Mind-body and the tube...

My notion behind my first workshop was to be able to really understand the mind-body perception of space in the tube. After my journey around the underground, I was able to see that people became a ‘tube’ version of themselves, whereby they limited their desires and acted in such a closed off manner that they ignored all the opportunities the senses had to offer.

Ahead of time, I had asked my performers to notice 3 things about the way they routinely sit when on the tube. Aptly, we met on the tube on Thursday 23rd February. On the way to the studio we began to individually spectate the comings and goings on the tube, and tried and pick out common behaviours.  The second half of the tube journey, I wanted the performers to just sit in their comfortable position and just try and act as normal (as they can). I began to notice how they blended in to the aura of the ‘asleep’ tube...

On arriving at the studio we began to discuss what we noticed, they seemed to recognise similar happenings that I discussed in my previous blog (women holding their hands at their stomach, how the tube traveller positions themselves as to avoid eye contact...) We started to understand how men have a more open chest on the tube, where as women seem to invert their chest and cover their stomachs.

Into the studio, we did some tuning exercises, inspired by Lisa Nelsons ‘Tuning Scores’, Miranda Tufnell’s ‘Body, Space, Imange’ and Anne Bogart’s ‘Viewpoints’, here’s a snippet of what I did:

Firstly we lay down in a comfortable position, letting our body sink into the floor, releasing all the tension. We isolated the senses taking time to really hear, smell, taste and touch (no sight at this point – eyes closed). We started moving, letting the body be inspired and guided by the senses, taking time for each sense separately. I sped this up and slowed this down, really letting the body move instinctively to the sense.

Straight after that we did a Skinner Releasing exercise, [http://www.skinnerreleasing.com/] which works by 1 person standing with their eyes closed [A] whilst the other person brushes their body along lines of energy [B]. B stands perpendicular to the A, with their hands placed one on the stomach and one on the lower back, B brushes the body, going up the chest and down one arm, and carrying the flow of movement out into the space, this is repeated on the other arm and down the legs. This is a performance in itself, B is really moving around the energy of A, taking the energy out into the space. When this is finished, A opens their eyes and walks around the space. This exercise works to relax the body, and also really open the bodies energy into the space, creating an urge to move organically.

I then took this straight into a Viewpoint inspired exercise; as they walked around the space they then were directed to walk towards an object, marking or sight that caught their eye, and make their way over to that area in any way they desired. Did they feel the need to take time to slowly shift to that place, or did they feel the desire to run at it? We worked with different dynamics and levels as this exercise developed.

I then finished off the studio work with an adapted tuning scores exercise, which was based around the following instructions:

 ENTER Enter the frame

PAUSE Suspension in stillness

FIND find the first thing you see

OPEN / CLOSE Eyes open, eyes shut

NEXT Cut do something else

RESITUATE Change place or point of view

REVERSE Revisit the experience backward

SUSTAIN Sustain the present activity

EXIT Exit the frame

This saw the performers really becoming curious to the space around them, really being present in the exercise, pertaining to the space around them.

We then took the workshop into the tube, and immediately noticed the advanced nature of our presence on the tube; we all started to be aware of how much we have been ignoring and ‘blocking out’ on our daily travels, especially colours and sounds. There was a plethora of sounds, at different distances, that we had previously disregarded. The studio work had been able to give us a glimpse of how aware and curious we could be.

We then began to get comfortable in our ‘automatic’ tube position, being aware of the 3 things that we all found prominent in our bodies when on the tube. Feet, hands and back were part of most of our prominent ‘tube’ features; we discussed how we adapt our body for security, to shy away from the surroundings. Our bodies also work to appropriate, minimising our desires in order to stick to the status quo, e.g keeping our feet close to our bodies instead of spreading them out. We began to look at how these positions affect the rest of our body, physically, looking at the structure of the bones, what part of the body is stable compared to something that is freer. We also looked at how these positions affect our perceptions... because my head is down; my eye sight is compromised and restricted, is this also to fit to the status quo? How does this change my reactions, because I am more closed, how would I act if someone brushed me? How do I see myself in the space? How do I relate to others in the space?

We worked with improvisations to exaggerate the positions, isolating them and working with the whole body. I wanted to understand the ‘tube character’ that this position creates. Are you claiming a space? Are you hiding away? Really becoming aware of how the body encompasses these feelings. A lot of tube positions seem to be guarding the body against the fear the tube presents. Especially since 7/7, we have become even more insular, funnily enough we have not become more aware. Possibly we are living up the old saying ’ignorance is bliss’, if we forgot how horrible the concept of travelling underground is, we can get through it safely.

Therefore, this posed the question to me, if we are very nervous of other people, how can I attempt to wake up the city traveller without being perceived as threatening?

From this workshop I was able to see and be apart of really understanding what happens to the body on the tube, as we went from heightened senses, into a ‘tube you’. The exercises really invited us to experience the tube; however, it was very easy to slip into the comfortable/safe tube state once we started to do so. I wanted to explore the body-mind connection, and I think I am beginning to understand how the body guards and appropriates your character and desires for the tube, and with this it beings to restrict the way we perceive. With my body, my back becomes very curved, with my hands crossed on my stomach with my elbows on the arm rests, and my legs are always crossed. As I began to explore this, I noticed that I was claiming my space with my elbows and my knees directing outwards, but also hiding away with my hands on my stomach and my head bent over. I think this is a classic positioning on the tube, we don’t want confrontation but we also want a much of our own space as possible, and therefore we close off, not opening up our senses to look explore the space, as that could interrupt someone else...

I began to think about how the tube has limited offerings for the senses, there is a lot to hear, but there isn’t too much diversity of sights, and there isn’t much to smell other than other people. However, on London Bridge, the bodies acted in a similar way where their direction towards home was direct and strong, but there was a strict status quo. Diversely, London Bridge has a lot to offer for the senses, smells of the river and the central City, sight: high rises, Tower Bridge, the river, touch: the air on your skin, other people, weather...

Therefore, the next step seems to be to understand the change in London Bridge between rush hour and the afternoon, do both groups of people seem closed off? How can I create a workshop, similar to the tube to understand the ‘London Bridge’ traveller? Then, potentially, how can I create a performance in the space that really asks and invites the spectators to question their state in the city, and prospectively be more than a momentary manipulation of the sense...?

Bye.
M.J

Understanding the asleep city...

A little bit of background to what I am doing, I want to attempt to wake the city up. So first of all I went on a journey to understand how city bodies negotiate their way around the space....


I chose to explore the tube during rush hour yesterday. So in the morning I went on a journey from Willesden Green --> Waterloo --> Tottenham Court Road -->Bond Street --> Swiss Cottage. My attempt was to explore the body through Laban Movement Analysis, which looks at different unconscious styles of action the body exudes that mean different things about that person.


Basically, I found this rather redundant in 2012 London because technology and space has adapted the way we hold our bodies, for example we curl over our phones, but this doesn't necessarily mean we are being indirect....?


I also attempted, to smile at people, I use the word attempted because gaining eye contact was hard enough. There are patterns of intricacy that appear on the tube whereby people place themselves in such a way that their eyes cannot directly contact someone else's. My results were dim....


After a 45 minutes journey, 10 people looked away when I smiled at them, 7 people gave me a awkward half smile, 2 people gave me a half genuine smile but away straight afters, as if something x-rated had just happened...

FINALLY, I got a smile...OK, I only got a smile because I gave her my seat, but still.... it was something.


So, in the evening I went out again, but this time I wanted to just write, ironically, I took my iphone to write on.... but that is a whole other story...


So here we go, this is my account of my journey on the tube from Swiss Cottage to London Bridge 5.15-5.45...


As I start to analyse the sound of the tube, I hear thunder, I feel big rather than intimidated, I feel large with the sound of the air, I feel close to the winds.

I pay attention to the way I sit,
With my legs automatically crossed, how did they get there? At what point do I throw my left leg over my right?
My elbows stretched across the arms of the seats. My shoulders automatically lift up because my posture doesn't change to adapt to the spacing of my shoulders.
I begin to notice my posture, naturally curving over ready for me to play with my iPhone, read a magazine or clasp my hands across my stomach.

Do we ever realise how we sit? As I begin to think about how bad my posture is, I want to re-align, my shoulders feel tense hunched up and I dont like how my legs are crossed. I feel closed off and restricted, do we even realise how much me inwardly direct ourselves?!

The woman's stomach, our bags are automatically sat on our laps, like a precious stone that we must guard, our hands, again, automatically shielding it with a slight or small grasp. If there is no bag at our stomachs, women seem to sit hands pressed together, guarding a stomach, guarding themselves? Are we self conscious? Has the media even changed our natural bodily practices to hide our, what the magazine so eloquently named  'our problem area' or ' muffin top'...?

Our eyes, staring, they stare, at anything but a human. We will make contact with the words on a page, the iPhone, anything but the people around us.

My journey is enlightened by the family with the small child, they are attentive, protect but also happy, involved, really bright, and this illumination is inviting as they sit and entertainment the wondering and inquisitive eyes of the child. The child, the unconditioned curious child, their big eyes negotiating with the space, excited to learn, happy to stare into the eyes of another. The family, who fill the bland silence by answering the child's futile but curious questions with loud and animated responses.

The sea of evening standards cover the eyes, shield the tube travellers from the possibility of engaging in an awkward glance with another.

The men of the tube are more open, the legs wide, their chests uncovered by hands, not bothered by the possibility to someone stealing their stuff? Or possibly open to criticism, unlike women? Possibly not as conscious, nothing to hide...?

The tube begins to fill and my largeness I felt earlier suddenly becomes filled with bodies and newspapers. I am sitting down and I feel intimidating

"I'm waiting for an appointment to have it cut out..." I hear this loud conversation between two people and it breaks my previous thought. My natural urge to be nosey invites me in to wonder what they're talking about... A lump? Her hair? Her hair in an unfortunate place...?

The women wearing their trainers, do, aptly for the military like nature of the tube...


I then travelled out onto London Bridge....
The sounds of different conversations float into my ear as I walk past, different accents, languages. The sound of talking is invited by my ear after the awkward silence of the tube.

The racing start at the traffic lights, the bikes prepared at the front of the race, the cars bellowing behind them like an animal about to chase it prey.


I cut across the herd of people walking across London bridge, my senses are alivened, similar to when you are about to fall or someone may hit you,  I am suddenly fearful of these angry walkers. They have an intention, they aren't dawdling, or even looking over their shoulder to glance the beautiful views that London has to offer.

I meet this man from New York, he startles me, I was so lost in watching other people's movements. We get to talking, I invite him into my current awareness of the London Bridge stampede...

"New York used to be like this" he answered in response to a statement I made about how the rush hour workers ignore each other and the beauty of the city. He goes on to state how New York is more communal after 9/11, people are more friendly, possibly sharing a nod or a smile. Does it take a disaster to open up people's senses, to awaken people to their existence and how they are not too dissimilar to the other people that share their space?


I started thinking about 7/7, but what seems to have happened is that it wasn't big enough (horrendous as it sounds) to really affect us. Instead, it made us even more inward, even more fearful...

So this is where I leave you.
My first blog, now I'm off to turn this into a rehearsal process to understand the body in spaces...


Bye.
M.J