Suffragettes – City and Site

March 4, 2016Emily Claire Bickerdike No Comments

A Change of Heart

Part of our investigatory work around developing our performance involved us returning to Speaker’s Corner and experimenting in the space. We did things such as eves-drop in the square and inside the shops, walk around the square picking out small details, and talk to each other from across the space; afterwards we sat on a bench and brainstormed ideas. We agreed that we still wanted to use the idea of transactions, given that the space we are in is so focused on money and exchange, yet we also agreed that rather than pinpointing our performance with the specific event of the Suffragette rally that happened there, we would look at how that event inspired the creation of Speaker’s Corner, and the intended purpose of it today.

Still taking elements of our inspiration from the Suffragettes, we decided that placards would remain a large part of our piece, but rather than intending them to emulate the Suffragette protests, we looked at the wider, more contemporary meaning. Placards have become the recognised symbol for protest as they say the message louder than the voice ever could, contrasting with the identities of the protests and women who once occupied that space, which are now silent. This kind of ‘loud silence’ was very appealing to us and informed our creative decision to involve the audience in the performance.

Our idea is to invite the audience to write their answer to a question on a small piece of paper, the question being:

“What power do you feel as a person in the world today?”

We will then give them the option to transfer these (anonymous) quotes to a placard which will be placed around the square, or to post it through the letterbox of an empty shop unit – the anonymous space. Every person who answers our question will be given a free piece of food, perhaps cake, which will make them feel rewarded for helping other people, and feel good for expressing themselves where they otherwise wouldn’t. Throughout the afternoon as these answers are being collated, the piece becomes a live installation of thought, with the audience acting as artist and performer, whilst we remain silent, letting them create the piece. To visually demonstrate our silence, our aim is to wear pieces of material/tape covering our mouths; this symbolises that it is not our voices we are demonstrating in the piece, but the voices of the public, allowing them to use the space for its true purpose, exercising FREEDOM OF SPEECH (something not a lot of people know).

The purpose of this is to show the public that they have freedom of speech and whats more, a place designed to demonstrate it in. Through our performance we aim to allow people to use the space for its purpose, allowing them to turn their opinions into a voice where otherwise they’d remain silent – they do have power, so use it.

We researched the work of Suzanne Lacy, a feminist performance artist who’s work mainly revolves around women’s rights – in particular, destroying rape culture. Lacy’s Auto on the Edge of Time (1993-1994) was:

“A series of installations and projects that explored the effects of domestic violence as experienced by women, children and families throughout the United States. The centerpiece [sic] of the project was a collection of wrecked cars transformed by Lacy and her collaborators into sculptural testimonials on themes of escape, abuse, control, support, healing, memorializing and more.”

(Lacy, 2015)

Lacy’s use of testimonials added an element of catharsis to her work, giving an emotional outlet and escape to victims, whilst also displaying a powerful message to others. This is similar to the aim of our work; to provide opportunities for people to let their opinions be heard and to inspire them, and others, to do this more in the future.

Works Cited:

Lacy, S. (2015) Suzanne Lacy. [online] Available from: http://www.suzannelacy.com/early-works/#/auto-on-the-edge-of-time/ [Accessed 4 March 2016].

February 10, 2016Emily Claire Bickerdike No Comments

Initial Performance Ideas

I made a rough start planning out an aesthetic for a performance based around political activism and performance art after researching Speaker’s Corner. I found out that there was once a Suffragette rally in that area which influenced the decision to name the square Speaker’s Corner, a place specially designed for people to go and exercise their freedom of speech. I researched the work of Debord and came across his piece Society of Spectacle, where my idea for the centre focus of my performance piece originates from.

Banner in French (red paint) – “Le patron a besoin de toi, tu n’as pas besoin de lui” = “The boss needs you, you do not need him”. Now has two meanings – Capitalism and Feminism. Inspired by Debord’s Society of Spectacle.
Girl #1 – Young girl dressed in modern dress, carrying modern teddy (recognisable character) and clear balloons with money in = dress covered in newspaper articles about female inequality, particularly unequal pay (e.g. day in November when technically don’t get paid). Dragging money balloons around the square – weighed down by money and Capitalism when should be free = childish innocence being destroyed, affects all women young and old, evokes Suffrage movement (rallies that happened then – if Capitalism and money weren’t there, that particular inequality wouldn’t exist. Even today she is still being oppressed – how far have we really come since these rallies? Only difference between then and now is that people are no longer in this spot protesting about it… but we are.
Girl #2 – Adult Suffragette wearing period clothing (as accurate to the time as possible), tied to numerous authentic Suffragette placards with green and purple ribbon (Suffragette colours) = heritage of protest, being tied to something not moving/tied to the fight and tied together (comradeship)/tied as in restrained – so many ribbons that woman is tangled in them – restrained as in exercising restraint as a woman “should”.
Girl #3 – Woman in own clothes stood with megaphone/microphone reading the same articles related to women and money that are on the girl’s dress. WE are protesting NOW – use the space for what it’s made for, continue the fight.

Additional ideas: Durational? Placards appear like a forest spanning a great deal of the square – resonates = ghosts of the women that once stood there. Young girl weaving inbetween the placards – lost, confused, everything against her.

End: young girl becomes exhausted from struggle and pops balloons, counts out money in desperation (needs food/water). Suffragette escapes from ribbons. Megaphone girl finishes articles.

Particularly prevalent in Speaker’s Corner – filled with BANKS and SHOPS = Capitalism/consumerism/money. Place of protest that lacks use – make use of it, it was made to make people remember their freedom of speech. A place where women campaigned for their rights, and still women are not equal, therefore we will do what they did.

February 5, 2016Emily Claire Bickerdike No Comments

Suffragette City

“Cornhill in Lincoln’s city centre, the scene of huge Suffragette rallies a hundred years ago. The Speakers’ Corner Committee subsequently decided to create its Speakers’ Corner on the High Street part of Cornhill.”

(Speakers’ Corner Trust, undated)

Speaker’s Corner is a corner of the high street which has been developed into an area that people can go to demonstrate, protest, and exercise freedom of speech. The Speaker’s Corner is “a joint project between the University of Lincoln’s Take Part programme and the Speaker’s Corner Trust” (BBC, 2010), sited “close to where a suffragette demonstration took place nearly a century ago” (BBC, 2010). Speaker’s Corner was opened by former Labour politician Tony Benn, followed by students from the university “who were among the first people to debate at the site” (BBC, 2010).

“This will remind people that we have the right to speak.”

(This is Lincolnshire, 2010)

This has sparked ideas such as recreating a Suffragette rally, but perhaps rather than using signs such as ‘votes for women’, focusing on more contemporary issues that still oppress women today. Setting this contemporary demonstration in a place with such rich history of similar themes will echo the ghosts of those women there before us.

On a similar note, rather than holding a physical protest in the style of Suffragette rallies, a more peaceful, if not slightly haunting method of demonstrating would be to use silence – the exact opposite of the loud, sometimes violent protests of times gone by. Not only would this be safer in terms of our safety and also the publics, but it would also serve as a comment that women are still very much silenced in many aspects of society; a Suffragette rally without the chaos would be unnerving. A more metaphorical approach through different aspects of performance (i.e. the body, visual work such as video, etc) would serve us well.

Artists/work that have inspired me:

“Pioneer of multimedia environments Aldo Tambellini put on collaborative performances such as 1965’s BLACK ZERO, which incorporated live performance, poetry and projection and had strong revolutionary and social change messages, commenting on the racial situation in America. BLACK ZERO is the cry from the oppressed creative man. There is an injustice done to man which is not forgivable.”

(Beaven, 2012)

“Other artists associated with Fluxus (as Ono was) often took their actions into the street, aiming to break down the barriers between art and life, and bring the revolution to the everyday. In Prague, Milan Knížák and others in the AKTUAL group were often stopped by the police as they built environments or performed personal and participative acts in the streets of Prague, such as his Demonstration for One 1964. “

(Beaven, 2012)

“French students were exposed to and took on anti-establishment Situationist ideas such as Guy Debord’s 1967 Society of the Spectacle, which argued (the Marxist idea) that consumer society had reduced everything from direct experiences to mere appearances, and that the avant-garde and mainstream life should be brought together. Students in Paris went on strike, leading to confrontations with the French police and street battles in the Latin Quarter, and then a general strike across universities and industry. Painted graffiti appeared around Paris, with slogans such as ‘Le patron a besoin de toi, tu n’as pas besoin de lui’ (The boss needs you, you don’t need him) ‘Je suis marxiste tendance Groucho’ (I am a Marxist, of the Groucho tendency) and famously, ‘Sous les paves, la plage!’ (Under the pavement, the beach!) came from Situationist ideas of play and freedom.”

(Beaven, 2012)

THIS GAVE ME AN IDEA FOR AN AESTHETIC OF A PERFORMANCE:

I created this rough sketch to demonstrate my aesthetic ideas inspired by Debord’s Society of Spectacle. The text on the banner would be painted on in red (connotations: blood, danger, lust, Communist red) and the balloons would be coated in newspaper clippings (adverts/tabloid headlines to symbolise consumption and the public desires under Capitalism) – the balloons themselves, the dress and the stuffed teddy bear present the main figure in the picture to be childlike, young and innocent (a description of humanity under the Capitalist structure/the harmful effects of consumerism on the youth – children evoke emotions amongst the public – ‘what if it happened to my child?’ – presents Capitalism to be HARMFUL.

Could possibly work in the Cornhill –

“Female artists also focused on their lived experience, making public those parts of a woman’s life that had been seen as taking place behind closed doors. Judy Chicago taught on the germinal feminist programme at the California Institute of the Arts, along with painter Miriam Schapiro. Rejecting both her maiden name and that she had taken on her marriage, she changed her name to Judy Chicago in 1971, signalling her move into a feminist art practice, and a rejection of male domination. The influential installation Womanhouse 1972 took place throughout a house in Los Angeles, and showed the work of 26 students as well as Chicago and Shapiro, including Chicago’s Menstruation Bathroom (a bathroom with a bin overflowing with bloody tampons) and a series of performances exploring the lives, activities and roles of women. Chicago’s most well-known work, The Dinner Party 1974–9 came from previous works such as herGreat Ladies series and her realisation of the erasure of female achievements throughout history. The Dinner Party is a triangular open table set with thirty-nine places, each commemorating an important female historical figure or goddess, resting on a tiled floor inscribed with the names of 999 other important women. The Dinner Party was exhibited in 16 venues in 6 countries on 3 continents to a viewing audience of over one million people, amking it an important touchpoint in the history of feminist art.”

(Beavan, 2012)

Works Cited

Beaven, K (2010) Performance Art 101: The Angry Space, politics and activism. [online] Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/performance-art-101-angry-space-politics-and-activism [Accessed 5 February 2016].

BBC (2010) Tony Benn has officially opened Speakers’ Corner [online] Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lincolnshire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8872000/8872171.stm [Accessed 5 February 2016].

Speaker’s Corner Trust (undated) Roadtesting the Speaker’s Corner Site at Lincoln’s Cornhill [online] Available from http://www.speakerscornertrust.org/library/videos/roadtesting-the-speakers-corner-site-at-lincolns-cornhill/[Accessed 4 February 2016].

This is Lincolnshire (2010) Speakers Corner given official new home in Lincoln’s High Street [online] Available from http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/Freedom-speech-new-home-Lincoln-High-Street/story-11200935-detail/story.html [Accessed 5 February 2016].