New work, new website

Please visit www.emilymagorrian.ch for all current projects.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Signing off

As I have reached the end of this placement, this is a note that i have more questions than when I began, more ideas, fuller understanding but a bigger journey to go on!

I would Like to thank Matt Addicott for being so open, giving me time for big, never-ending questions and giving me a learning journey I didn’t anticipate could be so full. This collaboration will not end here I hope. Thank you Matt.

Tim and I parted ways after january as I went down to one day a week but gave me confidence in my own voice as a collaborator and young artist. Thank you Tim.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my placement journey!

with special thanks to:

• Geraldine Heaney
• Chris Hall
• The Lovely Platform Team: Jackie, James, Louise, Diane, Margaret, Alun, Iain
• Hannah Murray
• Hazel Darwin Edwards
• Lou Brodie, Peter McMaster, Harry Wilson
• Catherine Campbell
• Robyn Jancovich-Brown
• Rhona Matheson

Autonomy… Art… Collaboration…

The thing I have been looking at as part of my dissertation and has ran into me when out in nurseries this week. The big idea of EQUAL COLLABORATION.

Its MASSIVE.

I have been thinking about it a lot in relation to different arts practices. Different artists.

• Where am I leading the collaboration?
• Where are you leading it?
• What do we call art?
• What am I imposing on you? form? Aesthetics?
• Is play collaboration?
• What are you imposing on me? content? Engagement style?

I was conscious of where the children were leading me as an artist, but I was conscious of where I was leading children too. From the very small: What is your job as a Power Ranger? to me and Matt placing our imaginations on top of the play the children were performing (we played “I See” while watching what was going on in the nursery). Is this real collaboration? I guess it is not explicit- but does it need to be? But I know where the children lead me too: I was not interested in baking going into this process but it is a really big part of the play we have seen.

“Play is performance”
(Schechner R, 92:2006 Performance studies)

I was interested in Matt’s thoughts on placing the play in a green screen studio and placing our aesthetics  on top of what was being created, is this were our play is- in this layering. Is this therefor indirect collaboration? I guess as an artist you want to create a something with your art in it two, not just the children’s. All models of collaboration are valid, I wonder where I will place myself in the future, what I will layer.

It is a question we must always grapple with- where do we lead? where do we follow? what is collaboration? when are we equal?

The News and Weather- some news for you!

Well I have been in Helenslea and Westercraigs nursery this week.

• I have made smelly strawberry and poo cakes
• I have been to the iphone factory
• I have met two power rangers
• I have heard the stories of babies farting in their Mum’s faces
• I have seen the new transport system being developed
• I have seen some new mountain expeditions
• I have been chased my snakes
• I have been given many hugs
• I have seen Curriculum for Excellence in Action
• I have checked our shopping lists
• I have looked for the easter bunny, I have some great drawings of him but am yet to see him (rumours are he is in the drain in Helenslea Nursery).
• I have seen science experiments
• I have seen a deep thinker
• I have been waited on.
• I have been in sword fights.
• “and the orange went so fast and the boat said no and it smashed into the house”
• I have been to the theatre
• I have been ladybird hunting.

These are just some of the things I have done and seen in the last week at two nurseries. How many places can you go in two places?

Dammit!

So being innovative is about experimenting: trying new things?

We did! We were primed and ready to rock.

News reporter personas: got them, Stimuli: got, Playlist: got, Matching costumes: got, Clouds: got…

We even had comedy geek glasses!

But it was all a huge mistake! A huge glorious mistake!

We were just too directed- like the prefrontal cortex we had a closed in on what we thought should be the way forward, but we soon realised that it was a bit to big and not really authentic or open enough to be in the nursery. So we stopped. Realising we just had to be there as witness- seeing and being seen. This was were the real conversations could happen, where we could make together.

Tomorrow we will be going in as ourselves: no news and weather reporters. we will ask questions of what we are offered- maybe we can see where to go from there.

The News and Weather

Dear You,

Me and Matt are really excited to be visiting everyone at Helenslea and Westercraigs over the next three days, getting to know each and every one of you! We are super excited.

We have been thinking about what might be fun to bring with us so we can get playing together in a new way, so we can think about the news and weather in a way that is as fun as jumping in puddles with wellies on and as finding the shapes in the clouds.

We think it is going to be great to celebrate your news, for us to think about the news in a new way, solution based celebration based, we think it might be fun to ask you what your news is.

We thought about news from the past,

News of the present and future,
https://twitter.com/BBCNews
What we might need

What we might look like?

We might listen to some tunes?

but the main thing is that we are open to anything, ready to play and to see what you think and feel about the news and weather.

See you soon
Emily and Matt

DESTROY

I was out at Lyra Theatre out in Craigmiller working as a devisor as part of Lou Brodies residency  for Imaginate.

We all had a pretty restless energy coming into the destroyers, as did our young participants who had a mental energy: red nose day madness!

We first went up to the castle and played I see: What we could see, what we wanted to see. On our way home we changed our environment, we wore branches for antler, we stamped on molehills. We are strong and can change our world. Mapping the town in tape at the arts centre we started to focus together. I might have broke that- with a LX tape moustache. But am I an equal to the young person? can I choose to make sillier decisions? Are we facilitating each other? Am I facilitating you?

Peter asked the question how to work as an authentic facilitator and to go against the enthusiasm  madness that sometimes overtakes in facilitating. How are we real? How are we equal?

Goldilocks

Written by Lewis Hetherington
Directed by Matt Addicott

It’s Christmas eve in the Bear’s house. Their beds are made, the porridge is hot and their favourite chairs are waiting for them – what could possibly go wrong? With plenty of music, jokes and bears our talented and energetic cast bring Goldilocks to life.

CAST:
Angela Darcy, Jenny Hulse and John Scougall

Performed: Tuesday 11 December to Saturday 22 December

Check out our 4* reveiw here http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage/goldilocks-platform-easterhouse.19681154

Spotty Pop Ladies

We, Hannah Murray, Geraldine Heaney and Hazel Darwin Edwards were ooot and aboot in Glenrothes in the Kingdom Shopping Centre.

We were hopping- hopping up the charts, all in aid of a bit of joy in january. Suzanne Zeedyk was out to promote her new films and to spread the health promoting benefits of giggling together. We did giggle together but there is room for improvement!

I think we made some people giggle, we engaged directly and indirectly with a lot of people in the shopping centre, but I know if we are to continue this again we would really like to develop it: I think I came to understand that for the important point of walk about theatre is to have a clear intention and aim: our performance became creative free play with the props and costume that we had but without a clear aim and unclear quality of the characterisation we did flounder at moments. I was thinking for us to move forward in this performance (because there was definitely potential in these ideas) we would have to really find an action and motivation for the performance quality to be really exciting.

But we know that, and we did make people giggle, so onwards and upwards!

(PS the lovely pictures are by Hazel Darwin Edwards)

Investigations continue

A beautiful manifesto for children’s culture, I’m sure this will add inspiration and grounding to my dissertation!