keep coming back here as we approach 10th december to look out for information about What a difference a day makes : a performance of self (improvement)
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Sunday, 30 November 2008
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5 people, 1 room, 24 hours. How much can be done in one day? What have you always wanted to do but never had the time? We decided to find out. We are Beta Test; John Hunter, Simon Cummin, Cat Harrison, Iván González and Max Olesker. We started out with a length of time, 24 hours, and looked at ways of filling it. We were fascinated by this duration we'd allocated entirely to ourselves; a period with which to do whatever we wished. So. Conversations bubbled with excitement, and the ideas flowed freely. 24 hours seemed like a long time; long enough to achieve something. The question then became what could be achieved and, crucially, what did we want to achieve at the end of our day? Everything, it seemed – from a neo-renaissance tromp l'oeil relief, to a wall-sized mosaic, to a five-part harmony. Madness.
So we focused our energy, and looked inward; looked at our own desires and aspirations, and at everything we'd do if we felt we had the time. Because now we did have the time. We looked at the skills we had, and the skills we wanted to learn, and shared them with the gro(u)p. Long-held wishes and deep-seated desires rose to the fore, and we reformulated our list. This is what we decided to learn; a drum solo, the first principles of ballet, Spanish, the art of juggling, the piano. Oh, and the five-part harmony. We kept that. Everyone had something to offer someone else within the group, something to teach, and so the self-help culture of our 24 hour journey became apparent. So now we're improving ourselves and each other.
We decide to right wrongs and strengthen bonds by writing and sending the letters we'd always meant to write and send. Spiritually improving stuff. All of us craved a healthier lifestyle, so we pursued the healthiest diet we possibly could – right down to our blood type (yes, your diet should vary according to your blood type. We didn't know either...). Our day, initially a vast expanse filled with nothing but possibilities, was filling up fast. We needed a timetable. And what a timetable it became; with our five individual tasks, our five part harmony, our letter-writing, our medically-sound eating times and our thirty minutes of exercise per day (in pursuit of our mutual health crusade), our day needed to be planned down to the minute. But we didn't have all the answers, and if we're to achieve the very most we can in our day then we're going to need them. 'Infinite Joy, Now!' promised the CD, and we realised what we were missing. Our eight hours of sleep, previously an interlude in our frantic journey towards betterment, could now be brought into play. Learn whilst you sleep; the secret of the universe in an easily-assimilated, subconsciously-absorbed, friendly and accessible CD format.
24 active hours, in preparation for 24 minutes in which to deliver all that we have learnt to do and all that we have learnt about ourselves. We could transform ourselves and emerge, reborn, at the end of our day. We could learn nothing, and end the process disillusioned and exhausted. The whole task could be futile. Or perhaps the results will fall somewhere in between; the joy and terror of our task is that we have less than no way of knowing what's going to happen to us, despite the incontrovertible voice of the timetable guiding us through our journey. How can you join us, you ask? How indeed. Many ways, as it happens; we want to share as much of our journey as we can with the entire world.
STUFF WE (never!) STOLE:
Forced Entertainment - "Speak Bitterness" (1994)
a piece that became a 6 hour durational performance on confession and witnessing
"we lived a harsh, fast life; we were glad to be alive; we didn't have an opinion on anything except how crazy the world was"
Etchell, Tim. Certain Fragments. Oxon: Routledge, 186.
http://www.forcedentertainment.com/?lid=440
Reckless Sleepers - "GB Bill"
an eight hour durational piece on top of South Bank, creating an ever-changing billboard of events
http://www.reckless-sleepers.co.uk/project.php?id=17
Gob Squad - "Work" (1995)
a durational piece taking over an office turning the mundane 9-5 routine on its head
http://www.gobsquad.com/archivesubpage.php?id_project=25
Gob Squad - "Room Service" (2003)
whereby the Squadders took over a hotel overnight and made public what goes on behind closed doors
http://www.gobsquad.com/archivesubpage.php?id_project=6
and aesthetically, you can see a likeness with these guys...
Gob Squad - "Super Night Shot" (2003)
the screens, the moments that we come together
http://www.gobsquad.com/archivesubpage.php?id_project=4
Station House Opera - "Mind/Out" (2008)
the washing line mainly, but the aesthetic that considers the stage as a platform for anything
http://www.stationhouseopera.com/Current/mindout.htm
