultaneously a record of and an interpretation of some of the dialogue, discussion and ideas that took place.

To do this I’ve constructed or woven the filaments into several highly subjective pieces of word-filigree 4, using some of the threads of recorded text gathered from each individual workshop-discussion. A mass of text came to me after the Symposium in the form of notes scribed during discussion, delegate reflections on post-its, or Guest Contributors’ summary notes made on flipcharts during the sessions. I have directly used only a fraction, but it has all informed the resulting reflections presented here. Many best wishes, Sarah Spanton

sift / sift/ vt … b to separate or separate out (as if) by passing through a sieve; to study or examine so as to pick out the best or most valuable; screen 2a to study or investigate thoroughly; probe, scrutinize ... (1984), Longman Dictionary of the English Language. 2 filament /’fil_m_nt/ n a single thread or thin flexible thread-like object or part: … (1984), Longman Dictionary of the English Language. 3 edit / edit/ vt … b to assemble (e.g. a film or tape recording) by cutting and rearranging c to alter, adapt, or refine (e.g. written or spoken words) esp to bring about conformity to a standard or to suit a particular purpose … (1984), Longman Dictionary of the English Language. 4 filigree / filigree/ vt or n (to decorate with) a lacy ornamental work of fine wire or gold, silver, or copper welded or soldered to form the desired shapes and sometimes affixed to an underlying metal surface b a delicate, esp intricate pattern or design. (1984), Longman Dictionary of the English Language. 1‘

Compass Festival of Live Art The Compass Festival of Live Art 25 - 27 November 2011 was a weekend of live art events across the city of Leeds, which aimed to engage as many people as possible and bring new people into contact with live art. The Festival was produced and curated by Annie Lloyd, and examined art in the public realm and socially engaged practice. The Festival was mostly located in public places where the work unfolded over a considerable period of time so people didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to commit to being anywhere on the dot, nor did they need to book in advance. Often people came across the work as they went about their usual business and most of it was free. Anyone who wanted, including Symposium attenders, could see everything in a day and durational practice predominated. The programme included Reckless Sleepers, Forced Entertainment, Oliver Bray with Mark Flischer, Jenny Lawson, Simon Persighetti and Katie Etheridge, Brian Lobel, Janek Schaefer, Grace Surman and Catherine Butterworth and Third Angel. The Symposium and Festival were the culmination of the 18 month first phase of a project to strengthen the live art sector in Yorkshire and The Humber. The aims are to further develop and sustain the ambitions, diversity and vitality of the art form through infrastructure development between practitioners, programmers and Education Institutions by undertaking a unique series of programming initiatives and a professional development programme.

Definitions used during the Symposium In order to facilitate discussion between professionals from a range of disciplines during the Symposium, we ‘loosely’ defined some terms used, more to create a joint framework to discuss within, rather than to tightly fix down meaning. Live Art ‘Whether challenging orthodoxies of fine art practice, exploring the limits of theatricality, appropriating the idioms of mass culture, pushing at the boundaries of choreographic conventions or exploring the performativity of cyberspaces, Live Art practices occupy all kinds of mediums in a volatile state’. From Fluid Landscapes in Live Culture at Tate Modern Catalogue, Live Art Development Agency 2003 Socially Engaged Practice • • • • • • •

Focused on communities defined by place Making a significant contribution to the interrogation of what society or ‘the social’ may mean In the social realm In social space In social contexts as opposed to art institutions Directly engaging non-artists in making work Taking the social as subject or modus operandi

Public Realm ‘We wanted artists to look at public sites as the locus between art, artists and society in its broadest sense’. From Foreword: The Leeds Situation by Kerry Harker, Situation Leeds 2005 Catalogue “Contemporary artists have a role to play alongside the urban planners, regional geographers, and academics. It is artists working to their own agendas and briefs who question, challenge and engage with a variety of communities and sometimes dormant aspects of city life.” From Essay : Republic / Anti-Republic by Karen Watson and Emma Bolland, Situation Leeds 2005 Catalogue

POLITICS OF ACCESS

This workshop-discussion asked the question what are the politics of access? It unpacked both sides of this theme; physical access to public space and community access to socially engaged practice. It enquired into issues such as; • • • •

Who are the protagonists? In what ways do communities engage or not? Cultural venues and public space Live art as a radical activist practice

Guest Contributors were: Charlie Fox, Christian Nold and Richard Sobey.

Marginal peoples Who is marginalised constantly? Who is marginalised in certain situations? How do we know? Who is invisible?

Knowledge is social Access to knowledge Getting knowledge Exploring ideas Gaining power Access to power ‘Power with’ not ‘power over’ or replacing power holders Giving access vs. getting access Everybody theoretically has access to knowledge, but who does ‘really’ – who feels excluded from access to knowledge? Engagement Allows people to ask questions Does it do this? Do they need power to be in a position to ask questions in the first place?

Placenessness:- non-spaces

social mapping working to understand intentions of a space perceptions of a space performative readings

Public space is defined by access, ownership, use, purpose Different types of public space – shared, vacant, hidden A VOID doesn’t constitute a public space? As it’s not free and open for public use… The character of a space changes under a variety of different stimuli / occurrences – time of day, who’s there, who’s not there etc

New Publics Individuals brought together in this shared experience Who is excluded / included ‘Expert’ vs. ‘Facilitating a process’ Collaborative models Are we actually collaborating? Responsibility – who takes this? Who is given it? How do we handle it?

Witnessing – Feeling and seeing Personally, emotionally involved Witnessing the event, capturing the particular Map of emotion

Politics of the accident

Not showing emotion in public place – moving to being open emotionally

Political on purpose vs by accident

Behaviour in ‘public’ space Acting outside what is expected Creating confusion

Spaces are policed – the police Who else is policing space? Invading a space, questioning expectations

Unwritten rules of what is allowed – in a space; and what is allowed with the use of the physical body

The social space as a battleground

Creating outbursts What is acceptable? Normalisation Monoculture Why is it acceptable to vomit/pee at some times and not others (Friday night vs art)?

INTIMACY & GENEROSITY This workshop-discussion asked the overarching question of how does intimacy and generosity in socially engaged practice shift our perceptions of ourselves and each other? This session explored the inter-relationship between the intimate in performance, the unknown in socially engaged practice, the action of generosity and one to one and small group works. Guest Contributors were: Rajni Shah, Renny Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shea and Richard Gregory and Rachel Zerihan.

I feel emptiness after the workshop. As if something was revealed. I think generosity brings this feeling â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of giving away/sharing and it seems that it opens doors for movement to happen. Any movement to become.

I am transparent, you are transparent You take me beyond myself You are a mystery to me

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT? TOUCH Unwanted GIFT ONE WHOLE BODY IN A SMALL SPACE

I think people underestimate the power of intimacy because people so often think that being ‘open’ with someone is a form of weakness. Intimacy is selective, generosity through courage. RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN ENCOUNTERS THAT ENCOURAGE INTIMACY SOCIAL = PERSONAL CONT (R) ACT WHO’S IN CONTROL CONNECTION IS A POLITICAL act 24

I have a problem with the word generosity because it reminds me that to give is considered to be something special and not natural. It reminds me of a boundary which is cultural. Do we feel the need to perform or invite generosity because there is not enough around? Does it mean that we need intimacy with strangers? Intimacy is different from kindness, isn’t it? Do we need to be intimate with everybody? INTIMACY OR JUST A CONVINCING PERFORMANCE? Which to ask for - PERMISSION? (BEFORE) or FORGIVENESS (AFTER) IN ONE TO ONE IS THERE AN AUDIENCE? How much can you expect of an audience member? Audience What do you want from them? What do you want their experience to be? What do they want? How do you know? Do the audience have to give something back for art to “work”? What is the framework / context around the performance and how does that impact on intimacy? TRANS/ACTION - HOW DOES $ COME INTO THIS? CONFESSION - I FIND MUCH ONE-ON-ONE WORK INFANTILE 25

SENSING THE CITY

This workshop-discussion asked how do sensorial interventions into the city allow us to re-conceptualise these spaces and the act of performance? With awareness of our different roles - city-dweller, worker, visitor, artist, curator, place-maker, academic, theorist... it explored areas such as: how this work impacts on our understanding of the city, investigating whether the city itself performs and if it does - how does the performing city intersect with live art practice? Guest Contributors were: Sue Ball, Bob Levene and Bradley L. Garrett.

Height Direction Intersection Size

Performative collective action Just being silent Engaging other senses - smell, taste, touch Correlation between sound + movement The art of listening - tuning body Shut down verbal communication

Taking on role of performer + audience

Subjected to city + perform with city Stopping in space creates sense of ownership Private/public spaces - what behaviour is allowed Edges of subversion 30

POLITICAL FRAYED EDGES

How can interventions be made more visible + active? …gendered Transgression Is what allowed us to perceive ourselves in the city +, the city itself…? How literary the city is The meaninglessness of journeying becoming the meaning of the journey Difficult to stay ‘out of yourself’ in these spaces we have made.

Skidding idling revving Hardly any voices â&#x20AC;&#x153;Silent or mute cityâ&#x20AC;? ... just cars and buses and the odd bird Sensing geometry Phasing sounds rushing in layers against the walls of buildings Like water, waves ebb and flow. Like streams of roads. How loud the sounds of nature can be in a city Three aeroplanes Two birds

TILES UNDER TAR STONE, UNDER PLASTER, GOING DOWN, NO SENSE OF DIRECTION. IN MEMORY FOR ALL THOSE FROM ALL NATIONS. PRIME TIME PLEASE WIPE YOUR FEET. TEMPLAR LANE PRIVE PROPERTY.

Tortuous routes encourage free thinking

INTENTIONS & UN-INTENTIONS

In a live art in the public realm framework where the artist has intentions, and then the un-intentional takes place - what is the relationship between the intentional and the un-intentional? When does a project begin and when does it end? Who are the audience and who are the participants? What impacts does site have on this work? This workshop-discussion brought both curatorial and architect perspectives to the debate. Guest Contributors were: Ilana Mitchell and Carolyn Butterworth.

Do intentions change to accommodate outcome? How do you know when the question has been answered? When you’ve done enough asking – do you know the end articulation? Is this the same as the answer? Is the answer in the “route”?

‘Growing’ architecture from live encounter Conceiv(ing) of the built environment as a volatile, in-flux condition Started off just wanting to measure difference; …the experience became important Experiencing the city in a different way – you think that you are observing the city but you are being observed

“We’re only trying to have a conversation” – “You need an event license”

Participation is happening in architecture but on a superficial level – it’s not about a sense of identity with a building or evolution of use – a fundamental shift is needed to speak more about the process. 42

Socially engaged architecture practice: requires the active participation of the architect in a social process of design Without community to influence architecture, does it become bland and take over the city? Ownership of space by the people that use it Design of building demands certain performance from those who use it Expanding site and architecture beyond the physical How malleable is a building? Using a building in a dysfunctional way

The public realm: Is where people encounter or are visible to the other people they share their cities or towns with Is the space that people feel they have a communal right to Is where the intersection between the individual and the communal becomes apparent

This text was originally read as a performative score.

Once Upon a Time … once, not over and over, once. If you were not there you missed it. It happened once. On a time, not any time - this time - now…. Now …. Now… Not there, or there, but here. We cannot go back. We cannot un-know. This is a special occasion. A coming together. A celebration perhaps. An act of worship. It is Sunday after all. A beginning and an ending. Or just a hiatus? We pause, in a void space between departure and destination. We look for the cracks in the pavement, the gaps in the walls where we can lodge thoughts and messages. Like notes left by the ‘GeoCacher’ we seek to leave a trace of ourselves amongst the ghost voices of others. We know that someone else is there but we just can’t see them. I don’t really know what I am doing. I’ve thrown together thoughts and actions and expression in the hope that something, one thing, makes sense to you and to me in all of this. I don’t know how much or how little to say. I sit in a circle with people I have not even been introduced to, and am expected to talk about intimacy. Our aural and oral are the only processing mechanisms allowed. It is about ‘being here’; the temporal space is not suggested to stretch beyond the here and now. 46

Over the forty-eight hours I find pleasure in the realization that these are not strangers but the live embodiment of people I already knew through books or Internet, art or education, or just by association. Each of us has taken bearings and navigated to a locus point, which helps us to define before setting out once again on our journey. The locus is about control. The locus is about position. The locus is about satisfying a set of conditions. Visualizing the point at which the parameters change. The locus is the place in the body of entrance and exit. The locus is the crossing point. We have talked about City and access. We have talked about intimacy about intention. We have talked about sensing. I wonder where these themes or concepts begin and end, meet and dissipate? We explore the urban together. We explore a city “built quickly and badly” 1 . We watch as the solid melts into air, and the city reveals itself as no-place. “Each time he took a walk, he felt as though he were leaving himself behind, and by giving himself up to the movement of the streets, by reducing himself to a seeing eye, he was able to escape the obligation to think, and this, more than anything else, brought him a measure of peace, a salutary emptiness within...By wandering aimlessly, all places became equal and it no longer mattered where he was. On his best walks he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally was all he ever asked of things: to be nowhere.” 2 Paul Auster

I want to make theatre, but not be theatre. I want to make exhibition but not be an exhibitionist â&#x20AC;&#x201C; nor to be an exhibit. I want to create privacy in the public and yet take part in the collective. I want to agitate the still and yet create quiet in the roused. I want to make words from the inarticulate and yet to create incoherence from the literary. I am interested in figure ground. The process that is used by planners and architects to critique or criticize the void spaces. I am interested in the figure ground, the image of buildings by urban explorers that feature a lone, silhouetted person as omnipotent over a new Gotham. I am interested in figure ground. The people who leave traces in a 2, 3, 4 dimension morphology that puts the sense of place in constant flux.

I wanted to make a bit of a show - a bit of a fuss. I want to create a special event, a memorable day. I wanted to dress it up a bit. I want you to remember me, and for me to take your responses and echo them again and again to new faces. As I sit here to write I notice the people around me forming some kind of collaborative grouping. With the application of a laminated A3 sign to a door, a room for business meeting becomes a room for worship. The Foursquare Gospel Church is being. The transit space that I am attempting to call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;work placeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is becoming a place of spirituality and speaking in tongues. I consider again the notion of generosity. I wonder if a live art act can ever be truly altruistic? Or indeed that any act of generosity can be without reciprocation. 48

I think of Hyde’s research on The Gift and consider the awful consequence of the misunderstanding of reciprocity in gifting. As Hyde himself quotes from Joseph Conrad in the preface to his 1883 work: “The artist appeals to that part of our being... which is a gift and not an acquisition— and, therefore, more permanently enduring.” 3

The art of it is the gift of words, of food, of dance, of paint. Art is taken into hotel rooms and courtrooms, up towers and on pavements. This is liminal – crossing a threshold between shifting planes. There is no going back. So I thought I would make an effort. Make a difference. Distinguish myself from the ordinary. But actually, when I walked through the city, from the palace of Kings, from stories told, I did not think I was distinctive at all. In fact, the theatre of actions that was happening all around was just as challenging, edgy, disturbing as what was happening in stage. More so perhaps. Access to, and transgression in this city is through music and alcohol and sex, and costume and consumerism. The city has body, it is corporeal. These are just some people – you don’t know who they are, they just came into the situation.

Are we owners or dis-owners? Are we users or ab-users? Are we safe or un-safe?

“The artist’s job is to stay alive and awake in the space between conviction and certainties. The truth in art exists in the tension between contrasting realities. You try to find shapes that embody current ambiguities and uncertainties. Whilst resisting certainty, you try to be as lucid and exact as possible from the state of imbalance and uncertainty. You act from a direct experience of the environment.” 4 Anne Bogart I am rejecting mimetic strategies and concentrating on being real. I am interested in all the individuals, the ones. I am interested in congregation. I am interested in the invisible threads and the lines of desire and the visceral traces. To do this we must simultaneously be actor and witness. In the spirit of the seventeenth century philosopher and physicist Robert Boyle, we share this act of affirmation – that is – if you saw it too it must be true. So then. How can this shift in perception be extended, expanded in temporal or geographic space to become more ‘permanent’ more real?

Perhaps the act of transgression is not about movement then, but about stillness. Permission is given to locate the body in space. To stop. To belong.

Stasis is an act of resistance, not because it ‘does nothing’ but rather that it reveals the internal disturbance, reveals the modes for proceeding. Power to access. Power to share. Live encounter forces you to augment or be critical of the established. In a sense then the city is a mnemonic – reminding us through a set of codes or ciphers what we are, who we are, where we go, what we do. It does not dictate these actions necessarily, merely reminds us that this is what does / or can happen or be. What can be possible? “Something happens …and then it goes on happening forever. It can never be changed, can never be otherwise.” 5 Paul Auster

Bauman, I. & Warren, S. (2008), How to be a Happy Architect. London: Black Dogs. Auster, P. (2004), City of Glass, New York: Penguin Books. 3 Hyde, L. (1983), The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World, USA: Random House. 4 Bogart, A. (2007), And Then You Act: Making Art in the Unpredictable World, Oxon: Routledge. 5 Auster, P. (2004), City of Glass, New York: Penguin Books. 1

BIOGRAPHIES OF GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

POLITICS OF ACCESS Charlie Fox Charlie Fox is artistic director of counterproductions. counterproductions brings together artists, artistic practices, the public and non-professional producers in collaborative projects to generate new artistic culture, which is informed by and reforms contemporary artistic culture; creating work that offers the potential of an art for all by conjoining art practice, theory and method, to a street level understanding and appreciation of artistic expression. counterproductions collaborates in cultural exchange that investigate the cross-contamination between politics and aesthetics, art and the everyday. Current projects and collected activities include CGTV, The Communist Gallery, and DerCentreDerSpace (Marseille 2013). www.counterproductions.me www.decentrederspace.org Christian Nold Christian studied Fine Art (BA, 1999) at Kingston University. In 2001 he wrote the book ‘Mobile Vulgus’ and subsequently studied Interaction Design (MA, 2004) at the Royal College of Art. Since then he has been a lecturer and artist organising large scale participatory mapping projects in many countries across the world. In 2010, Christian launched an experimental complimentary currency the Bijlmer Euro and in 2011 co-wrote the book ‘Internet of People for a Post-Oil world’ which offers a vision of socio-technical tools for collective grassroots reshaping of the environment. Christian is a PhD student in the Extreme Citizen Science Group at University College London. www.softhook.com

Richard Sobey As Executive Producer, Richard manages internationally renowned IOU with Artistic Director David Wheeler, creating work across a variety of media for international contexts, including outdoor and indoor touring theatre productions, site-specific events, interactive digital works, video and sound installations and exhibitions. He works regularly in China, producing projects and developing networks and conferencing to support international dialogue in arts and urban planning. Richard is also a freelance international consultant, specialising in creative strategic planning, organisational and project development/management and public space development. www.ioutheatre.org

INTIMACY & GENEROSITY Renny Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shea & Richard Gregory Quarantine was set up in 1998 by directors Richard Gregory and Renny Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shea and designer Simon Banham. They work with a shifting constellation of collaborators and make theatre and other public events, with a commitment to both exploring performance form and influencing social change. Past work has included family parties, radio broadcasts and journeys in the dark for one person at a time - as well as performances on stage for audiences in seats. Quarantine are based in Salford. www.qtine.com

Rajni Shah Rajni has been creating and directing original performance work since 1999. Her work ranges from large-scale performance installations made through an indepth collaborative process to small solo interventions in public spaces. She is a quiet voice of change, creating and curating visually engaging performances, interventions and writings that open up space for conversation and the meeting of diverse voices. Recent performances include Mr Quiver, Dinner with America, and Glorious, a loose trilogy of performance installations addressing the complexities of cultural identity in the 21st century; and the series small gifts, a three-year enquiry into the relationship between gift and conversation in public space. www.rajnishah.com Rachel Zerihan Rachel teaches Theatre and Performance at the University of Sheffield. She developed an interest in ‘One to One’ performance when writing her doctoral thesis ‘Catharsis in Works of Contemporary Female Performance’ (Roehampton University, 2009). Recent projects include a Study Room Guide on ‘One to One Performance’ for The Live Art Development Agency (2008) and co-editing, with Maria X, a collection of works examining the use of technologies in contemporary performance practice - Interfaces of Performance (Ashgate, 2009). In 2007 she codirected with Maria X a three-day live and digital art programme exploring Intimacy: Across Visceral and Digital Performance out of which a collection of writings was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2012.

SENSING THE CITY Sue Ball Sue is a curator/producer and director of Media and Arts Partnership (MAAP), working in social and public settings for over 20 years. She has a particular interest in working across disciplines, specifically with sound and the social network as a context for cultural activism and has recently run a national interdisciplinary research programme Ways of Hearing; into the act of listening and the relationship of the listener to their world. She has worked with notable artists in the field of social practice and sound including Hans Peter Kuhn (Neville Street, Leeds 06/09); Bill Fontana (Birmingham University/ACE 05/07) and has coproduced a number of city festivals including Situation Leeds 05, and Expo Leeds 09 with Sound and Music, a four day programme of sonic art and experimental music in public space. www.maap.org.uk Bob Levene Bob Levene is an artist based in Sheffield & London. Her work manifests as recorded video & sound, performance, installations, films & photography, she is currently pondering (rather slowly) on Land Use, Infrastructure, Capitalism and Trees. She has presented work at ICA (London), Arnolfini (Bristol), Cornerhouse (Manchester), NGCA (Sunderland), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Wakefield), Kiasma (Helsinki), DCA (Dundee) and the BBC Radio 3 Cut & Splice Festival (London). She recently exhibited a new commission at National Media Museum (Bradford). She has been nominated for the Northern Art Prize and received an Arts Council Fellowship. Bob is an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. www.boblevene.co.uk

Bradley L. Garrett Bradley is a researcher in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Bradley conducted a 4-year research project with urban explorers in the United Kingdom, a group working to unveil areas of the urban environment normally hidden from view. Using photography and video, he trespassed with explorers into transportation, water, electricity, tunnel networks, skyscrapers and derelict buildings in London Las Vegas, Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis. His new book, Place Hacking: Tales of Urban Exploration, will be released by Verso in Fall 2013. www.bradleygarrett.com www.placehacking.co.uk

INTENTIONS & UN-INTENTIONS Carolyn Butterworth Carolyn teaches architecture design and theory at the University of Sheffield. She is a member of Agency, a research centre that explores activities related to transformative research into architectural education and practice. Her teaching and research focuses upon ways in which architects can learn from other site-specific disciplines such as installation and relational art, performance and archaeology to develop new ways of working with social, physical and political contexts. Her PhD by Design investigates the opportunities to redefine the site survey as a transformative and collaborative tool; focusing on performative survey techniques where potentialities of site are revealed by acting on site with other people. www.sheffield.ac.uk/architecture/research/agency/index www.sheffield.ac.uk/architecture/people/butterworth_c

Ilana Mitchell Ilana is creative director of Wunderbar, a festival of “contemporary performance, visual art and extraordinary happenings that puts audiences at the heart of the experience.” Involved from its earliest inception in 2007, Ilana led the research, development and delivery of the inaugural Wunderbar Festival in 2009, which completed its second edition in Newcastle 31st Oct - 6th November 2011. For Wunderbar, Ilana looks to work with artists who are interested in people, in audiences, and in creating dialogue, intrigue and action. She is interested in spontaneity and immediacy in a festival and works that have cultural and political urgency. www.wunderbarfestival.co.uk

AUDITEUR IN RESIDENCE Gillian Dyson Gillian Dyson makes live, video and installation art that address issues of site, body and memory. Her research is concerned with sense of place, and location of meaning in action or object. She is often commissioned to respond to the specifics of international performance festival, and frequently works in a site-specific condition; responding to the history and ambience of particular spaces and sites. Her international reputation includes commissions for ANTI Festival Finland, Visualeyez Canada and Vivid Birmingham. Her work is also informed by her professional engagement with members of the public in community contexts, with students, and in event management. She is based in Hull, is a Senior Lecturer in Performance with Leeds Met’ and member of the Board of Trustees for New Work Network. She undertook the role of Auditeur in Residence as part of her academic research as Senior Lecturer in Performance at Leeds Metropolitan University. www.gilliandyson.co.uk

THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Symposium couldn’t have taken place without the support of many individuals and organisations. Thanks to all those who took part and helped out. Thanks to: Compass Live Art - www.compassliveart.org.uk The Carriageworks and all their staff, East Street Arts, Annie Lloyd, Karen Watson, Arts Council England. All the Guest Contributors and Compass Live Art Associates: Sue Ball, Bob Levene, Bradley L. Garrett, Christian Nold, Charlie Fox, Richard Sobey, Rajni Shah, Renny O’Shea, Richard Gregory, Rachel Zerihan, Carolyn Butterworth, Ilana Mitchell, Gillian Dyson, OUI Performance, Victoria Firth (of Lawrence Batley Theatre), New Work Network (Orlagh Woods and Hester Reeve). Symposium Staff: Lorna Bird and Mohammed Adrees. Jonathan Turner (photographer). Volunteers who we really couldn’t have managed without: Alice Lord, Lisa Fallon, Natasha Glew, Tom Hammond, Ellie Harrison, Saskia Kalkreuter, Ellen Karran, Na Yeon Lee, Ben Mills, Hannah Jane Ord, Nadine Oswald, Lottie Rugg-Easey, Arthur Stafford, Katherine Stevens and Jaraslava Tomanova. And of course, the delegates themselves, without whom the conversations wouldn’t have taken place. The publication has been produced with the help of Clare Charnley and Paul Miller, through Leeds Creative Timebank – www.leedscreativetimebank.co.uk

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