The Class

I was recommended to go and see The Class (Entre les murs) (enter the walls?). Directed by Laurent Cantet and written by François Bégaudeau who plays a version of himself in a tough Paris school. The film manages to captivate despite most of it taking place in one classroom, with mostly the same camera angles. The dialogue is quick and hard to follow for the most part, with the colloquial French and heated conversations clumsily translated at points. However the film remains compelling and I felt willing to put the necessary work into following the loosely constructed narrative.
Part of what makes it so compelling is the fact that the actors are all untrained, and for the most part playing themselves. There is no indication of this, apart from the fact that they are completely convincing, portraying themselves/their characters with a startling integrity.
I really want to know what François Bégaudeau wanted to achieve with making this film... was he making it for the class? there seems to be a slight air of self righteousness in the portrayal of his character in staff meetings, he is the one sticking up for the trouble makers, trying to convince his colleagues that each pupil needs individual treatment and that punishment often doesn't work. When an ugly incident crops up - he calls two of his pupils skanks, resulting in a display of insolence and violence from one of the most volatile pupils - we feel almost ready to forgive him, due to his constant defense of the pupils in the staff room. I wonder if he really felt the need to somehow redeem himself to the pupils who only saw one side of his character by making a film which portrayed a different reality.
A wonderful part of the film comes right at the end when the ever cheeky, often insolent and apparently ignorant Esmeralda reveals that she read Plato's Republic over the school year. This throws the whole film into a different perspective, as we recognised François' teaching method mirrored in the character of Socrates, provoking a democratic way of thinking and asking awkward questions, encouraging active participation from all his pupils, even if it sometimes descends into a rabble. Sometimes it becomes unclear who really has the ultimate authority.

http://www.hautetcourt.com/fiche.php?pkfilms=142

Instal 09

I went to Instal Festival in Glasgow on Saturday.
Very dissapointing beginning as we hoped to get Ali a ticket on the door but it was completely sold out. So he got to wander round Glasgow on his own while I went in and listened to sound art and felt bad.

I heard/saw
Giant Tank + Akira making sounds, experimental, musical, visual, playful, controlled. see more:
Free Form Local

Radu Malfatti and Klaus Filip. Here's what Instal has to say about them:

Who: Radu is one of the most un-stuck-up yet quietly radical composers you'd care to meet. Klaus is a pioneering laptop improviser, musician and software programmer.

What: Radu plays a trombone, Klaus creates pure sine waves: they sound on their own, or sometimes together and often with considerable space and silence.

Why: Not a lot happens, just sound events to be listened to and spaces where sounds might occur. You bring as much to it as the musicians. The music is full of possibilities: of texture and colour, irregularities and questions.

The performance was delicate, precise, minimal. The space was the opposite, the sound barely made an impact on the roaring acoustic. A steady deep rumble of trains passing directly above us made it seem a rather obvious mistake to make; minimal sound art below the busiest train station in Scotland. We strained, eyes closed, to concentrate on what we knew must somehow be brilliant. The cheap, uncomfortable plastic chairs creaked embarrassingly loudly with the slightest movement. So whilst worrying about Ali wandering the streets on his own, aurally wading threw the sewage to get to the pure sound and trying my best to sit as still as possible while my back slowly played up again, sending shooting pains up my spine I found myself performing a test of endurance. Maybe it was all a trick.

The next piece was better... loud. Very loud. And fun.
Nikos Veliotis destroyed his cello, in a very manly way with an ax and heavy-duty DIY equipment. Here's what Barry has to say:

Every note that it's possible to play on the cello, each played and recorded as a one hour drone then played back all at the same time, while the cello that was played for the recording process (which took 2 months) is turned to powder and bottled.

If it's every note possible to play on a cello, all played at once, then in a way it's every possible piece of music (less than 1 hour) for cello. A kind of complete works for cello. You might as well destroy it after that.

The power cut out half way through the piece. It took a while to re-wire. The man next to me asked me if my back was alright, I was touched by his concern. It was generally quite entertaining. Nice and loud, things happening. Audience participation. Then Barry came on and told them an hour was up, the performance would need to finish elsewhere. I missed out on the wee jar of cello powder they were intending to distribute at the end. Barry gave Nikos a hug to make up for the forced displacement of the performance. I think it worked. I'm starting to like kytn better.

Then I phoned Ali. He was reading a book and feeling cold, we arranged to meet for dinner.

Then... highlight, there was Steve McCaffery

Who: A leading Yorkshire/ Canadian language/ action/ sound poet since the early 70's.

What: He'll be performing his groundbreaking typewriter concrete poem Carnival. It's a beautiful, dizzying mandala of text, symbols, fonts and rubber stamps. And it's a kind of book as reading machine.

Why: In trying to sound the symbols (%%%..), runs of continuous letters (NZNNNZ..) and snatches of found text, Carnival, and Steve's performance emphasise the visual qualities of language. It's a kind of wander through a labyrinth of text as sound, full of exclamations, pops, clicks and absurd humour.

We all got a rather lovely poster that turned out to be the script of the poem. I loved it. Starting to fall for concrete poetry.
Then we ate a burger and went home.

The Joy of Weightlessness

Yesterday we had a discussion on the Joy of Weightlessness exhibition. Rather intense but pretty useful and very interesting seeing the ideas behind the work that people were making.

Interesting comments made: "Freedom comes from living to our designed purpose"
is there joy in weightlessness? is there such thing as freedom? what are the implications of a designed purpose?

The son of man did not come as a slave-driver but as a slave, to give his life as a ransom for many.

Is there a battle between the conscience and instinct?
So I naturally try to do the right or good thing, and naturally follow a instinct, either inherent or influenced through some unconscious experience, which impels me to do otherwise...

Photographs of the exhibition to follow soon.

The Joy of Weightlessness

Exhibition on at Wasps studios this weekend... installation stills to follow.

the brief is to present work based on the title "the Joy of Weightlessness"
we are restricted to using black card, 21x19 cm
all other mediums welcome.
excitement!
wait and see dear reader, wait and see.
Preview today at 7pm-9, exhibition runs until Sunday 22nd
Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4
you had better be there!!

Instal...

heading to instal festival tomorrow... and just checked the line up again
It's going to be AMAZING!!!

Instal Festival Website

I am rather excited.

its...

its realising that something is missing.

new name

Jackson Mac Low
american poet/performer
used mathematical structures "constructivism" in his practice.
website

More wise words from Richard Layzell

"Normality Performance"
1979

some inspiring words:
"The delight of a low-profile event where a hype-free honesty is possible. An oppertunity to step into the voluminous permission of performance art, encacting social commentary and unconcious inner need. A place where art can smack you in the face. Do this out of context and your in big trouble."

so

its been a while.
I've got more on Richard Layzell to talk about. Quite a lot more.
but right now I'm trying to edit a film
and its hard. I don't know what to do.
Trying to find meaningful images.

I feel sick
dusted
done

I feel in love

I feel out


love love love love love. sickening feeling in the stomach at the onset of something
wrong?

Inspired

Enhanced Performance
Richard Layzell

Steps 1979-80

Installation and performance
"I relucantly agree to do outdoor performances to publicise the exhibition. ... It gets me out there, back in Eldon Square, mixing it up with Geordies and it's ok. It may be a long way from aesthetic subtlety but something else is going on and people join in. I get eight teenagers to walk in a line, up and down two steps. Up and down they go. Wearing a dark woolen hat and white clothes I follow my own screen printed footsteps carried in a bag, looking like a political activist/leaflet-ist with nowhere to go. Back in the gallery I do performances in the installation. By now I have so much to say about steps that it flows well."