Update + Exterior of Building

Update
Ive been working in vectorworks and drawing over the technicals and perspectives i showed at interim.
here are a few of my slides and images - i quickly threw into a jpeg file

Technical systems
figured out the lighting and projection systems and drew it into the plan, have re arranged the toilet and back of house area etc. i have edited and fixed some graphical elements of my plan. have blacked out windows to keep the room dark for projection and need to check out how to represent that.

Also been exploring and readjusting little bits and pieces for space planning to allow walking spaces between tables (for audience and waitors) and positioning doors to encourage good flow and access 

Audience seating
have also adjusted the width of backstage (originally 3m wide) to 2m wide so i can fit another row of tables and chairs. have redesigned some elements of the table to function and fit more people. have also played with bent perspex to try model the language of the table, chair and stage

Navigation and exterior design
been drawing up some ideas for how to greet the audience before entering the building and have found some images i might use to photoshop in front of st annes.

i want to greet the guests with a mixture of traditional and contemporary garments - from pragues heritage aswell as visiting international designers. i want mannequins in the courtyard area and have mannequins throughout the city to show the way to lost guests (dorita mentioned its quite difficult to find a way to the site and the images ive been researching of prague streets plus google maps support this labyrinth).

these poses are good to point international guests in the right direction through pragues streets.


Projection/screen wall update:
also still trying to find some of the material that makes the scrim wall - email sam and dorita and found its called Sharktooths Gauze and in nz they are supplied by John Herber. his website is not that great and they don't have the material listed.. ive searched for similar fabrics and there are two gauzes but the images of his products never load and theres not much other info describing it

im waiting on him to email me back

in the meantime ive been playing with a piece of wide weave linen i bought in week2. might try to borrow some hessian cloth aswell

 

I am currently editing my brief.. that will be up soon

Maison Martin Margiela

researching martin margiela's work...

Sketches

Initial Parti Sketches

Some starting ideas Ive got

2nd edit

The Idea of Glamour

Here is a review I wrote for the text, A Note on Glamour by Elizabeth Wilson. I have highlighted what is relevant to the different spheres of backstage performance versus frontstage appearance.

Review on:
A Note on Glamour
By Elizabeth Wilson


Wilson has authored a respective number of books and essays about dress and fashion. In this reading she explains the evasive concept of “glamour” that we all aspire to obtain. She expresses the history of social ideology and shows where this state of being derived from and what it truly means to be glamorous.

The term originally was associated with witchcraft, occults and the devil and was a western concept that surfaced at the dawn of the industrial age. It meant to dazzle and hypnotize the onlooker with an air of beauty like no other, - “The Oxford English Dictionary cites an early eighteenth century use: ‘when devils, wizards or jugglers deceive the sight, they are said to cast a glamour over the eye of the spectator’ ” (Wilson, 2007, p96). This idea which begun in the Romantic Movement eventually developed into dandyism and progressed to the celebrity character of George “Beau” Brummel who is famous for establishing the modern mans suit.

He was an individual that used glamour as a force and personality where, “the dandy aesthetic was one of exquisite restraint, refinement, cleanliness and renunciation...the aesthetic of the dandy is basically an attitude,” (Wilson, 20071 p97). Glamour not only meant having a desirable style and attraction, but also to have a charming and magnetic personality. It as about being an individual that combined fashion and beauty with an indifference towards the world through an unanchored personality when it came to traditional social relations. Brummel is iconic became the first celebrity where everybody from every social hierarchy looked up to him with high respect and anticipation. He successfully used glamour to become a social star by sheer force of personality, then appearance.

Before Brummel, Kings and Queens inherited their celebrity status through the structure of their social system, but in environments like today’s Hollywood society chooses its celebrities by the way they act and look as leaders. Hollywood in the 1930’s and 1940’s marketed glamour and celebrity status as a product for consumption and to envy over, expressing the idea that with glamour comes a luxurious lifestyle full of friends, money and freedom. This has played a big part in this century’s ideology of success and fame where glamour and being a celebrity are perceived to be the same thing. However Wilson strongly disagrees with this concept stating, “Celebrity is all about touch; glamour is untouchable” (2007, p101).
She supports this statement by arguing that celebrities and glamour are complete opposites where being a celebrity is about having a vulgar and public life where anything personal or private is put on display and judged by the world. Wilson uses case examples such as the fame and scandal of Hugh Grant, Princess Diana and the likes. She believes true glamour is a life that is untouchable, unconsumed and unspoiled. Because Hollywood markets glamour as being a focus on a person’s outer image, there is no room for the inner self. Glamour is a word that separates the elite from the normal and sends a global message that we can dream to be glamorous but will never reach it. It is an empty dream because the tragedy of glamour includes “desire, fear, loss, and an acknowledgment of death” (Wilson, 2007, p100). She powerfully concludes, “Glamour is primarily an attribute of an individual. It is an appearance…is created in combination with dress, hair, scent and even mise en scene. Its end result is the sheen, the mask of perfection, the untouchablilty and numinous power of the icon” (Wilson, 2007, p105).

[Wilson, E (2007). Fashion Theory: A note on glamour. Oxford, New York: Berg]


 
I find this reading relates not only to the ideas of glamour and celebrity (that are highly involved in the fashion and entertainment industries), but also to my precedent Théâtre du Soleil. In my preliminary research I found;

"The company built its process based on the concept of a theatre company as a tribe or a family, a community of equal citizens: everyone receives the same wages, and the workday follows a schedule to which all actors, musicians and production assistants rigorously accommodate."

[refer to pg1 of blog for reference] 

This is quite opposite to the obvious hierarchies the Fashion Industry (i.e Anna Wintour, press/writers/reviewers, designers, production team, fashion photographers, models etc).

http://blogs.elleuk.com/beauty-notes-daily/2009/09/23/thumbs-up-for-anna-wintour/

 http://www.fashionologie.com/Anna-Wintour-Makes-Back-Night-Stars-2418933?page=0,0,12

I also consider this quote from the Theatre Du Soleil director to still be relative;

"Theatre is doubtless the most fragile of the arts, 

the theatre public is now really a very small group, but the theatre keeps reminding us of the possibility to collectively seek the histories of the people and to tell them [...] The contradictions, the battles of power, and the split in ourselves will always exist. I think the theatre best tells us of the enemy in ourselves. Yes, theatre is a grain of sand in the works."

- Ariane Mnouchkine

This relates to the contradictory term of "glamour" and the idea of fame. The pull towards being glamourous or cool creates a social hierarchy that instantly divides community, yet holds them together simultaneously.

Theatre Architecture Lecture

These are the quick notes I took when we went to see Hillary Beaton (CEO of Downstage) and Jean-Gee (not sure how to spell his name) at the Hannah Playhouse earlier this year.

Initial Brief

 OISTAT BRIEF
http://www.oistat.org/content.asp?path=depb63vd


I am endeavouring to research and explore the ideas of

The Public Performance 

(frontstage apperance)
vs.  
The Private Fact

(backstage situation)
.

 where there is a potential to merge and collide the traditional barriers that separate the two extremely contrasting spheres of action. There is a drive to broadcast and disclose what is traditionally closed

http://gossip.rateometer.com/backstage-at-the-victoria-s-secret-fashion-show/

I am interested in exposing the realities of the fashion industry to the audiences (within the industry as well as outsiders). Typical fashion audiences are usually the wide-eyed fashion slave kind, or the other kind who are experienced and already know the truths and harshness that comes with the glamour.


+ Possibly by sharing or revealing a story or narrative of the typical fashion show
(designing a theater space for any fashion designer to occupy with their event and allowing the audience to follow the performance production from backstage pre-performance to the actual performance and post-performance i.e after-party).

+ And revealing the notions and flipsides of idealism versus realism.
i.e Front stage ideas: calm, composed, "beauty", extravagance, wealth, celebrity status, glamour, being "untouchable"
     Backstage truths: stress, frantic, workmanship, technical skill, selfishness, to the minute deadlines, career competition, all over "touched"

 

Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista captured in an epic catfight by Steven Meisel

[retrieved 4 Sep, 2010 from http://www.fashionologie.com/2675353]

This image also gave me inspiration for the notion of the 'pull and push' of fashion.

+ Utilizing the pull and attraction of the fashion industry to push people away. Portray this through the flipside atmospheres and performances of the backstage and frontstage appearances.

Key words and terms I have been considering:

-Visible > Vanish  

-Devoured / Spat out

-Rave > Ravage

These are in relation to how ideas (collections/items of garment) and people in the fashion industry are treated. (Terms will be edited down and changed the further I go into development of this project.)



Spaces:
-Foyer/threshold from the exterior of the building to the interior
     Waiting or meeting area for before and after the show occurs

-Audience spaces
    Not necessarily seating or separate to the stage
 
-Fashion stage/runway (not limited to one)
    Will give the appearance that it is stagnant but can be manipulated to to move and change eg. scrim wall and rotational platform

-Backstage (for pre-performance; hair, makeup, dressing, shoes, black curtain area)

-Bathrooms
   For performers and for guests. Bathroom behaviours

-Eating area/s
   For post-performance eg. after-party (audience included)
   Communal eating tables/areas
   Opportunity to use courtyard as a communual celebration area. Tables for eating are bits of the stage dsimantled.

Fashion Viktor & Rolf RTW 2010

In this clip V&R cleverly combine their conceptual show with their ready-to-wear-show.

Note the layout of the audience and runway and stage. They use a revolving platform that is positioned halfway down the runway and the main 'older' model stands transfixed throughout the entire shoe while V&R dress and swap her in layers of garments from passing by models which are younger in age. V&R are both onstage performing in contrast to the traditional situation where the designers stay backstage to prepare the models who are the only performers.

This action of taking clothes off the older model and giving it to the younger models was a literal representation of the the rites of passage that occurs in the fashion industry. Once a model hits or looks a certain age her career 'expires' and is given to other younger and fresh-faced models. Sad, fleeting and cut-throat. This also occurs in the sports, acting and musical industries. 

Notion of not one idea or person is permanent and that everything (people, nature, architecture and design) are moving constantly evolving or exchanging in fleeting cycles.

also see

For the past decade, all of Viktor & Rolf's conceptual shows have been extremely detailed, theatrical and interesting to watch and analyse.




Mizrahi Show Stills

- Use of scrim wall (revealling what is traditionally concealed)

Viktor & Rolf Stills

Scrims

I've explored some research on what scrims are and how they work. Trying to get my hands on some

Dictionary Definition:

1. A durable, loosely woven cotton or linen fabric used for curtains or upholstery lining or in industry.

2. A transparent fabric used as a drop in the theater to create special effects of lights or atmosphere.

Marketing Dictionary Definition:

1. Gauzelike curtain used in theater, motion picture, and television presentations to give special lighting effects. When illuminated from one side, the material is translucent; when illuminated from the other side, it is opaque. Therefore, a scrim can be used to give the illusion of a wall; then, with a change in lighting, the audience can see the action going on behind the wall.

2. Translucent material used to diffuse or decrease the light intensity from a lighting instrument. Scrims are frequently used on scoops or other floodlights to heighten their soft light quality.

Architecture Dictionary Definition:

1. A coarse mesh-like material such as heavy cloth, fiberglass, or wire mesh, used to bridge and reinforce a joint or as a base for plastering or painting.
2. A light open-weave fabric, sometimes painted or dyed, used as a drop curtain or part of a drop curtain; transparent, but less so than theatrical gauze.  

[ref: courtesy of http://www.answers.com/topic/scrim]

[image above courtesy of http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.onbroadwaytheater.com/scrim.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.onbroadwaytheater.com/vtobt.html&usg=__czrrinsmBlqVAB7d1qblRHceQwU=&h=376&w=586&sz=39&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=JDVm4l1DkpmMDM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=169&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscrim%2Bwall%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1225%26bih%3D776%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=218&ei=vhmCTLT3J4misQP92_X2Bw&oei=IBmCTOLRH424sQPxovX2Bw&esq=4&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0&tx=96&ty=38]

Isaac Mizrahi Unzipped

Last weekend I watched the doco Unzipped about fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi (from the 1990's) and I've finally found a clip about it on Youtube. The doco I found from the DVD store was so old they only had one copy in video, so it took me a while to figure out how to use the VCR again! Blast from the past.

When watching this, the only real connection I found to our project was towards the end of the doco where he gets a large scrim wall made to reveal what goes on backstage to the audience. The effect is shown quickly at 1:50sec in this clip:

I found the majority of the doco unapplicable.

Here's a review from Amazon:

Douglas Keeve's witty, energetic 1995 documentary about his then-lover, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, begins with Mizrahi reading mixed reviews of his 1993 show of new outfits and then follows him for the next year as Mizrahi seeks inspiration for his next public showcase. Sardonic, witty, and immensely likable, Mizrahi sets about finding his new muse, which turns out to be a lively but unlikely marriage of "'50s cheesecake meets Eskimo fake fur." Keeve shows us most stages of the production process and the related disasters and heightened anxieties that attend. He also gives us a big finish with a fly-on-the-wall look at the backstage mania that fuels those celebrity-packed rituals, where leggy supermodels walk dispassionately down long runways. Some of the best, bitchiest stuff is in the way the busy models deal with the presence of Keeve's cameras: Naomi Campbell comes across as a crab while Cindy Crawford could easily be anybody's swell, flirty pal. But we already knew that, didn't we? Shot mostly in black and white, with color stock reserved, quite wisely, for the climactic big show. --Tom Keogh  

[ref:http://www.amazon.com/Unzipped-Isaac-Mizrahi/dp/B0000DZ3E1] 


These are the the notes I took while watching:

Prague Crossroads/St. Ann's

http://www.czecot.com/tourist-attraction/9462_st-anne-s-church-praha

 The Gothic church of St. Ann in Prague Old Town was built between 1313 and 1330 and it belonged to a Dominican convent. There are remains of Gothic wall paintings inside. It is registered on the UNESCO list as a part of the Prague Monument Reservation. There is a cultural centre at the present.

Close up satelitte image

 Zoomed out

Zoomed out x2

It stands at the foot of the Charles Bridge in the Old Town of Prague. The church maintains most of its timber roofing, a unique example of an original Gothic truss system. Wall paintings from that period also, remarkably, remain. Emperor Charles IV commissioned the interior decoration and it was carried out by members of his imperial court workshops, thought to include the Master Theodoric. Subsequent painted additions by Renaissance and baroque artists created a series of frescoes that reflect the flow of Czech artistic styles.

In 1782, St. Ann’s Church became one of many Catholic structures converted to secular use by the Emperor Joseph II as part of his reformation program. Over the last 200 years it was used as an industrial building that housed printing machinery and then as a warehouse. Three floors were installed within to tailor the church to its new function, blocking the vault from view, damaging murals, and disrupting the timber configuration from the 1730s. An unsound arch collapsed in the early 1880s and no reconstruction was attempted until 1989, when insensitive renovations removed pieces of the original Gothic truss.

St. Ann’s Church is a grand example of Prague Gothic architecture of the Luxembourg period. Because of the adaptive reuse solution, the church continues to represent its history while serving a positive, modern function. During the course of the project, the insensitive additions were removed, the murals were conserved, and both the interior and exterior were fully refurbished. With the aid of WMF, the church was transformed into a functioning community center, becoming a part of the Prague Crossroads Program to promote cultural dialogue. St. Ann’s is now the home of that organization and functions as a performance space. The 400 seated guests for concerts, lectures, and public forums can look up and see the original Gothic nave.

[refs]
http://www.prague-hotel.ws/st-anns-church.asp 
http://www.socialbuckets.com/Emperor-Joseph-II-51
http://2008.strunypodzimu.cz/en/concert-halls/prague-crossroads-st-anne-church.html
http://www.wmf.org/project/st-anns-church 
http://maps.google.co.nz/



.

Theatre du Soleil Production Clips

 
Watch short clip from Les Ephemeres (2006-2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmRK7As7Vcs&feature=related 

shows improvisation acting and flexible staging

Another useful vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65sPTffOBrw&feature=related

shows exterior of building (and landscape) and behind the scenes footage of actors preparing for their show (the pre-performance) as well as part of actual show

Short clip from Soudain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbN0uBvgFtQ&feature=related

shows asain influenced dance performance with lighting and choreography

Théâtre du Soleil

BEGINNINGS

The Theatre du Soleil is a Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble founded by a group of ten idealistic young students in 1964. Ariane Mnouchkine led the collective to become Theatre artist devoted to the pursuit of an intercultural form of performance utilising improvisation, masks and pantomime.

The company has tried to make oppositional interventions into popular culture by contesting the ways in which we are invited to live and represent ourselves in the political leadership of capitalism.

LOCATED

The Théâtre du Soleil is located in Cartoucherie, an old munitions factory complex in the Vincennes area of eastern Paris.

DIRECTOR

"Theatre is doubtless the most fragile of the arts, 

the theatre public is now really a very small group, but the theatre keeps reminding us of the possibility to collectively seek the histories of the people and to tell them [...] The contradictions, the battles of power, and the split in ourselves will always exist. I think the theatre best tells us of the enemy in ourselves. Yes, theatre is a grain of sand in the works."

- Ariane Mnouchkine

The company creates new theatrical works using a devising process based on utilising physical theatre and improvisation. Its main purpose, unchanged since 1968 is to inspire a new relationship between the theatre and the public and to be distinguished from theatre bougeois, creating a more popular, transcendental, universal form of theatre.

COMPANY PHILOSOPHY

The company built its process based on the concept of a theatre company as a tribe or a family, a community of equal citizens: everyone receives the same wages, and the workday follows a schedule to which all actors, musicians and production assistants rigorously accommodate. The final casting or distribution of roles for all productions is decided upon only after all the performers in a production improvise, practice and audition numerous (if not all the) roles.

No principal roles or lead actors are defined in it productions. Helene Cixous, a French feminist author-philosopher, has been associated with the company as it principal playwright since the late 1970s or early 80s, writing and scoring the vast majority of the company's recent productions through a collaborative process, which develops through the improvisational exercises of the performers during any 9 to 12 month rehearsal period for a production. this collaborative writing process lends itself to productions of extended length, sometimes ranging between 3 and 6 hours in duration.

STAGING
Although the Théâtre du Soleil is located in Cartoucherie, the companies productions are often performed in unconventional venues such as barns or gymnasiums, as Mnouchkine does not like being confined to a typical stage. She feels theatre cannot be restricted with the "fourth wall". While the official native stage of the company is a typical procenium/thrust stage, the theatre space is marked by specific communal (stage-right) devoted to the live orchestrations of the company's principal composer and solo musician Philippe Leotard, and a large open lobby or social space where audience and actors convene before, after and during intermissions of each show to get refreshments and engage in conversation.

When audiences enter a Mnouchkine production, they have the opportunity to peek through holes in the large, canvas curtain separating the audience space from the actor space, to observe the actors preparing (eg. putting on make-up, getting into costume, warming up, etc). Sometimes, the troupe develops ideas out of improvisational exercises

[Williams, D. (1999). Collaborative Theatre: The theatre du soleil sourcebook. London : Routledge]