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.
~Ev
