sonic baby - reflections on the ArtPlay experience

sonic baby at ArtPlay and beyond

i love ArtPlay!
rare is the opportunity to imagine with others
to try out ideas
to push the boundaries
to fail
and try again
in the world of art, artists and children

this is what ArtPlay enabled me to do with
sonic baby

Calling All Babies
a series of workshops at ArtPlay
facilitated by Jen Anderson
and along with
Heidi Wetherall and Ben Goodes
we imagined and created arts based experiences
for pre-language and pre-walking babies from 4 months old

read about my sonic baby workshops here

a BIG thanks to Jeany from ArtPlay
for her technical knowledge and support

reflections on the sonic baby workshops
in the ArtPlay setting:

the difference between workshop and experiment

sonic baby workshops 1 and 2
were highly experimental in nature
(unwittingly they were more of an experiment than a workshop)
i realise that there were too many unknown elements
for me to create a workshop environment
of sharing some of my skills and knowledge
of creating an experience for parents and babies to share together
to take something new away with them

as an experiment they were highly successful...
i learnt a lot
i changed my thinking
i developed more questions
i discovered many small moments
and the participants provided insights that would not have been possible without them

as workshops they were lousy!
of course this was not my intention
much of what i had supposed might happen just did not
for a variety of reasons, technical and otherwise.

(i apologise again here to the parents and babies who bravely took part.
i can only hope that you experienced a small moment, a moment of awareness, a moment of joy or a consciousness of being present with your baby that may have made your journey into ArtPlay that day worthwhile... and to ArtPlay thanks for inviting me back!)

with time between the fist two workshops and the second two
and with the insight provided by the failed sonic baby workshop
(and the rich discoveries of the sonic baby experiment)
i wildly re-imagined sonic baby
but maintained the central ideas and framework

firstly i realised that the parents coming to ArtPlay
were coming to a workshop
they had not signed up for an experiment
there is a difference

participants in an experiment
knowingly enter into an experience
which may or may not work
it is the process and the journey
that is of interest
not knowing how things will turn out
is central to an experimental process

if sonic baby had been an experiment
that we all entered into knowingly
the parents would have been part of the discovery
which could have been a richer experience for us all

experiments are vital
but in the ArtPlay setting this time around
sonic baby was a workshop

for the second two workshops
my major rethinking was around
space
sound and
image

i recreated the space
redesigned the sound
and rethought the image
to create a more controlled theatrical experience

did it work?

as a workshop this was not the forum 

to delve into the experience for the parents and babies

so i really can't say

my observations suggest that a sense of theatre was created

a heightened sense of reality

which may have resonated back out in the real world

my feeling is that at least some of the parents

took away a consciousness of the sonic world

we all share with babies

ArtPlay are providing further opportunity

to explore baby workshops

with Jen, Heidi, Ben and others

GREAT!

i will be running another workshop in November

LIGHT    SHADOW    BABY

and beyond...

sonic baby at ArtPlay
was the first step
i am compelled to continue to investigate this work
inspired by the work of great artists Chiara Guidi and Sally Chance
and inspired by babies
who provide insights into what it is to be human
and compel us to be present in the world
to listen and see and feel

after the complete series of 4 sonic baby workshops
some of my questions are:

who is this work for?
what do the babies get out of it?
what do the parents get of it?

my thinking so far...

the experience is aimed at adults
but also engages babies
a heightened theatrical experience of the everyday

i am working towards creating

theatre for adults and their babies

an inclusive theatrical experience

the babies main benefit will be back in the real world
in the theatre of the everyday
experienced with their parents
who will bring some of their heightened
theatrical experience of the everyday into the everyday

as for experiments
i am working towards entering into
shared experiential space with
babies and artist parents PITA
to develop ideas further
to delve into the experiences of the parents and babies
with time to reflect and discuss

sonic baby is the germ of
pita ART
parents in the arts
artists and babies
engaged in exploring ideas in open artistic dialogue
a creative development process
to create art