And Just Like That, We are Back
That was so joyful! We zoomed together, marking the first creative activity of Squeeze Box 23 and it was worth everything. The never-ending character cutting, the squeezing Squeeze Box into ACE guidelines and sometime frustrating questions, the ‘thanks for a strong application but we are not able to fund your project at this time’ from Jerwood, the to-ing and fro-ing from partners and the general head scratching over budgets. Not like some of that wasn’t exciting, meaningful and engaging (and the process and feed-back from Jerwood was immensely useful from an eventual ACE yes!), it is just difficult to compare the application process with the nourishing and energy-boost of that one Zoom!
The we in this blog is sound artist and can pick a melody for any occasion/state of the space, Steve Sowdon; projection artist and can transform walls with projections, Tim Dollimore; outside eye, writer and always getting the work dramaturge, Sam Parker; creative enabler and ethical/trouble shooter guru, Jennifer Noice; and can find, and then articulate the potential and journey of any creative process, creative producer Nat Palin.
We reconnected as a ‘company’, catching up, checking in and bring each other up to speed. We ran through the aims and objectives of the creative process, zoning in to our first creative session in space, at MakeTank 17 and 18 May. Reshuffling the emphasis for these sessions on the audience contract, and how intertwined audience participation is with Squeeze Box – what level of playfulness and risk-taking we want to experiment with. Is this a performance with participation, or are we creating space for engagement to shape content? The latter seems more likely – the welcoming, creative and energised atmosphere of MakeTank is speaking to the work offering grounds to shape Squeeze Box to the audience, rather than the audience being an observer entity. The idea of relaxed performance and audience being able to move around and be wherever feels comfortable – sitting, lying or standing – has always been strong and it seems to be leading towards a fully immersive experience. Not only are we planning to engage multiple audience senses, nor just encouraging participation, not even the idea that the ending of the thing is determined by their interactions … more like the experience is yet, as audiences cross the threshold into MakeTank. Squeeze Box is waiting for them to decide what Squeeze Box is!
We are not sure how this will be realised yet. We might well get into space with some amazing and skilful outside eyes and experience something that must stick. The equipment might well take over, and the instruments, as well as our collaboration in space. An image like the sardine tin, which went on to be presented on bill boards and screens up and down the country to literally millions, might manifest, and we go, yes, that is Squeeze Box 2023.
Tim, coining the phrase: from the space. Which stimulated a lot of thoughts – do we start all over again, or rekindle imagery created from our last R&D? Or somewhere in-between?? We realise this is ‘just one Zoom’ and not to commit, nor, more importantly, to heighten the risk/challenge too much. The audience contract, a term half-borrowed, half-invented, has care for the audience at its heart. Individuals taking time out of their day to experience our practise, deserve to be welcomed, held and supported as well as challenged and conflicted (with humour and joy in there somewhere too). How we engage with our audience feels vital for more performance processes and definitely for Squeeze Box.
We will go into the MakeTank space very, very excited … this Zoom was the first creative session of our process but being in space, with each other, we will truly land!