Final Performance Concept

For my final performance I want to recreate my spring break experience from last year. Last year I went with three of my friends back country skiing in the San Juan mountain ranges. While we were hiking out to the cabin we were staying at we nearly froze to death two separate times. This experience was significant for me because I had really never felt anything or had to go through anything like that before and it was a really eye opening event. It really made me rethink a lot of things and made me appreciate others that I had taken for granted in the past.

For my presentation I was thinking of using pictures I had taken during the trip as a background to show what the area looked like and make it easier to understand. I was also thinking of having a soundtrack in the background to help convey the feeling of isolation/wilderness that we experienced while we were out there. I was thinking it would probably be something like wind blowing, snow falling, trees moving, something to just give it an outdoors feel. I figure that engaging with both sight and sound it would help to immerse the audience into what it felt like being out in the wilderness.

Another experimental idea I was thinking of bringing to my performance was trying to convey the feeling of freezing or getting colder. I was thinking that if I brought in cups filled with ice or something similar and had the audience hold on to them it might work. One of the greatest sensations that we had to deal with while we were out on the trail was getting progressively colder. At the time it was scary because we thought it might be dangerous and I think that by just having people hold something very cold it might give a similar effect. I think that just by making the audience a little uncomfortable or irritated by getting colder it could help illustrate my point or make it more relatable.

Another sound bite I am trying to think of a way of implementing is animal noises. The first night we were out the shelter we were staying in we could here wolves circling us. I don’t want it to go throughout the whole presentation since it only had to deal with one night but if there is a way to have it go over the rest of the background noises I think it might also add to the immersion.

Another way that I could add effect is when I’m describing the different points of the trip I could change the lighting in the room. Since it spanned a couple of days I could have the lights on during the day time portions and off during the night. Just another way I thought might add a sense of immersion.

Overall it was a really difficult but extremely memorable experience going on this trip and for that reason I want to talk about it for my final performance.

Voice Analysis Tool

• To run the program you need to download Max Runtime at http://cycling74.com/downloads/runtime/ (it's safe, please download the version that is compatible with your Mac/PC (PCs, 32-bit is good))
• To download the program, please go to https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6fm2dy6aiepobl/VoiceAnalysisFINAL.mxf and download the attachment VoiceAnalysisFINAL.mxf (don't open this yet until you've completed the below steps)

• Macs
• Please download this external object that the program needs to run: 
• http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/files/maxdl/OSX-MachO/analyzer~_1.4.1.tar.gz (Macs)
• Mac users: in the finder, go to Macintosh HD > Applications > Max 6.1 Runtime > Cycling '74
• Place the Analyzer~ folder in the Cycling '74 folder
• 
  
  PCs - http://web.media.mit.edu/~tristan/MaxMSP/WinAnalyzer~.zip (PCs)
• PC Users: Go to Start > My Computer > OS(C) > Program Files > Max Runtime 6.1 > Cycling '74
• Place the WinAnalyzer~ Folder in the Cycling '74 Folder
• PC users must execute this second step: download ftp://ftp.fftw.org/pub/fftw/fftw-3.0.1-w32-pl1.zip
• Unzip the folder and locate the fftw3.dll file
• Keep this window open and go to Start > OS(C) > Program Files > Cycling74 > Max Runtime 6.1 > Support, then copy the fftw3.dll file into the Support folder
  
  
  

• This program only uses .wav files, so if your files are a different format (.mp3, .m4a, etc), please go to http://media.io/ and use their free online audio converter. Convert it to a .wav file
• This does not convert .flac or .mov files - if you have these types of files, please email them to me to convert them for you!

• You are ready!

Phoning it in

During this quarter, I have, as I am sure most of my classmates have, become fascinated with the relationship between the audience and the performer, the reader and the writer, etc.  I hesitate, however, to use the term "relationship," for it carries with it a connotation of duality, of Two within One.  (Fun Fact: the word "relation" can be traced etymologically to the Old French word relacioun, meaning "report" or "act of telling."  Appropriate, no?)  My Final Performance will attempt to revert back to a more antiquated meaning of "relationship" and to dissolve, to the fullest extent possible, the idea of an any polarizing relationship between audience and performer.  What will remain is only a retelling of events which can and hopefully will be used by each of the 'audience' members to create a final narrative.

Let me 'splain.  The first logical step in deconstructing what we all recognize as performance is to remove completely the performer from the performance space.  As far as I can figure, as long as there is one person, one figure (a performer) set apart from the rest of those present at a performance, the paradigm will still exist.  I considered having each member of the class read my narrative while I lie on the floor, unmoving, in an attempt to disappear from the performance; however, this gesture would sure call more attention to me, the 'performer' than I would like.  The absence must be much greater and much more real.  I realized that there is no way that I could accomplish what I would like to do while being, spatially, within the walls of the performance space.

I landed upon the idea to communicate my narrative using technology with which we are all familiar.  Using skype would not do, it would be too communal.  My presence would still resemble that of a performer.  A phone call is the only form through which I can achieve maximum Performance-Duality-Dissolution (PDD).  The phone will be answered by one human inside the performance space, and, when prompted, this human will pass the phone to the human next in line.  Each human will hear a segment of the narrative created for the performance, and after each human has each heard one part of the narrative, they will work together, using the little information they have received, to create a whole out of each of the parts each of them have heard. It is not to be assumed that the segments will be provided in chronological order; furthermore.  To further reduce the presence of a 'performer,' I will use the second person when speaking to each of the humans within the performance space.

I though of displaying a photo of myself during the performance, but then I decided against inserting an artifact that was entirely counteractive to my cause.  I will use instead one or a few of some gifs I found that display morphing faces, not to be too blatant.

I plan to tell the story of how I typically write a poem, taking and synthesizing experiences from various poems written and their specific processes.  Hopefully the parallels between my form and content will become apparent during my performance.

Final Performance.

My final performance I will take a peak into the lives of NHL athletes at the highest level in what they do in everyday life to show that they are like normal people and then the concept of how they are perceived as superstars and how the NHL wants to keep those in the spot light. I will recreate this by showing some highlights of the athletes and small clips of their everyday lives, compared to them being on the ice and playing the game they love. 

This event is significant to me since I have grown up playing the game I love since I was three years old and have wanted to play ever since.  The sense I am going to engage is through the life of the player the smells of the equipment that no one wants to experience, but what they play with. 

I am going to use highlights of some of the players on the ice and then some of what they do off the ice that makes them human, this will give a visual stimulus to the class and be able to help explain that professional athletes are still human. I will also show covers of some websites to show the front page’s of these super stars as well as some video games in recent years that show them being at the height’s of their careers in ability and fame. This will be able to grasp the class and give an insight into everything that these athletes go through to be the best and then also be like the rest.

final performance concept

For my final performance I would like to recreate my experience of the “college process”.   At the start of my college process journey I thought I had it all figured out. I was going to apply early decision to Colorado College and play lacrosse there; however as time progressed, I hit some bumps in the road and had no idea where I wanted be. In the end I applied to 15 schools and not one stuck out to me as a “top choice” school I really liked every school I applied to but there seemed to be one factor for each one turning me away. This process was long, stressful, tedious and confusing but was a very important time in my life. It brought me to the University of Denver, where I am so happy and thankful to be. Specifically, I want to recreate the day that I, on a whim, applied to DU and the day I received my acceptance letter from DU.

            I would like the performance to be confusing because I felt confusion throughout the entire process. I am thinking I could create a cut n’ mix piece and read it to the class; hopefully they in turn will feel this confusion and have to make sense of my writing. I would like to write a poem regarding the process as a whole and put it into a cut n’ mix. Next, I would like to have some kind of visual or video clip but I don’t know if that would be effective, and I am still trying to figure that out. I think a clip or other type of visual technique/media might be beneficial for the audience to see. If I do not play a video clip, I want to play the sounds of paper ripping and typing on a keyboard, two sounds I was very familiar with during this process. I will play this sound while I read my cut n’ mix. Those sounds might take the audience back to their experience of the college process and understand my experience better. I definitely want to recreate that experience of opening an acceptance/rejection letter from a school. I was thinking I could pass out envelopes to the audience with their names on them and have a letter inside with a decision from a school. Each member in the audience will get a decision from one of the fifteen schools I applied to with the given decision I received. By doing so, the audience will be forced to think back to their decision letters from schools, which will make the performance more personal. It will also force the audience to be involved in my performance, which I think is important.

Final Performance Concept

          I wish to recreate the experience of “fear.” Fear is universal and I am certain everyone has experienced fear to some degree. I am specifically recreating fear in the context of freeride skiing. One specific event I am referencing is the first time I jumped off the mega ramp at Progresh (Denver’s only indoor action sports facility). The mega ramp is an indoor wooden jump that simulates 20, 40 and 50 foot jumps and you land into an airbag mitigating the risk for injury. Many action sports athletes practice their tricks into an airbag or a form pit before taking them to concrete, snow, dirt, etc. I felt fear before going down the mega ramp because I have never ridden on roller skis before and the jump requires full commitment. Once you begin going down the jump, there is no safe way to stop. This fear resulted in my crashing but as soon as that first attempt was out of the way I felt relief and excitement to try again. I enjoy making the uncomfortable comfortable. With pushing the envelope comes fear. It is part of the creation process in action sports. The second time I went down the mega ramp I was successful and landed safely in the airbag. Freeride skiing is a huge part of my life. I compete in slopestyle and want to be able to share a part of my life that brings me so much joy (and at times fear) with the class. 

          I am planning on engaging as many senses as possible! I have a PowerPoint that includes pictures and videos that will engage the audience visually. I have included two different sound tracks (an eerie background music track and the theme song from Rocky, “Gotta Fly Now”). These two background music tracks and the sound from the videos will interest the audience’s auditory sense. They will enhance what I saying and immerse the audience in the experience I am attempting to recreate. Also, I am going to have a volunteer from the audience to actively experience “fear” in front of the class by trying this balance board I have that simulates riding a rail. This completely emerges that member in the experience of fear (especially in the context of freeride skiing) and involves the audience kinesthetically. 

Performance Concept

The concept of my final performance is my first day at Holderness. I remember being 14 years old, driving north to school. It was my first experience at boarding school. I remember feeling extremely nervous, because the entire situation came very abruptly. I never planned on attending a boarding school, but after I won the USASA national championship, my mom and dad realized Holderness would be the best place for me to find success academically and athletically. This event is significant to me because not students throughout the country attend boarding school for all four years of high school. It is very common for students to repeat this freshmen or sophomore year at a boarding school, so they have matured a little before leaving home.

Every college student remembers the first at school. For many, it is very emotional because they are being dropped off by their parents, and won’t see them for awhile. However, my first day at college could not have been easier, because I had been going through this experience for four years. The transition was extremely easy. A few emotions I hope to instill on my audience is the excitement of their first day of college, but having that feeling at the age of 14. At the age of 14, I was much more nervous to be dropped off at school. I want to invoke the emotion of going to a new place, and not knowing anyone. Every student remembers meeting his or her roommate, but I was assigned a roommate I had previously known. I immediately lost the excitement of meeting a new person that I would be living with for the year.

I feel an effective way to instill these emotions on the audience is by having everyone close their eyes and really focus on that first day of college. I want everyone to feel that excitement and nervousness. Then I want to combine that emotion and confusion into a high school setting, of a 14 year old. I could also find sounds of students moving into the dorms to help instill the emotion of moving into a dorm. Overall, I want the audience to feel the nervousness and excitement of that first day of college, but adding the confusion and eagerness of the first day of high school.