These works were made in close proximity to Stan's cafe, contrary to this stage last year, where I was not in residence with Stan’s cafe. As I have been in physical residence during most of the hours that the theatre company has been operating within their premises.
This has led to my presence becoming absorbed into the daily fabric of stan’s cafe's operations, we share an office, I help in casual discussions about work, help with the logistical running of the building etc.
The works themselves mostly provide entertainment to the staff at Stan's cafe and make daily mundane activities a part of an artistic process, which has contributed to a fun artistic atmosphere within the company. I had set out previously to look at ways of disrupting the norms at Stan's cafe to find new, more beneficial or rewarding ways of working. By spending so much time with Stan's cafe, I have now observed those processes but inadvertently become a part of those processes. Very little work in the way of disruption is yet to occur but is still of interest to me. However, my work so far has seen me as an asset to Stan's cafe, who makes artistic things out of the mundane parts of running a theatre company, but also assists in operating its activities, like the away day music or recently providing a performance for the board of directors away day (awaiting documentation).
I have conducted further research into the work of the Artist Placement Group (APG) to discover more context for arts residencies within businesses. My research has led to an interview with composer/sound artist/writer David Toop who worked with the APG on a residency in London Zoo. I have also conducted trips to Tate Britain's archive to read more about the goings-on at the APG and how other artists conducted their residencies. I've been researching the work of composer Hugh Davies’ who also undertook work with the APG. Full findings are due to bee completed in March, and will be detailed fully in a chapter within my thesis, but important context found includes; the general response from these residencies is that the artists’ gained new ways of making art, processes and ideas through their residencies whereas the businesses have felt little impact from the artists’ presence. Davies also made a manifesto for artists on how to conduct their residency, which has been useful for me to study and implement within my own project. I also learned more about the APG's consultancy group of 'noitmen', a group of artists that would correspond with the artist in residence and assist them with advice with any problems or ideas that they were having within the residency. This has led to me forming my own group of online 'noitmen' who I consult about my own ideas within the residency. By exploring the archival material between Tate Britain and Hugh Davies' personal collection at Goldsmith's I hope to bear more fruit for my own residency but also be able to share some previously undocumented information about the APG and their work that could prove useful to Art historians and other residency researchers.
Further work and questions to research are;
Can a composer-in-residence like myself be an asset, that operates on tasks not normally possible for Stan's cafe as not a primary concern and therefore low priority use of resources? I can exist outside of time pressures other commitments working for a theatre company entail, and therefore work on small projects that the company could do if it had more time and personnel, like make a video of the Walsall away day with the music i made as part of the task?
(link)
Should I research parasites and how they help impact the larger organism they exist in? The dynamic is similar, I am given an office, desk, wifi, walls, heating, staff to converse with, but do not contribute to the company's daily running. Can I contribute in another way? Or disrupt things?
Is making work about Stan's cafe, without much of Stan's cafe's involvement valuable to me and/or Stan's cafe? If a work I make is valuable either culturally or in bringing attention to my work in a wider context, is that of value to Stan's cafe?
What work so far has been valuable? What is value in this context? How do I increase the valuableness in my work as a composer in residence?
I plan to explore other methods of working with Stan's cafe. I plan to find other ways of existing as a composer-in-residence that don't involve being physically in the building all of the time, which provides me with an outsider observation viewpoint which could be helpful in making different works that impact the company differently. I also plan to research the meaning of value, disruption and parasites to see how these could help the residency. The archival research will be collated and possibly even presented to the company to increase their understanding of my own residency and what work can be done, how to maximise its potential and minimise any conflict that may arise.
the company enjoyed my previous project, taking surveillance photos of the stan's cafe building, and invited me to do the same with their teacher orientation day in birmingham city centre. the orientation day is a fun day where the company sets teachers on creative tasks around the city. like, making a railway map of their own lives, trying on clothes in shops that they would never be brave enough to buy and finding specifc colours along canals etc.
i took photos following different groups of teachers, made this presentation, accompanied my presentation with some music, took away the commentary and was left with some music from the process.
These works were made in close proximity to Stan's cafe, contrary to this stage last year, where I was not in residence with Stan’s cafe. As I have been in physical residence during most of the hours that the theatre company has been operating within their premises.
This has led to my presence becoming absorbed into the daily fabric of stan’s cafe's operations, we share an office, I help in casual discussions about work, help with the logistical running of the building etc.
The works themselves mostly provide entertainment to the staff at Stan's cafe and make daily mundane activities a part of an artistic process, which has contributed to a fun artistic atmosphere within the company. I had set out previously to look at ways of disrupting the norms at Stan's cafe to find new, more beneficial or rewarding ways of working. By spending so much time with Stan's cafe, I have now observed those processes but inadvertently become a part of those processes. Very little work in the way of disruption is yet to occur but is still of interest to me. However, my work so far has seen me as an asset to Stan's cafe, who makes artistic things out of the mundane parts of running a theatre company, but also assists in operating its activities, like the away day music or recently providing a performance for the board of directors away day (awaiting documentation).
I have conducted further research into the work of the Artist Placement Group (APG) to discover more context for arts residencies within businesses. My research has led to an interview with composer/sound artist/writer David Toop who worked with the APG on a residency in London Zoo. I have also conducted trips to Tate Britain's archive to read more about the goings-on at the APG and how other artists conducted their residencies. I've been researching the work of composer Hugh Davies’ who also undertook work with the APG. Full findings are due to bee completed in March, and will be detailed fully in a chapter within my thesis, but important context found includes; the general response from these residencies is that the artists’ gained new ways of making art, processes and ideas through their residencies whereas the businesses have felt little impact from the artists’ presence. Davies also made a manifesto for artists on how to conduct their residency, which has been useful for me to study and implement within my own project. I also learned more about the APG's consultancy group of 'noitmen', a group of artists that would correspond with the artist in residence and assist them with advice with any problems or ideas that they were having within the residency. This has led to me forming my own group of online 'noitmen' who I consult about my own ideas within the residency. By exploring the archival material between Tate Britain and Hugh Davies' personal collection at Goldsmith's I hope to bear more fruit for my own residency but also be able to share some previously undocumented information about the APG and their work that could prove useful to Art historians and other residency researchers.
Further work and questions to research are;
Can a composer-in-residence like myself be an asset, that operates on tasks not normally possible for Stan's cafe as not a primary concern and therefore low priority use of resources? I can exist outside of time pressures other commitments working for a theatre company entail, and therefore work on small projects that the company could do if it had more time and personnel, like make a video of the Walsall away day with the music i made as part of the task?
(link)
Should I research parasites and how they help impact the larger organism they exist in? The dynamic is similar, I am given an office, desk, wifi, walls, heating, staff to converse with, but do not contribute to the company's daily running. Can I contribute in another way? Or disrupt things?
Is making work about Stan's cafe, without much of Stan's cafe's involvement valuable to me and/or Stan's cafe? If a work I make is valuable either culturally or in bringing attention to my work in a wider context, is that of value to Stan's cafe?
What work so far has been valuable? What is value in this context? How do I increase the valuableness in my work as a composer in residence?
I plan to explore other methods of working with Stan's cafe. I plan to find other ways of existing as a composer-in-residence that don't involve being physically in the building all of the time, which provides me with an outsider observation viewpoint which could be helpful in making different works that impact the company differently. I also plan to research the meaning of value, disruption and parasites to see how these could help the residency. The archival research will be collated and possibly even presented to the company to increase their understanding of my own residency and what work can be done, how to maximise its potential and minimise any conflict that may arise.
when i first entered stan's cafe to be in residence, i was shown where my office was to be. i made a quick video and piece of music to accompany things i'd like to do to this office, to remind me of things to do in advance of my next visit and to send to stan's cafe members so they could help me out.
i then made a similar video every day for a week, to help me get making things. i would send these videos to stan's cafe members at the end of each day.
however, i was aware that i was filling their email inbox with things that were not entirely useful to their working day.
so i made a virtual noticeboard/archive and anonymous messaging system. this can be accessed here: link (you'll even see the most recent update!)
this board is accessible through QR codes scattered throughout the building (as seen in the penultimate video in the playlist).
this noticeboard would be updated regularly with the tasks i was undertaking each day and i would play stan's cafe not café on the recorder loudly in the building to notify everyone in the building that there had been an update.
to the right of this text box is a link to some updates made so far.
during some rehearsals this summer, stan's cafe's hp printer broke and seemed to be unfixable. possibly not surprising for a piece of equipment that is ten years old.
i recorded some sounds of the printer stuttering, whirring, failing and bleeping. i used these sounds to make a piece of music.
i made this piece accessible via qr code above the printer, and made a little shrine with flowers, and an r.i.p sign. i also left some paper and invited members to say some commerative words for the printer.
stan's cafe are world renowned for their piece of all the people in the world, a piece in which actors weigh out tonnes of grains of rice to represent different population statistics.
in stan's cafe's new space, i noticed a great number of dead woodlice in my office and around the building. i wished to use this as a material, not only to clean them up but to contribute to stan's cafe in a positive way with them.
i gathered them up from around the building and made my own version of their rice piece. i choose to represent the statistics of stan's cafe's most recent project precious emily, a show about two real life weightlifters, involving ten different schools.
i made a video to document the process of collecting the woodlice and how i presented the exhibtion. the exhibition is still availble to be viewed in stan's cafe.
every week at stan's cafe there is a regular weekly meeting. this meeting involves everyone who works at the company and covers all the work everyone has been doing, any issues, long term plans, problem solving.
using what happens in the meetings, i have composed music for meetings i attended and others in advance of the meeting to be played during it. some compositions were performed as part of the meeting. for example, i assigned each member of the meeting a note on a synth. everytime they spoke i played their corresponding note. i also changed chord everytime the topic of conversation changed.
during heavy rain, stan's cafe's building had a considerably heavy leak. i accompanied this leak with some music while stan's cafe continued its operations.
stan's cafe organise city away days for groups of teachers. these days engage teachers in different parts of birmingham with creative tasks to encourage different ways of creative lesson planning. i was asked to help with one of these tasks during an away day in walsall. i instructed groups of teachers to make an audio commentary describing the victorian arcade.
i then took my recordings and made a fun 'jazz opera' using the things that they said.