Only the Envelope

A live art installation that investigates the ways we share personal information in the public sphere. A ‘scientist’ offered visitors the opportunity to be involved in an ‘experiment’ by viewing an original video while wearing an eye-tracking device. The work offers a recursively playful performance of faith in ‘science’ that troubles a distinction between the apparently private experience of viewing art with the apparently public experience of being surveilled, exploring the notion that negotiating ‘informed consent’ is associated with loss of power and knowledge

Only the envelope: Opening up participation, surveillance, and consent in performance

As a citizen I have limited understanding of the large-scale data gathering performed through the Australian Government’s Data Retention Act, with which most of us are, perhaps unwittingly, involved. This sense of collective complicity was the main impetus for the research project Only the Envelope, which combines research methodologies to investigate the ways in which we share personal information in the public sphere. The performance stage of the project was a work of live art that offered visitors the intimate experience of viewing an original video while being monitored by a “scientist”—both performer and research assistant—who invited viewers to be involved in an “experiment”: viewing a video while wearing a wireless eye-tracking device. Only the Envelope offered a recursively playful performance of faith in “science” that troubles a distinction between the apparently private experience of viewing art with the apparently public experience of being surveilled. I hoped to invite resistance or reflective decision making, to create a space in which participants could try out different ethical positions—be more or less compliant—as a way of discovering their own feelings on the matter of data retention. There was little evidence of resistance among those who gave their consent to participate in the work, though a greater freedom of response was observed among those who implicitly participated by observing the work or refusing to be involved. I will interpret responses to “participation” and “consent” in Only the Envelope’s performance of “science” and suggest that the process of gaining “informed consent” is associated with a loss of power and knowledge. The work may serve as a timely reminder that refusing to comply by opting out of digital surveillance is extremely difficult to accomplish; raising awareness around the illusion of choice and the facts of digital surveillance is a more realistic goal

As the owl discreet: Essay towards a conversation and Carly\u27s Dance a novel

This thesis comprises a novel entitled Carly\u27s Dance and an essay entitled As the Owl Discreet. Although separate works, a line runs through them that might be described as an urge to connect; each work, although self-contained, is concerned with the co-existence of opposites, or more precisely, apparent opposites. The essay\u27s title is ironic, borrowed from Hillaire Belloc\u27s perverse verses collected as Cautionary Tales. Discretion is exactly what the thesis tests the bounds of, as do the characters in my novel. And so do I, in using family history to motivate my research

Let’s Make a Mess

The work is an artists’ profile of Jacob Lehrer published in dancewest, the WA edition of the Australian Dance Council magazine. Lehrer is a leading independent dancer and choreographer. It draws on my case study of Lehrer to show how embodied knowledge and physical sensation inform his current choreographic process, and the transmission of this knowledge. As a dancer and researcher I use archival, field research and self-reflection to ask: how do we make creative processes explicit when they’re embedded in apparently-intuitive improvisational studio processes

Complications

Background: Complications is a short story published in literary magazine dotdotdash and explores the expression of identity. Arguably no genre of creative production can investigate identity like fiction can, with its privileged access to interiority and psychology that is akin to thought. Fiction that directly engages with mistaken identity offers a way to deepen this investigation. \u27Complications\u27 plays with the several meanings of the word to investigate unstable identity in the modern subject: a medical complication leads to an untimely death; complicated family dealings put a young person in an untenable situation. Contribution: First person point of view is used with innovative effect in \u27Complications\u27, where a complex narrative structure blurs the neat distinction between two protagonists. The work was included in an edition of the literary journal themed around the idea of the sacred. Despite the provocations of postmodernism we regard the continuity and stability of our personal identities among our most sacred notions. But modern life increasingly troubles this assumption; the work’s original approach to narrative structure illustrates how people may be forced to assimilate ruptures that threaten to overwhelm them. Significance: In his preface to the edition the editor selects \u27Complications\u27 for comment and writes that it \u27details how the past comes to life, additionally exploring how sacredness imbues our own identity, how our self-identity shifts and changes in our conversation with the world, and how our names and bodies, although serendipitous markers of ourselves, are sometimes set aside from our conscious self\u27 (Sj Finch, dotdotdash 07 (Winter 2011), p.8). dotdotdash is nationally distributed and at the time of publication had a circulation of 500, with 5% of short fiction submissions published. It receives grant funding from DCA and Australia Council of the Arts via Express Media

A WA icon loops the loop

The work is an artists’ profile of Chrissie Parrott, a choreographer of international standing, published in dance west, the WA edition of the Australian Dance Council magazine. It draws on my case study of Parrott to show how embodied knowledge and physical sensation inform her current choreographic process, and the transmission of this knowledge. As a dancer and researcher I use archival, field research and self-reflection to illuminate the complex ‘physical conversations’ that occur between choreographer and dancer

Nurture

Background: This digital print responds to the implications of interdependence in the word ‘nurture’ through a visual motif and narrative fragment. This is further reflected in the methodology: a collaborative work (McKenzie and Pilla) created within the context of a practice-led research project (Artists at the Helm) that investigates the significance of Helms Forest Block by illustrating the interactions and tensions of different systems of place-value. ‘Nurture’ was produced in a limited edition of 10 digital prints of which 5 were sold as a result of exhibition. Contribution: The research responded to the imminent logging of Helms Forest Block near Jalbarragup. ‘Nurture’ is one outcome in a suite of artistic research activities including site visits, workshops, process documentation and statements in the media (Donnybrook-Bridgetown Mail January 8 2015). As part of my contribution to the group exhibition I performed at the opening and donated all money raised to Jamarri Black Cockatoo Sanctuary. ‘Nurture’ is part of a growing body of research that responds to particular places, sharing thematic interests in ecology and Indigenous world views, and offering personal reflections on the places and their meanings. It also builds on my work as a teaching scholar in the unit CCI1103 Region and Culture. Significance: The work was shown at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries (BRAG) in February 2015 and builds on its previous activist exhibitions Transplanting Disobedience and Bimblebox. BRAG houses the City of Bunbury Art Collection that includes many of Australia’s most prominent artists, includes over eight hundred pieces and is worth in excess of two million dollars. The exhibition is documented in BRAG’s past exhibitions website and on a dedicated blog. The work is documented in an exhibition catalogue that sold widely

Freedom in Surrender

Background: The work is an artists’ profile of Claudia Alessi published in dancewest, the WA edition of the Australian Dance Council magazine. Alessi is a leading independent dancer and choreographer. It draws on my case study of Alessi to show how embodied knowledge and physical sensation inform her current choreographic process, and the transmission of this knowledge. As a dancer and researcher I use archival, field research and self-reflection to ask: how do we make creative processes explicit when they’re experienced as sudden insight? Contribution: I was invited to contribute a series of artists’ profiles to dancewest. The research draws on findings in my Early Career Researcher project Moving Knowledge that investigates the creative methodologies of key WA choreographers. Creativity studies are informed by psychology and cognitive science but embodied knowledge is neglected. I address this gap by interpreting Alessi’s articulation of her processes using phenomenology, seeking evidence of somatic modes of attention and embodied imagery. Findings are being shared with researchers working on AusStage Phase 5, ARC LEIF funded research. Significance: The work is an early articulation of an ongoing investigation. Findings were shared in a paper presented at the International Federation of Theatre Research conference (Warwick, 2014). My case study of Claudia Alessi will be deepened in 2015 with follow up interviews and survey data that will contribute to AusStage Phase 5, ARC LEIF funded research. Alessi’s artist profile has garnered positive feedback from members of the professional community such as dance writer David Hough

Philogyny #2

Background: The work is in traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, which has a long association with love poems, but plays with persona and voice in unexpected ways. The title plays on the philogyny/phylogeny pun with a focus on female anatomy and floral taxonomy. Contribution: The work is included in the section named Ouroboros. Introducing this section the editor writes: The playful, silly and humorous are as much a part of love as the deeper, darker passions. This statement is repeated on the volumes\u27 back cover and on the website to sum up the collection as a whole. Inverting Shakespeares\u27 formula, Philogyny #2 addresses a female subject but may speak from a male or female perspective. The work is innovative in its provocative and playful focus on ambiguous sexuality and female genitalia, apt subjects for love poetry. Significance: The volume includes 118 new and unpublished poems by 69 poets including some of Australias\u27 most prominent. The anthology is the result of a competition and those anthologised represent the top-ranking poems of more than 180 entries. The anthology is accompanied by Valentines Day performance events and workshops featuring poets of national significance such as Mark Tredinnick