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Laia Estruch IN RESiDENCE at the School Juan Manuel Zafra
The sphere of the work: performance
To define performance and decide what it is, the early sessions are devoted to introducing and viewing the work of iconic performance artists (Marina Abramovich, Ester Ferrer and so on). Laia Estruch’s first session begins with the artist’s performance of Hello everyone as she walks into the classroom. To organise the key concepts linked to this genre, the pupils draw up mindmaps, which are displayed in the classroom.
Starting point for the work project: play structures in parks
The starting point for the project is located and defined: the play structures in public parks. The group locates those near the school, the ones they know and so on, on the map. A discussion takes place about the work of a key figure, Aldo van Eyck, a Dutch designer of play structures. The Clot Park is chosen as the first venue for the performance, due both to its proximity to the school and to the variety of equipment there. A number of work sessions revolve around the concept of the “site-specific” work.
Reworking Allan Kaprow. Recording the performances
In the first rehearsals concerned with the theme of performance, the pupils create different versions of Allan Kaprow’s happenings, based on his scores, to which they make small changes in order to edit them in Kaprow’s style.
Different ways of recording the performative work are established: photographs, audio, film and scores. Audio recording generates event score. This work leads to the creation of a small sound installation in one of the corridors at the school, which is activated temporarily at times when pupils are changing classrooms.
Moat: the spectator and the performance
A group of pupils and the class teacher attend the premiere of Laia Estruch’s performance Moat at the Antic Teatre. Subsequent sessions are devoted to talking and thinking about the spectator’s role in this performance, the discover of strangeness, feelings and so on. Using a film of the piece, the class also study how it is structured and what elements are at play in Moat.
Research and documentation at various parks in the city
This work, which takes place over several sessions (inside and outside school hours), is aimed at compiling information about different parks and their structures. The structures in Parc Central in the Poblenou neighbourhood become a very important part of the project. The structures are studied through fact sheets on which the pupils describe materials, forms, types of construction... as well as the what they feel are the possibilities of creating a performance there.
MACBA: Action and Dissident Theatricalities
Visit to Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), which revolves around Marta Galán’s performance, which is linked to several works in the collection there. The artist’s piece also features a number of performative practices conducted in the museum itself.
Graphic work on designing the piece
Individual drawing of possible designs for the structure, taking into account all the elements documented, as well as the experiments carried out on movement in order to design an agreed structure after pooling and discussion of the different proposals. Graphic study of the final location of the piece in the school playground. Pooling ideas, collaborative design and work with the 3D Tinkercad programme, which enables users to make 3D models.
Visit to the construction workshop
A trip is organised to the construction workshop at the Sant Cugat Theatre-Auditorium, where the structure will be built. At the session, the pupils, with Laia Estruch and the builders, talk about the piece and agree its final design and the technical modifications required, finalising the commission. The group then continues their visit by touring the premises to observe tests of tube torsion and learn about the facilities and work at a set construction workshop.
Automatic writing, rehearsals of the work and final form
The inclusion of texts and voices in the performance is crucial from the very beginning of the work. Towards the final stages of the project, the group begins to create texts using the automatic writing technique. Later, in sessions in the classroom, the pupils work on the text orally, individually or chorally, generating rhythms, cadencies, dissonance and so on.
Once the structure is installed in the school playground, rehearsals begin to decide the final structure of the performance. Using a series of exercises involving body and voice, the pupils and Laia Estruch interact with the piece and design a pattern that will form the basis for the improvisation in the final performance.
Presentation
The presentation takes place in the playground at Institut Juan Manuel Zafra secondary school at 6.30 pm on June 9. The event is divided into two parts: the performance itself and the description of the work process (the experience and the discoveries) by the pupils, Laia Estruch and the teacher, Sandra Gimeno.
The presentation was attended by the pupils’ families and friends, teachers and people linked to the world of culture, as well as representatives from Barcelona Institute of Culture.
Parallel activities
- Outings to Clot Park (28/10/16)
The research into public play structures generated a number of different outings. The Clot Park, very close to the school, becomes a place for both research and rehearsals of performative possibilities. After the first visit to study and test different structures, the group returns to the park on several occasions to work there.
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2016/10/28/performance_01-12-parc-del-clot-16_10_21/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2016/10/28/parc-del-clot-emocions-16_10_21/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2016/10/28/parc-del-clot-fri3ndless-16_10_21/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2016/10/28/parc-del-clot-tobolumpio-16_10_21/
- Premiere of Moat, by Laia Estruch, at the Antic Teatre (15/12/2016)
On the occasion of the Barcelona premiere of Laia Estruch’s latest work, a group of pupils and the teacher attend the show, at the Antic Teatre. This, their first contact with the performance arts, generates considerable discussion at subsequent sessions.
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2016/12/15/moat/
- Visit to MACBA (03/02/2017)
“Action and Dissident Theatricalities” is a piece created by the MACBA education service in cooperation with Marta Galán which explores the art of performance through a visit to the collection. The piece gives the group a new source of references within this genre, complementing those introduced in the sessions in the classroom.
- Outings to Parc Central in the Poblenou neighbourhood (003/02/2017)
The structures in Parc Central (“Central Park”) in the Poblenou neighbourhood are a source of inspiration for Laia Estruch. In order to discover and explore these structures, the group visits the park, where the pupils conduct a number of works linked to the performance arts.
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2017/02/14/parc-central-del-poblenougrup_217_02_03/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2017/02/14/parc-central-del-poblenougrup_417_02_03/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2017/02/14/parc-central-del-poblenougrup_317_02_03/
http://blocsenresidencia.bcn.cat/juanmanuelzafra1617/index.php/2017/02/21/parc-del-poblenou_coleccio-parc-no8/
- Visit to the Sant Cugat Theatre-Auditorium construction workshop (31/03/2017)
After the members of the group have designed the structure together, a visit is organised to the site where the piece will be built, in order to learn about the place, the profession and the people who will make the structure, as well as to obtain technical return on the project. The visit is divided into two parts: meeting with the set builders to discuss the final design; and tour of the workshop to observe the preliminary tests conducted on the piece.