The ever-changing freedom of water is what first drew us to our performance idea. As well as the almost magnet pull for humans to be near it as we need it to survive.

During a brief trip home I visited the local canal that flows around my village to compare the water to that of the Brayford. Though visually there is little difference than perhaps a slight tint of a change in the colour, the atmosphere of these two aquatic based spaces are drastically different. The business of the commercial hub that is the Brayford contrasts strongly with the peaceful nature of the canal. As an experiment I recorded audio from each location. Although both audio tracks share the quality that neither location is ever completely silent, the Brayford audio track is main.y man made whereas the sounds from the canal were all coming from nature.

Although the audio tracks are drastically different, there must have been a point in history before human interjection that both locations sounded the same. The interconnectivity of water is fascinating as all water ways are linked either through natural creations such as small streams or rivers or even man-made creations such as plumbing. This need from humans to be near water stems from primitive instincts to survive yet I wonder if the desire to live close to large areas of it and not just access it through our taps is more psychological need than physical.

Our idea of an audio experience along the Brayford Waterfront hopes to explore this idea and allow audience members to think about their own relationship with water whether they have only been to the seaside once with their family or they are a boat enthusiast who frequently explores the waterways.

Using Port of Calls as an example of waterside audio tours we will be able to develop the appropriate style for our audio tour.

Taken 26th February 2015. One of the bridges over the River Soar.

—University of East London(2008) Ports of Call: Walks of Art at the Royal Docks. [online] London: University of East London. Available From http://www.portsofcall.org.uk/legal.html [Accessed 1st March 2015]

In order to fully understand our location my group and I spend some time on the Brayford waterfront with the sole intention of sitting and watching what happens. People watching, in itself, is fascinating. The numerous personalities we saw just walking down the Wharf each with their own intentions, teenagers rushing past with their attention lost to the music in their headphones, an older lady walking her charming cocker spaniel Duchess and business people in their suits strutting off to their next meeting. The diversity of people in such a small space is fascinating yet it made me think of Govan’s concept about the “Isolation of individuals inherent in this social spectacle”(Routes and Roots). The individuals whose lives intertwine on a regular basis in social spaces without registering a second thought about those they are passing on the street.

Inspired by Supernight Shot we documented our visits with ten minute time lapse videos taken on varying times, days and locations along the Brayford. We then condensed each of these videos to one minute long to create a three minute performance. We then superimposed a real time video of our feet walking down the length of the Brayford on top of the time-lapsed video, ending the video with a black frame around the text ‘The events just witnessed will never be seen again’. The idea of this was to get the audience to consider the passing of time and make them think about the finer details of life that are missed through the focus on technology. However feedback showed that the sped up variations of the videos caused events to become blurry stopping them from noticing anything in finer detail. Also, we had hoped to place a real time audio track over the top of the video that due to technical difficulties we were unable to do.

Advances in technology, particularly in mobile phones, has given society an unlimited access to pervasive media. The show I Wish I Was Lonely(Walker and Thorpe, 2015) reflected upon the many ways we now rely upon our mobile phones in our everyday lives. Although there are positive aspects to this new commitment such as the ability to remain in instant contact with our loved ones who may be miles away, there are also many negative repercussions. One quote from the performance I found particularly poignant was “I wish I missed you but you’re here in my pocket”(ibid). The idea that contemporary relationships actually suffer because of this instant communication had never even crossed my mind. We are now impatient to hear back from friends and anger when it takes them longer than ten minutes to reply to a text. This thought was merely emphasized when the performers posed the audience with a question “If I said I was going to smash your phone, would you leave?” (ibid). A rush of panic immediately crossed my mind having remembered that my phone case was broken and was still awaiting the delivery of its replacement, what would I do if it broke in that short length of time? Looking back I feel that my own panic was mirrored in the faces of other audience members, followed by a collected sigh of relief when the performers assured us that our phones were safe.

The post show discussion was particularly helpful in looking at the ratio between the number of performers and audience members. This will be one thing that is important to consider for my own site specific performance as too many performers could overwhelm an audience. Also the idea that when interacting with members of the public it is useful to decide on certain rules in order to ensure that we do not become a nuisance, especially as it is likely we will be inviting members of the public in from the street without any previous contact in our own performance.

Walker, H.J. and Thorpe, C. (2015) I Wish I Was Lonely [performance] Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 11 February.

To help us explore the possibilities available in site specific, using a list of suggestions, me and Rachel decided to create a forest in the city. Originally discussing the idea of buying toy tres we decided against this in favour of photographs. The use of photographs allowed us to combine the idea of media with the exercise. Allowing us to gain experience with one of the many possible forms of technology we will be using in our final piece.

A peaceful image of trees set against the hustle and bustle of Lincoln  High Street.

A more literal version of a forest in the city

The start contrast between the peaceful images of nature against the cold concrete and non-stop action of the street was quite powerful especially when considering that without human interference the area would have been just that peaceful.

Placing the photo in front of a bookstore was also powerful. The idea that a forest was in front of a what basically is a store of destroyed trees was both saddening and intriguing. It served me a reminder that in the business of life people often fail to think about the rest of the world around them. Also the idea that the forest is being shown through technology demonstrates a stark contrast between the natural and the man made.

Using Pervasive Media in order to enhance or create new styles of performance is an intriguing concept, one which I look forward to investigating further. Designing work around this years Frequency Festival theme of Liberation allows for a range of possibilities, especially when including “the new kinds of informational site in changing technological circumstances”(Pearson, 2010, 13) which will allow our work to be truly innovative. The opportunity to combine the scenic location with the digital world will be both exciting and challenging. One of the biggest obstacles will be using technology to its full potential in order to fully make the most out of this style of performance. With the option to choose between the High Street and the Brayford, my initial thoughts are drawn to the idea of the Brayford. The concept of combining the freedom of flowing water and limitations of digital technologies opens up a realm of possibilities and I’m hoping to explore this idea further. The discussion with a member of the Frequency Festival team reminded me of many of the unique pieces of art I saw during the last digital culture festival. It also allowed me think about the way technology was used during last frequency festival such as CCTV images being used to create photographs and projection mapping to fully immerse the audience in a unique experience. Overall I think this will be a challenging, yet interesting, module and I am keen to see what is developed.

Pearson, M. (2010) Site-Specific Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.