By building taller sculptural forms that occupied the space above, a more contained and focused space appeared beneath. This became where Dominique Baker performed her two improvised dances.
The Film “Moon” was also shot during this performance, click here to view.
This is a selection of creatures we used when invited to perform at Circomedia in association with Theatre Bristol.
Performed as part of ‘Testing Ground’ at Circomedia, in association with Theatre Bristol. This was our first performance acting inside the sculptural forms. As the lights go up the dark Harbinger at the centre of the stage briefly stirs. A strange but homely creature emerges, mop in hand, dusting as it goes.
The Film “Introducing” was also shot during this performance, click here to view.
Edgelands, where city and country find and lose each other. Old industrial sites reclaimed by nature; the old ways of maintaining wetlands, riverbanks and hedgerows lost.
Large sculptures, tall and dark…could they fall and cause damage? They seem to loom and threaten, yet are merely paper. But this is no trompe l’oeil – they are not illusory. The viewer is constructing what is seen, making what they can – seeing more or less. The play, the story, unfolds in time as a flower opens, not in a linear way, but within a forest of imagination created by the players.
The Film “Lost Ways” was also shot during this performance, click here to view.
This show consisted of large sculptures all made using the same template, then dyed different colours and dried into altered shapes. Smaller worm-like forms rose from the ground, seeming to face and reflect the observer. Actors moved through the space, trying to name or remember what and where they are. Describing a place…but what place? Disjunctions between what is said and what is seen.
This was the first of two productions using Sam Irving’s poem ‘Potential Wasteland.’ Potential, the potential to become – but going no further. Objects aor lives that could become something meaningful; but striving to become is also to miss that you already are; we have all seen the future.
The Film “Chorus” was also shot during this performance, click here to view.
This event was a mixture of sculpture exhibition, physical theatre work-shop, and performance. Our starting point was a sentence from Samuel Beckett; and an improvised sea shanty, emerging from the atmosphere created by the sculptures and wall hangings. The actors, all recent graduates, used the techniques of Stanislavsky, Grotowski and Lecoq to create their final performance.
The Film “No Matter” was also shot during this performance, click here to view.
During this exhibition I became newly aware of the way people react physically to my sculptures. These interactions inspired the formation of Sculpture Theatre, and for the next four shows we performed with – and eventually in – the sculptures.
These sculptures oscillate between poise and instability, between euphoric release and the forces of gravity; they are experiments with unpredictable powers of transmutation, which I set in motion, beyond my control.
Here I continue to develop the use of silver leaf and wire with the versatile recycled industrial paper that continues to provide an affordable way to further my fascination with surface and form.
To temper, to be in a temper…The process of tempering improves the hardness and elasticity of materials by heating, then cooling. Folding, creasing, lining with tissue paper, and adding wire reminded me of tempering steel, enabling me to create large forms from the paper.
Bruising…appears on the skin, caused by trauma, possibly a cut or blow to the body. The injury makes capillaries burst, and blood gets trapped as a stain under the surface of the skin. I was reminded of this as I coloured the paper I was working with.
Slight…after experiencing a violent assault, I was surprised that the bruising was so mild.
 Large-1024x498.jpeg)
