Kate spence
The Human Puppet
Back in 2011 I co-curated a show called
Throw the Switches at TROVE. This was a three day event celebrating the
work of film director James Whale. It was also the birth place of ‘The
Human Puppet’!
This performance was originally inspired
by the themes in ‘Frankenstein’ of what it means to be human, what gives
something ‘life’, and also the desire in humankind to dominate and have
power over others.
I was suspended from the beams of TROVE,
an art space that once resided in the engine room of the old Science
Museum, and people were free to ‘puppet’ me from the strings I was
attached too.
This initial performance was quite
macabre, clunky, I was heavy to move. The costume, blindfold and
lifelessness were all geared to make me seem doll like, on pulling the
strings however, the weight of the human body reminded the puppeteer of
my ‘realness’. This was a 40min interactive performance.
I then performed it again for Fierce
festival, this time strung up to the front porch of a wendy house style
shed. This time I was more interested in the nature of breakdown. The
costume changed to a nightgown, I was eye level with people. The pully
system was adjusted to make the limbs lighter to move. This time the
‘human puppet’ was a woman, not a doll, (although my small size is
endlessly likened to as being doll like). This was a woman, strung up to
a replica house, a pretend house, in her most vulnerable state of
sleep. Maybe she had taken too many sleeping pills, maybe she just
didn’t want to wake up.
More recently I performed it for Little
Wolf Parade in the Market Square, Nottingham. This time I was suspended
from a free standing frame, built to look like a gallows. This was
performed every day for three days. On the third day i decided to wear
my own clothes and go without the blindfold. The viewers response
changed dramatically going from pure objectification to empathetic
reactions just by the simple change of clothing.
I am hugely interested in how the surface
can alter peoples attitudes to what they are looking at. This was a
fantastic experiment that evidenced this human trait of assumption,
judgement and then response based purely on ‘aesthetic’.
Walking with Dinosaurs... Live events
I really like the way the dinosaurs move in this, the T- Rex has tracks it follows and the birds have moving background.
Theatre film...
Stilt creature testing
I found that these are really difficult to walk on and slow. I was expecting be able to run around like a gazelle but never happened. I do like the way that they are very tall though the videos don't do it justice, the arms are 225 cm alone.
NOTHING TO DO WITH MY WORK
How to make wooden stitls part II
Daddy Long Leg Wooden Stilts
are a perfect fit for schools and circus arts programs. We experimented with youth stilts for many years with moderate success in creating one design that served both small children, teens and adults alike. With the help of designer and master fabricator, Chris Flagler, we developed the complete CNC machined stilt kit. Our associated circus educational program-Tucson Circus Arts, have trained over 1000 youth and adults in stilt walking and the design of these stilts is perfect. They have enough design integrity to support adult weight (with multiple falls and stresses of learning) and are light enough to not inhibit small children 5-7 years old from learning stilt walking (which was a problem in the past).
The beauty of the CNC machine system is that the stilts are absolutely uniform and can be sent out in kit form-both saving you money and giving the experience of building the stilts to your community, school or group. Recently we created another version gauged for teens and adults-the only difference is a thicker down tube, bigger footplate and is 24 inches as opposed to 18 and has more length on the foot to knee ratio.
Price breakdowns for kit prices is as follows-not including shipping:
- 3-5 pair-$175 each
- 6-10 pair-$160 each
- 10-16 pair-$150 each
- 16-24 pair-$125 each
Youtube isn't working with videos again :((
I do like these ones but they look alittle too small and very expensive, Think im going to stick with the other ones. The other ones from The stilts factory also look like i can make them adjustable.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-ALUMINUM-DRYWALL-Painter-Painting/dp/B008TX8778
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-ALUMINUM-DRYWALL-Painter-Painting/dp/B008TX8778
Gary's space marine suit
This is where i got my first idea of the polystyrene stilts from but thees are made out of PVC pipes... I have no idea how these hold the weight and the wood is fastened to the pipes to not make them crack Link to tutorial I do like the matting to pad out the figure though. I think it worked out really well and looks very professional but maybe a little too cosplay for my liking, This is the problem with my work I don't want to copy a piece already done. It is too generic
Femke Agema's fashions
This has popped up again. I like how simple they are but effective... Very minimalist and simple. I like how the blue morph suit is actually a dress and you can see through the modern looking piece on top. I can see where he got the idea of the object from like tents and lights but I can't help and think that i have seen these in Ikea just something about the new polished feel to them puts me off them.
Just something about them looks like they could fit here easy.
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