In and Out (or in-between?)

This page is to describe practical tools that we can use to create clarity and Common Ground among a varied group of performers about how to deal with the subject of Performance (in) Reality.

Do we want any agreements about when you are ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the piece?

And if so, in which concrete way do we want to define it? Here a few aspects to consider to find clarity about the subject:

SPACE:

For example: Performance space and Audience space can be clearly marked or just a ‘silent agreement’ amongst the performers, while for the audience it remains more open.
(related: CONTEXT & basic agreements)

TIME:

For example: Clear start and end in time agreed on beforehand. Once the time starts, you’re ‘in’, no matter where you are.
See also Falling Out of Time for a more subtle view on time and being inside/outside the performance

AUDIENCE:

For example: Is the audience also IN the piece or are they OUT? Do we give them tacit or explicit signals to make that clear? Or do we want to keep it vague? (might be choice) To which end?

STATE / ATTITUDE:

For example: Is ‘being in the performance’ marked by a certain ‘State of Being‘, in which I can switch (internally) from being ‘in’ and ‘out’?(which might not be visible to others, but is very clear to me)

Or: Is the agreement/interest of us as performers that we want to explore the MANY STATES IN-BETWEEN performance and reality and therefore decide not to define at all where performance starts and reality

In/Out can also be marked by BEHAVIOUR-SIGNAL:

Is ‘being in the performance’ signalled by a certain behaviour that the performers agree on (e.g. when you sit on the ground, you become an audience member, when you stand up, you become a performer)

Anything missing? … please add!


Quotes from WhatIIIF2019:

Enter
How do I enter as a spectator?
How to enter as a spectator
Enter
Here is the entrance to a performance?
Do we define it by time, sight, acceptance or conclusions?

I enter a space. Something is clearly going on in a certain time; it has a dramaturgy, but I can´t “read” it since I enter after the common or thought start. My start is somewhere else in this timeline.
How do I enter?
I enter as a body, visible and watching. Trying to “read” the room and its actions. I calculate where to be present but not changing the room. Is that possible? My appearance changes the design of the space. Architecture or maybe we could call it stage design?

I calculate
How to cross the space or the room with a certain speed not being mis-understood or mis-interpreted as a performer. Being “just” a spectator.
Can I become a human “bracket”?

in and out in music (in – out – layers)

I write while I am playing. I can make long sounds with the Moog. These have a rough quality, not smooth tones. Just because this sound layer is rough, other sounds can hang on it and hang on the ears of listeners.

I make sounds (that are in the room and influence him and the people). I create a continuity, an invisible filling of the space (down to its last corner). When I stop, especially when I suddenly stop, the naked room is present in its bewildering clarity. I play with the in-out and the dancer will be tossed or she let her body be thrown. A strong force.