DOCSLIB.ORG

The DRAWN ABSENCE: an Embodied Spectatorial Encounter with the Post- Dramatic Scenographic Drawing

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The DRAWN ABSENCE: an Embodied Spectatorial Encounter with the Post- Dramatic Scenographic Drawing The DRAWN ABSENCE: An Embodied Spectatorial Encounter with the Post- dramatic Scenographic Drawing Susan Field (Sue Field) A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Art & Design Faculty of Art & Design September 2018 1 Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Inclusion of Publications Statement Originality/ Copyright/ Authenticity Statement Acknowledgments I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to both my extraordinary supervisors Associate Professor, Dr Vaughan Dai Rees, Associate Dean International/Engagement in the Faculty of Art & Design and Dr Michael Garbutt Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Art & Design. A very, very special thanks to my father Dr Geoffrey Field, my mother Janice Field and my daughter Lucy because without their unrelenting support this amazing journey would never have happened. In the spirit of a theatre-going spectator, this was a long and challenging quest in pursuit of adventure and discovery, of wonder and astonishment. 2 Abstract My scenographic design and art practice are inextricably linked: one informs the other. Both are supported by drawing as a process and as an artefact. My practice- based research was undertaken to investigate unexplored intersections between the scenographic drawing, post-dramatic theatre, and expanded drawing as an art practice. My primary aim was to create a hybrid genre which manifests a mobile spectatorial experience through an embodied sensory encounter with an absent presence. This is presented as an expanded drawn work, underpinned by scenographic tropes and associated with the immersive, spectator-centric space of post-dramatic theatre. In other-words, the spectatorial presence is prioritised over narrative meaning, plot structure, and the presence or absence of the ‘actor’. The ghostly presence inherent within the expanded drawn space provokes a ‘heightened awareness for one’s own presence’.1 The spectator’s encounter with this absent presence within the expanded drawn space becomes a form of post-dramatic theatre. My research investigates the nature of this experience and the ways in which it can be enriched through creative engagement, thereby developing and deepening my practice, and providing insights into the spectatorial presence and gaze.2 In this context, my thesis is driven by a single question which is of growing significance for the contemporary practice and understanding of the fields of scenography, post-dramatic theatre, and expanded drawing: How can a drawing, underpinned by post-dramatic scenographic strategies, produce a spectatorial encounter with an absent presence? 1 (Lehmann 2006) 122 2 (Field 2016) 11 3 The scholarly interrogation of my drawn works, underpinned by the research question, enhances and contextualises both my scenographic and my art practice. This research employs a reflective model which I have identified as the transformative spiral of research. The model produces a means to frame and drive experimentation and testing, adopting cycles of making and reflecting so that a spiral of knowledge and understanding is constantly evolving. The research methods, primarily freehand drawing, performative writing, the monologue, and the scenographic scale model, propel the research through multiple iterative processes in the creative production. Therefore, what results from this research is not a definitive answer, but rather a proposal presenting possibilities for future scholarly endeavour. It is this outcome that presents a new starting point to rethink the expanded drawn space. Keywords Scenographic drawing, post-dramatic theatre, expanded drawing, spectatorship, absent presence, thinking drawing, scenographic model. 4 Table of contents The DRAWN ABSENCE: An Embodied Spectatorial Encounter with the Post- dramatic Scenographic Drawing ...................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................. 2 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of contents ................................................................................................................... 5 List of Illustrations ................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER ONE: Drawn to the Stage .............................................................................. 33 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 34 1.2 Scenography ............................................................................................................... 35 1.3 Scenographic drawing ................................................................................................. 36 1.4 The thinking drawing .................................................................................................. 41 1.5 The scenographic thinking drawing ............................................................................ 44 1.6 The Peacham Drawing ................................................................................................ 45 1.7 The Curse of the House of Atreus ................................................................................ 46 1.8 The Oresteia ................................................................................................................ 51 1.9 The scenographic autonomous drawing ..................................................................... 55 1.10 An emergent field: expanded drawing ..................................................................... 57 1.11 TRACEY: Drawing and Visualisation Research ........................................................... 59 1.12 Key practitioner in the field of expanded drawing ................................................... 62 1.13 The field of post-dramatic theatre ............................................................................ 64 1.14 Defining post-dramatic theatre ................................................................................ 66 1.15 Anti-theatricality ....................................................................................................... 68 1.16 Theatricality .............................................................................................................. 70 1.17 Drawn beyond the fourth wall .................................................................................. 71 1.18 Albertian one-point perspective ............................................................................... 71 1.19 De la poésie dramatique ........................................................................................... 74 1.20 The multiplication of frames ..................................................................................... 75 1.21 Punchdrunk ............................................................................................................... 75 1.22 All Of Me ................................................................................................................... 79 1.23 The ideal spectator in the post-dramatic space ........................................................ 83 1.24 Research Question .................................................................................................... 83 1.25 Thesis outline ............................................................................................................ 84 1.26 Drawing conclusions ................................................................................................. 87 CHAPTER TWO: Creating a Scene .................................................................................. 88 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 89 2.2 Transformative spiral of research ............................................................................... 89 2.3 Practice-based research as a reflective practice ......................................................... 90 2.4 Cognitive surprise ....................................................................................................... 91 2.5 The Double-loop of Learning ...................................................................................... 94 2.6 The double helix ......................................................................................................... 94 2.7 Paradoxical level-crossing feedback loop ................................................................... 95 5 2.8 Helical concept ............................................................................................................ 96 2.9 Research methods ...................................................................................................... 97 2.10 A taxonomy of post-dramatic scenographic strategies ............................................ 98 2.11 The sketch journal .................................................................................................... 99 2.12 The journal’s thinking drawing as the source of cognitive surprise ........................ 102 2.13 The ‘mind’s eye’ ...................................................................................................... 106 2.14 Performative Writing .............................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Science Fiction Made Real in Immersive Theatres Howson
    Zombies, time machines and brains: Science fiction made real in ANGOR UNIVERSITY immersive theatres Howson, T. Thesis Eleven DOI: 10.1177/0725513615613461 PRIFYSGOL BANGOR / B Published: 04/11/2015 Peer reviewed version Cyswllt i'r cyhoeddiad / Link to publication Dyfyniad o'r fersiwn a gyhoeddwyd / Citation for published version (APA): Howson, T. (2015). Zombies, time machines and brains: Science fiction made real in immersive theatres. Thesis Eleven, 131(1), 114-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513615613461 Hawliau Cyffredinol / General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. 27. Sep. 2021 Title: Zombies, time machines and brains: science fiction made real in immersive theatres Author: Teri Howson1 Abstract Critical thought on immersive theatres is gathering in pace with many arguments centred on explorations of audience/performer interaction and the unique relationship these theatres create. Within this paper I look beyond these debates in order to consider the implications of immersive theatres within contemporary culture, with the aim of furthering the ways in which immersive theatres are presently being framed and discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Dundee Performing Democracy Robson, Mark
    University of Dundee Performing Democracy Robson, Mark Published in: Anglia DOI: 10.1515/ang-2018-0014 Publication date: 2018 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication in Discovery Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Robson, M. (2018). Performing Democracy. Anglia, 136(1), 154-170. https://doi.org/10.1515/ang-2018-0014 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in Discovery Research Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from Discovery Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain. • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 25. Sep. 2021 1 Performing Democracy Mark Robson Abstract The debate about the relationship between theatre and democracy rests on a presumption that both the artform and the political form share an intertwined history, based in their co-appearance in Greece. Equally well-known is the antagonism towards both theatre and democracy that emerges at the same moment, most clearly found in Plato. This essay revisits this history in order to set up an examination of two contemporary theatre performances that explicitly raise the relationship of democracy and theatre, the British company Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man and the Belgian company Ontroerend Goed’s Fight Night.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Fiction Made Real in Immersive Theatres Author
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Bangor University: eBangor / Prifysgol Bangor Title: Zombies, time machines and brains: science fiction made real in immersive theatres Author: Teri Howson1 Abstract Critical thought on immersive theatres is gathering in pace with many arguments centred on explorations of audience/performer interaction and the unique relationship these theatres create. Within this paper I look beyond these debates in order to consider the implications of immersive theatres within contemporary culture, with the aim of furthering the ways in which immersive theatres are presently being framed and discussed. Theatre and science fiction have shared a somewhat limited relationship compared to their burgeoning usage within other forms of entertainment. This paper focuses on how the conceits of science fiction are being staged within this theatrical setting. Primary focus is given to Punchdrunk’s ... and darkness descended (2011) and The Crash of the Elysium (2011– 2012). This is considered alongside The Republic of the Imagination’s (TROTI) Cerebellium (2012–14), an original narrative created for the performance which has been subsequently developed over a three-year period to date. This discussion is presented and framed through my personal experience as both a performer in Cerebellium and (later) as audience member. The particular use of dystopian narratives and alternate worlds is given consideration, with reflection on the way these works destabilize and call into question the audience’s sense of self either through their ability to survive or understand their sense of self. By making evident the spectrum of practice, I endeavour to delve further into identifying and de- mystifying immersive theatres and their differences to conventional theatre.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide for Students and Teachers
    A Guide for Students and Teachers Photo: Julian Abrams Punchdrunk A Guide for Students and Teachers This pack is not an exhaustive record of Punchdrunk’s works and does not represent a specific show or rehearsal process. There is no one way to make a Punchdrunk show and the practice is always evolving to explore new genres and formats, and to challenge audiences in new and exciting ways. This resource has been compiled to support students, teachers and learners with their own investigation of Punchdrunk’s practice and approaches to creating performance work in non- traditional theatre settings. This pack also includes some exercises that offer students a way into their own devising process. These exercises have been used in Punchdrunk workshops and masterclasses and aim to offer various starting points for those who are keen to make their own work in the classroom and beyond. Exercises can be adapted, changed and developed to suit the project being explored. Further reading and online resources are detailed at the end of this pack but the primary resource for anyone interested in learning more about Punchdrunk should be The Punchdrunk Encyclopedia by Punchdrunk and Josephine Machon (2018), which is the definitive book on the company’s work to date and includes interviews and interjections from directors, designers, performers and choreographers from across the full breadth of Punchdrunk’s work. The Punchdrunk Encyclopedia can be purchased online and details can be found at the back of this pack. Written by Francesca Duncan with Peter Higgin Design by Stephen Dobbie Punchdrunk: A Guide for Students and Teachers About Punchdrunk and what is a Punchdrunk production Since 2000, Punchdrunk has pioneered a game changing form of theatre in which roaming audiences experience epic storytelling inside sensory theatrical worlds.
    [Show full text]
  • IMMERSIVE THEATRE and AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE Space, Game and Story in the Work of Punchdrunk Rose Biggin Immersive Theatre and Audience Experience
    Rose Biggin IMMERSIVE THEATRE AND AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE Space, Game and Story in the work of Punchdrunk Rose Biggin Immersive Theatre and Audience Experience Space, Game and Story in the Work of Punchdrunk CHAPTER 5 Follow the Story: Narrative and Immersion The role of “story” in immersive theatre is one of continual inter- est. How does story work in this form of theatre; is it important any- way; what does story, in this context, even mean? What concept of story is being grappled with during a state of immersive experience—or must story be forgotten about in the moment to let the experience happen? Is emotional engagement intended to come from caring about a character’s fate, solving a mystery or some other narrative “hook”—or does emo- tional immersion arise from something else? And what are the underlying politics of all these options? The following three chapters lay out some suggestions for theorising immersion and narrative. This chapter introduces key concepts from nar- rative theory and past and current models of the relationship between discourse and plot, story, character and causality. Drawing on Cobley (2001), Abbott (2002, 2011) and Herman (2009), and the methodol- ogy of the “fuzzy-set” defnition offered by Ryan (2011), the chapter lays some theoretical ground for considering immersive experience and narrative. My main discussion is interested in how immersive experi- ence might occur in the interplay between the physical immersion of an audience member in the performance space, her movement through the atmospheric/logistical score of the production, and the crafting of story events with this audience member in mind from the perspective of makers.
    [Show full text]
  • Theatre and Spectatorship – Meditations on Participation, Agency and Trust
    JCDE 2016; 4(1): 3–20 Mireia Aragay* and Enric Monforte Introduction: Theatre and Spectatorship – Meditations on Participation, Agency and Trust DOI 10.1515/jcde-2016-0002 An indispensable reference point in the field of theatre spectatorship, Helen Freshwater’s Theatre & Audience (2009) sees absence of trust as having distorted the relationship between practitioners, industry and theatre scholars and audi- ences until very recent times –“a deep-seated suspicion of, and frustration with, audiences” (4) that may go a long way towards explaining the belated develop- ment of academic discussions of spectatorship in particular, a situation her own book decisively contributed to begin to remedy. Interestingly, trust in the audi- ence is a key component of Andy Smith’s theatre. As part of the 24th German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English (CDE) conference, “Theatre and Spectatorship”, held in Barcelona, 4–7 June 2015, Smith performed his piece for one actor, commonwealth (2012).1 His short summary of the play seems a fitting overture for this special issue of Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, which includes a selection of the papers that were presented at the conference: [A performer] steps out of the audience and walks onto the stage. They take a position in front of a music stand that holds a scrapbook, open it, and proceed to read the text it contains. For the next forty-five minutes or so they read a simple story about a group of people who have gathered together in a room somewhere – a room that looks a bit like the one the performer and audience are in – to listen to a story.
    [Show full text]
  • The Drowning Man Ebook
    THE DROWNING MAN PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Michael Robotham | 416 pages | 21 Jan 2010 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780751544220 | English | London, United Kingdom The Drowning Man PDF Book If unable to escape, face the shore and call or wave for help. That law is typically used for people who work in nursing homes and hospitals as caregivers, said Yvonne Martinez, a spokeswoman for the police department. For whatever the reason they are dissatisfied, they share their unrest and discontentment with others. Technical Specs. Retrieved However, words said often turn into improper or unjustified judgments or actions by the listeners. Rows: Columns:. The Best Horror Movies on Netflix. Are they just gossiping, backbiting, complaining, or do they just want the situation of which they are speaking handled their way? Edit Cast Cast overview: Atef Alshafei Police would not immediately confirm the relation. Plot Keywords. More Videos Paulette is expected to continue moving out to sea and poses no direct threat to the United States, forecasters said. Writer: Mahdi Fleifel. Encounters Film Festival: Lineup. He was rescued along with a year-old man, who survived. Release Dates. During a subsequent interview the teens admitted they were "smoking weed," police said. The Guardian. The Drowned Man. Music portal Theatre portal United Kingdom portal. The Drowned Man was an original theatre production by British theatre company Punchdrunk , in collaboration with the Royal National Theatre. If possible, swim in a direction following the shoreline. The Independent. Instead, the teens chuckled as they recorded the victim's final moments and posted the video on YouTube. Surrounded by predators he is forced to make compromises merely to survive, his life of exile grows one day longer.
    [Show full text]
  • Playable Stories
    Playable Stories Writing and Design Methods that Negotiate Narrative and Player Agency Volume 2 of 2 Submitted by Hannah Elizabeth Wood to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English (Creative Writing) In December 2016 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledge- ment. Sections of Chapter 3 and the Conclusion are not available in this version and un- der embargo because of the commercial development of the Creative Project. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ……………………… !1 Epigraph “The fact that we can’t get the vocab right proves that we’re in the age of the horseless carriage” – Punchdrunk Founder, Felix Barrett (McConnachie, 2015) !2 Thesis Introduction !3 At the outset of this creative practice PhD in 2010, the aim was to create a work of fic- tion that exploited the narrative possibilities of digital media. The intention was to ex- plore the artistic and commercial opportunities of the form and develop a fiction that delivered dramatic tension and player agency. What it would be called—digital fiction, narrative game, interactive novel, electronic literature, playable story—was an open question since the boundaries between those fields were blurred and evolving. As a hu- manities postgraduate and writer based in a creative writing department, the research interests were located firmly in narratology—ways to write and create engaging story experiences that took account of digital systems and how players use them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Drowned Man
    . Volume 12, Issue 1 May 2015 The value of being together? Audiences in Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man Jan Wozniak, University of Leeds, UK Abstract: This article investigates the tensions surrounding the elements that are assigned most value in the construction and reception of performances by Punchdrunk. Using empirical investigation of the ‘tactics and strategies’ employed by twelve undergraduate spectators of The Drowned Man, as described and analysed through critical written responses, I concentrate on the value audiences place on the different experiences available in a Punchdrunk event. I argue that Punchdrunk performances are constructed to place the highest value on intimate human contact. This perpetuates the claims made for the live theatre event: that the sharing of a common time and space between actors and spectators is unique in creating community. However, this is problematised in Punchdrunk performances by the competitive experience of achieving these intimate encounters. Keywords: Immersive theatre, intimate theatre, spectator participation as research, theatre audience, research methodology. In the basement of the building is the Drafting Room, accessed only by those with a special key, obtained at a premium price of £85. This small, restricted space is furnished with old office furniture, the desk covered with papers, an old typewriter and a play text of Woyzeck by Georg Büchner’s. Isolated from the main performance spaces, it appears to be the one place from where it is possible to ‘see’ the whole performance, an opportunity denied to those paying the standard entry price of £49.50. On shelves are files marked with recognisable character names and on the wall is a grid which details every character, every event and every scene on the four floors of the performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Watching, Attending, Sense-Making: Spectatorship in Immersive Theatres
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Middlesex University Research Repository JCDE 2016; 4(1): 34–48 Josephine Machon* Watching, Attending, Sense-making: Spectatorship in Immersive Theatres DOI 10.1515/jcde-2016-0004 Abstract: This article addresses the aesthetic, corporeal and intellectual dimen- sions of spectatorship in immersive theatre. Immersive work engages audiences at an experiential level and within environments that prompt multisensory en- gagement and explorative forms of audience participation. Immersive theatre makers, such as De La Guarda, dreamthinkspeak and Punchdrunk, have been making internationally recognised work throughout the 21st century. While audi- ence interaction and participation has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention over the past few years, the significance of watching in immersive theatre remains elusive and merits further consideration. Drawing on Immersive Theatres (Ma- chon, 2013) and referencing a full range of practice that is exemplary, this article describes and defines ‘immersive theatres’ in broad terms. Using Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man (2013) as illustration, it considers the types of experience to be had and the qualities of watching that result in such events. In turn it addresses the type of ‘sense’ individuals can make when they are spectators to their own interactions, attendant to their actions and reactions. Keywords: embodied spectatorship, immersive, interaction, Punchdrunk, (syn)aesthetics, The Drowned Man Introduction: Looking in, Looking out, Looking on… Artists who harness more than our eyes and ears encourage us to wake up, to be alert to the world around us, and to interact actively with the objects and creatures around us.
    [Show full text]
  • The Erotic Voyeur: Sensorial Spectatorship in Punchdrunk's The
    The Erotic Voyeur: Sensorial Spectatorship in Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man Holly Maples E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: The cultural industries often privilege the use of sight and sound as our main areas of experience. This is especially the case in theatre criticism; but what of taste, smell and touch? Punchdrunk’s manipulation of sensorial experience allows their immersive performance to become both an enticing and destabilizing theatrical arena for the audience. The performance of intimacy constructed through the use of nostalgia-triggering aromas, invitations to explore the set and performers bodies through touch, and the inclusion of one- on-one encounters between performers and audience members, all allow the actor / spectator to be seduced by the ‘story-world’ of The Drowned Man (2013). With the hyper-reality achieved through the film noir soundscape and the chaotic dance theatre sequences created by the performers, the spectator can delve into a fantasy world of menace and eroticism. This article examines the role of the spectator as erotic voyeur in Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man. Through an examination of the company’s use of interactive, sensorial experience where audience members are invited to touch, inhabit and investigate the world around them, Punchdrunk invite the audience to become a part of the world and yet remain separate from it, reinforcing the erotically charged voyeuristic realm of the production. Keywords: Punchdrunk , immersive theatre, spectatorship, eroticism, the art of seduction, the experience economy When describing the paradox of diminishing desire in long term relationships, the famous sex therapist Esther Perel identified desire as a phenomenon “fueled” by anxiety and “the unknown”(57).
    [Show full text]
  • Baixa Descarrega El
    Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology 94 Número 3 | Desembre 2020 | 94-110 ISSN 2604-451X Disruptive Vocalities: Auditory Immersion in Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable and First-Person Digital Games Marcus Cheng Chye Tan National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4481-1772 Date received: 01-10-2020 Date of acceptance: 30-10-2020 KEY WORDS: IMMERSIVE THEATRES | AUDITORY IMMERSION | PUNCHDRUNK | VIDEO GAMES | ACOUSTIC ECOLOGY Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology | Número 3 | Desembre 2020 95 Disruptive Vocalities: Auditory Immersion in Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable and First-Person Digital Games ABSTRACT The intimate associations between video (or digital) games and new modes of immersive performances have been observed by scholars. The liberal interactivity and experience of ‘being in’ the virtual space of play and ‘inside’ the fictional world, as an avatar-like audience-participant are just some similarities in both encounters. While Gareth White (2012) has critically interrogat- ed the term ‘immersive’ in these forms of theatre from an ontological perspective, this paper examines immersion acoustemologi- cally. Through a comparative examination of the acoustic ecologies and experienced auditory immersions of First-Person digital games and Punchdrunk’s most recent production, The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable (2013), this paper posits that immer- sion in immersive performances is always more than ‘total’ since sonicities and disruptive vocalities produced by audience- participants, sounds that cannot be antici- pated or appropriated to be part of a designed soundscape (utterances, whispers, sounds and noises), would necessarily puncture the virtual integrity of the perfor- mance with frequencies of emergence from the intended submergence.
    [Show full text]