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Georgia Martin 

My name is Georgia Martin and this is my personal development for Actor and the Object. I will be using this page to upload videos and write reflection on my progress throughout the module. 

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Process Drawings:

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Report on object choice:

The reasoning behind our object choice of photo frames is because we think a photo frame is automatically linked to having memories inside of it. Our piece is about our memories and playing with the mystery of them. However we have chosen to take out the photo and just have an empty photo frame. This draws out the mystery within the frame. Why is it empty? Using a photo frame enables myself to really be able to connect with it physically as it's not too big, so it gives me chances to explore my physicality leading from different parts of my body and pushing my boundaries. Fighting for control. Also starting off with small movements and allowing my body to find different tempos and rhythms throughout the exercise.

An issue I had was feeling uncomfortable within myself to be able to push my boundaries. Not being on the rehearsal floor made it harder for myself to be able to connect with the object again. Not being able to focus as well and really let myself go. This showed the importance of being on the rehearsal floor every single time.

I placed myself within an empty room as I feel like it draws out the word mystery. Why is the room empty? Giving the object an agency allows it to have control over myself. I want the object to control me and Kantor’s work really helped me to understand there's no right or wrong. Allow yourself to make mistakes. His performances are constantly moving and evolving even due to live performances and when doing the bio - object and inanimate sounds exercise I had to remind myself there is no finished piece. It will never end. So this really helped me to get out of the mind set of my videos having to be perfect and allowed me to play.

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Bio-Object and Inanimate Sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PANkMyDJR6M

This is the link to my bio-object and inanimate sounds exercise.

Reflection:

The idea behind my video was to use breathing and give the impression of being frustrated/ laughing/defeated through the inanimate sounds and my physicality. This becomes mysterious as to why I am playing with emotions and what the meaning behind them may be. However, using the sounds helped to reflect my body movements. I feel putting the two together was more beneficial for myself instead of using two separate videos. It was more natural to create the sounds when doing the exercise. Our group is looking at the idea of having these photo frames controlling us and using an empty photo frame allows me to link memories back to the photo frame. Holding onto a certain memory and multiple. ‘’Bio-objects were Kantor’s contribution to the discussion about interplay between the subject (the Self, the actor, the body) and the object.’’ (Kantor, 1944-1990) Within this the interplay between yourself and the object is very important. The bigger the object the more you will get out of it. Allowing yourself within this video to set free and really have a connection between yourself and your object is important and for myself, I need to connect with my object more. I feel the idea of being in an empty room reflects Kantor’s work and gives yourself as the actor freedom and allows the object to take you in any direction. Within my progress I want to stress the thought of looking for memories and use more inanimate sounds that reflect my body language/choices. A choice I made was to play on the idea of repetition and using the photo frame to pull myself backwards and forth to reflect that our group liked the idea of repetition and that steamed from Pina Bausch and her performance of ''Cafe Muller''.

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''Kantor creates a performance is the fact that he is always on stage throughout every performance coming in and directing it live on stage changing the piece if it does not look right.'' - Kantor The Theatre of  Memory/ The Theatre of Death

The Golden Key - Synopsis:

''Once in the wintertime when the snow was very deep, a poor boy had to go out and fetch wood on a sled. After he had gathered it together and loaded it, he did not want to go straight home, because he was so frozen, but instead to make a fire and warm himself a little first. So he scraped the snow away, and while he was thus clearing the ground he found a small golden key. Now he believed that where there was a key, there must also be a lock, so he dug in the ground and found a little iron chest. "If only the key fits!" he thought. "Certainly there are valuable things in the chest." He looked, but there was no keyhole. Finally he found one, but so small that it could scarcely be seen. He tried the key, and fortunately it fitted. Then he turned it once, and now we must wait until he has finished unlocking it and has opened the lid. Then we shall find out what kind of wonderful things there were in the little chest.''

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My Process:

This module has been a journey. Some highs and lows. I have learnt to not be so afraid that everything has to be perfect. It’s ok to make mistakes. Not everything is going to be correct the first time. I have allowed my body to move in ways it hasn't before and find a connection with people I have never worked with before. It has taught me to be able to step away from a piece of work and look at it from a different point of view and be able to criticize my own work. When working in a group it's important that you work as a team and everyone puts in the safe amount of effort. I really bonded with group I moved to and before the pandemic we was meeting and exploring different ideas and even through the pandemic we have continued to support one another through our group chat, group facetime calls and we put together a video of all of us to show that we have been working through the pandemic. Therefore, this module has allowed me to find a new confidence in performing and not always speaking down within a group. I can now voice my ideas without thinking they’re going to be shut down. It also allowed me to explore a whole new theatre world which is Kantor and I am sure I will take his techniques and way of thinking into the next process I enter. 

At the start of the module I was unsatisfied with the group I was put into. This really made me feel down and start to really doubt myself. I was so confused by the module at the start from the Grimm Tale’s to making a bag breathe? I was really struggling to make the connections between the objects and stories. Everyone just kept saying ‘’trust the module it will make sense in the end.’’ However this made me feel worse. I am a person who likes to understand everything and then be able to piece everything together with a full understanding. It was hard for me to trust the module and allow myself to keep failing. With our piece changing every week it started to deflate me. By PR1 I was ready to give up on the module and accept that I wasn’t good enough. However I moved groups and it was a challenge coming into the group as they had already bonded and had many ideas and I didn't want to come in and take credit for their work. However we all came up with new ideas and all our input evolved from here so we overcame that challenge and it turned out to be very successful. 

Bibliography: 

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