Ballroom - update

I have managed through the architecture department in my university to find out the architects that are working on the Parker Street 11-17 transformation. I also managed to find the architectural drawings of how the apartments will look like and what they are planning to do. The more information I learn about before and after, the better it will be for me to build a connection with the space when I am in it. One of the architects that are working on the project informed me that they will ask the permission of the client and contractors for me to go forward with the idea. 

Now two weeks in, I have received a reply that both the client and the contractors are happy for me to visit the space and document it. This will be sometime in January, so I have time now to plan what I will be doing there as I will only have 3 hours. Although my original idea was to play ballroom music inside and film the space and the workers both from inside and outside, I think I might do other experimentations as well. I have been recently mapping myself in space I am in at the time, through writing and sound. So I might try it out in the ballroom space as well. I used the sound recording for other people to listen to in a gallery setting - where it was complete empty and where there wasn't any relationship with the outside world - and see if they follow the sound piece and step in the same direction as I did whilst recording it.

By looking into two artists Mierle Landerman Ukeles and Sophie Calle, I became quite conscious of my interest in the private and public spaces. What is private and what is public? Testing and exploring the boundary. Looking back at piece Inside Out where I swapped coats with people, it also had an element of testing the boundary between public and the private. Trying to get inside the old ballroom has an element of obsession and also tests the boundary. I will see what comes out of this experimentation in the ballroom and get as much recordings as possible. 

Along side the research about the ballrooms history I also tried to experiment elsewhere but still in relation to the ballroom. I have been listening to ballroom music and finding simple steps to learn. One of the ones I stumbled upon is called Box Step. I have filmed myself moving in a box, counting to keep up with the rhythm of the music. 

Slowly I have started to make these boxes in different places of university and observing people, how they engage with it.

Screenshot of the video from side Screenshot of the video from side Screenshot of the video - above

~Ev

Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art Works 1969-1980

"I am an artist. I am a woman. I am a wife. I am a mother. (Random order). 

I do a hell of a lot of washing, cleaning, cooking, renewing, supporting, preserving, etc. Also, (up to now separately) I 'do' Art. Now I will simply do these everyday things, and flush them up to consciousness, exhibit them, as Art."

(Ukeles,1969: 3).

Mierle Laderman Ukeles  born (Denver, USA in 1939) and is a New York based artist known for her feminist and everyday routine of life in artworks, which strongly relates to the idea of process in conceptual art. Ukeles through her Maintenance Art attempted to erase the boundary between art and life and created a practice that is pure from artistic sophistication. 

In 1969, after the birth of her first child, Ukeles started to become aware that she needs to divide her time between being a mother and being an artist. She became frustrated with this divide and this is how her Manifesto for Maintenance Art came about. The manifesto was written as a proposal for an exhibition titled Care. It is formed of two parts, in which clearly presence artist's views on the value of maintenance. She discusses differences between art and life, nature and culture, and public and private. In first part is titles 'IDEAS' Ukeles looks at maintenance and development within the context of art and personal life. The second part titles 'CARE' is the proposal for an exhibition based on ideas from part one. In her manifesto Ukeles states that 'Everything I say is Art is Art. Everything I do is Art is Art. ' (Ukeles, 1969: 2) It feels as though anything could be art. By saying so Ukeles erases the divide between art and life, exposing the aspects of personal life and rejects the traditional approach to art. It becomes pointless to try and relate her work to a piece of art because in this case one of the main concepts - blurring of life and art - contradicts this attempt to clearly categorize it. 

Ukeles first public performance was at Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford in 1979 which consisted of four acts. In Hartford Wash: Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Inside, the performance consisted of artist scrubbing, mopping and cleaning the floor of the museum the duration of four hours. In Hartford Wash: Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Outside, Ukeles cleaned the building's front steps. She took care of the spaces as her own, as she would take care of her own house. She describes these activities in her manifesto as 'floor paintings'. In Transfer: The Maintenance of the Art Object, Ukeles introduced her cleaning of a protective display case as a ‘dust works’. The Keeping of the Keys, was the fourth performance, where the artist went around with a set of guard keys, locking certain galleries, often with visitors still inside to highlight the behind the scenes services performed at a museum. 

For Ukeles the role of the artist is to empower people to act and change social values and norms. Art is not complete or fixed, it is an ongoing process that is connected with the everyday life.

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Outside

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Outside

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Outside

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance Inside

Through these performances Ukeles explores the tension between public and private spheres of life. She raises cleaning and other maintenance services to the same level as the displayed artworks and objects in the museum. Usually museums try to hide the jobs by doormen or caretakers from public view, making them invisible as well as the important work that they do. Ukeles highlights their importance and laborious work of everyday through her performances, experiencing these jobs first hand and appreciating what the workers do for the smooth operation of the museum everyday. 

~ Ev

Reece's Old Ballroom

12th November 
I have been interested in unusual/unique/abandoned spaces since visiting Williamson Tunnels and forming an exhibition there. Since then i was searching for a similar space, unusual/abandoned with history. I wasn't sure why. At first i though it was because i wanted to come up with another exhibition but then after my exploration of Liverpool i think i am interested in these spaces because they have memories imprinted in them, sounds, movement, people, events etc. I realised that i want to work with the space and its memories imprinted in the walls, to create a piece of work myself rather than organise an exhibition. By creating a piece of work for the space i want to highlight its history and purpose. Bring back its memories. 

I have recently been told by a friend that there is an old ballroom in city centre that is about to be converted into apartments. I decided to read more about it and see if i could find pictures of it. I also wanted to visit the space and see how i feel in it and what ideas might develop.

"City based developer, Caro Developments is preparing to transform the Parker Street neo-classical building into studio and one-bedroom apartments and has given a glimpse of the former venue’s remains.

Preparation work for the 91 new homes has uncovered more about the history of the building, where Beatles legend John married Cynthia in 1962.

Photographs, original tickets, dance cards and posters from Reece’s Ballroom were found including a leaflet advertising a beauty event which was attended by cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubenstein.

Caro Developments says it aims to stay true to the building’s original design when it refurbishes the upper floors and rooftop for the residential scheme, which will be situated above the street’s Superdrug store."  link to your move magazine

I have contacted Your Move Magazine who have passed my details along to a person who works with Caro Developers. Hopefully they will be open and happy for me to create a piece of work for the space. 

Reece's Ballroom as it is now:

Reece's Ballroom (before):

1934

John and Cynthia Lennon in 1962

A piece from The Liverpolitan Vol.13 No.12 pg.33, December 1948

''The tremendous increase in the number of devotes of the Terpsichorean art must be apparent to every social observer. At one time dancing was a form of recreation enjoyed almost exclusively by the middle and upper classes. That is not the case today for the art is practised by practically all. This is largely due to the new freedom which has found expression in a thousand different ways since the end of the Great War, and partly to the discovery on the part of many who were formerly prejudiced against dancing as a pastime that its pursuit is in no way detrimental to morality.

With characteristic foresight, when Messrs Reece embarked upon the erection of their magnificent restaurant in Parker St, they decided that the whole of the third floor should be laid out as a ballroom. From the pictures reproduced on this page it will be seen that it is spacious and airy. The spring floor is of the most modern construction and gives perfect enjoyment to the patrons. Another advantage is found in its easy accessibility from all parts.' 

18th November

I have been contacted by a person who works with Caro Developers from an The Foundary Agency, informing me that the work has already began at the site and i wouldn't be able to enter the space anyway due to health and safety rules. This hasn't put me off and i can work around that. 

My proposal for the space:

It is a space full of memories imprinted on the walls, full of history, people, dancing. It is a space in transition. I want to bring this forward. While the building is in the transition stage of becoming something else i want the sound of ballroom music to play for the last time. Whilst builders are working in the space i would want them to listen to ballroom music instead of their usual music that they would have played. With a chance for people to listen to it outside as well. Possibly speakers attached to the outside of the building, possibly for the duration of the transition until completion. This depends on if they like the idea and are willing to do this throughout or just for one day. 

24th November
I have contacted a general contact number the only one i could find linked with CARO. It wasn't CARO Developments however it was a previous project they have done - CARO Lettings at Bridewell Studios. It is proving hard to get a hold of CARO Developers themselves so i am trying another route through projects that they have already done. The route through the The Foundary Agency hasn't worked, a dead end. Just have been looked down on and shooed away. 

My next step would be to chat with an architect from university and see what is his opinion of how i should approach it.

25th November

I have found the architects that are working on the site - Falconer Chester Hall

link

~ Ev

Exploring - 12th November 2016

I walked around exploring Liverpool in search of interesting spaces and places that might inspire me in some way. I wasn't sure what i was looking for but decided to walk around places anyway. Whilst in a space i tried to figure out why it was interesting to me, what stood out and why.

These are the spaces i have found interesting in some way:

Stanley Dock

This place is frozen in time, empty and fragile. What i found interesting in this space is the sounds coming from somewhere inside. A repetitive sound of metal playing music with the wind. Although i couldn't get inside or even walk around the space because of the fence surrounding it, i could feel the atmosphere of the space and how lonely it was. When i got home i researched further and found that Stanley Docks will soon be transformed into luxury apartments. Another place that will be restored and will find new life.

Long bridge with smaller tunnels underneath
This space is opposite the Stanley Docks. Again i was interested in the sounds around, the echo when standing under the bridge and the train sound from above. The vibrations. This place feels hidden although there are houses around.

The Chairs
This place is on London Road next to Lime Street. There was a building here before - Jerome’s photography studio.

Jerome studio

The Chairs (before)

The building was demolishes and in place of it now there is an art exhibit called “the chairs” which was installed into the space in 1995. Although it would be nice to think that "the chairs" represent a photographic sitting in the previous Jerome Studio, Alan Dunn (one of the artists responsible) stated that this was just fortuitous coincidence. He didn’t discover the Jerome’s heritage until a few years after "the chairs" were installed.

When i found the space i didn't know anything about it but i knew that it was something special. To me it looked like a set for people to engage with e.g sit and chat. After 20 years the place looks dirty and not well looked after to the point you begin to question if it is a piece of work. When i visited it there were bins around everywhere, and rubbish around the chairs. The atmosphere of the sculpture and the place has been taken away. You can easily walk past the space now as it blends in. As i researched more about this space and sculpture i found that the sculpture is soon to be removed as the plot has been sold to a developer.

The Chairs (now)

From this walk i started to think about memory of a place, the sounds around and how these are imprinted in the space.  I started to think about other spaces, abandoned building with history and purpose and how they are frozen in time. I thought of how through some kind of intervention art piece i can bring memories of a place back. 

~ Ev