PITA the history

Thursday 23 August 2012

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












sonic baby


sonic baby
by
rebecca russell 





a series of 4 workshops at ArtPlay 
for pre-walking, pre-language babies from 4 months old
and parents 
exploring sound
june and july 2012

the aim was to create 
an environment
for parents to tune into the sonic world of their babies
and to enhance the sensory world of the everyday 
so that parents and babies might share in a continuing 
theatre of the everyday

central to this exploration is
the idea that babies 
provide a profound insight into the 
pre-language sensory world
we all inhabited once

babies provide an opportunity to 
re-awaken in adults 
a sensory response of childhood
which in turn
validates the experience of the baby
as parents tune into their child's
sensory world 

as a theatre maker
sonic baby
was an opportunity to
continue exploring ideas
around presence
and the shared creative space
between parents and their very young children

sonic baby workshops
explored:
presence
soundscape of the everyday 
sensory world of babies
reawakening childhood senses in the adult
theatre of the senses 

inspired by: 
baby and parent exchange
parent artist insight 
art and philosphy



the initial 2 workshops in june were 
highly experimental in nature 

the 3rd and 4th workshops in july
applied some of what we learnt
to create a more controlled experience

sonic baby
workshops 1 and 2
ArtPlay
june 2012

45 minute workshop
for 14 parents and 
babies (4 months to pre-walking)

the parents and babies entered a darkened space
filled with the sounds of morning bird calls
and a large tree projected onto the wall
blowing in the wind
an opportunity to begin to
tune into the babies response to the
sound and image around them


we went for a walk outside

listening and watching



parents were invited to take photos 
with their phones of the things around   
that their babies seemed to be listening to 
as a way of tuning into the sound around



what were the babies listening to?

what could they hear?

through the playground

up the lift
through the carpark
and 
into the sonic baby tunnel

a time for some sound play 

for parents and babies

back to ArtPlay
for an experience of
sound and image from the
sonic baby walk
we had just been on

recorded on a zoom
and 
photographed with iphones

experimenting with technology
that enabled us to playback a
recording of the walk and to
scroll through the images 
we had taken on our iphones as they were
projected onto the wall


i had imagined a space

of heightened sound and image of the every day

a space that allowed the babies to recognise 
sound and image they had just experienced

a space for parents and their babies to share in the wonder of the everyday sounds that surround us

however…

this was much more of an experiment than i had anticipated
with many things not working the way i had predicted
with some major technical hitches 
inhibiting the sound 
and limitations with the projections
the theatrical environment i had hoped to create
back at ArtPlay
did not happen

with a sinking heart
i attempted to explain the ideas behind the experience the participants were meant to have
then i thanked and farewelled the brave souls who attended

the workshops provoked strong and mixed reactions
and there were some quite bewildered parents

there were elements of the workshops that I felt did work
I was inspired by the stillness and the awareness of the parents as we walked and listened
I was inspired by the sound I heard as we walked
I was inspired by the individuality and the similarities between babies
I was inspired by the singing and the sounds of the babies
When we gave them the space to be heard

I was inspired enough to want to
try sonic baby again

(i apologise 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!)


and i wonder has the sound in your world changed since 
sonic baby?





sonic baby tunnel

below is a short film created from images and sounds from the first sonic baby walk

it is closer to the environment i was hoping to create for the participants of the workshop

the film was used as part of sonic baby workshops 3 and 4



put your headphones on and have a listen...



thanks to:
Amie Sexton - voice
Wayne Parker - sound mix



sonic baby
workshops 3 and 4
ArtPlay
july 2012:

my major rethinking was around

space
sound and
image

how could i create a more theatrical environment?
a sense of entering into a different space
a space of heightened awareness
for the adults
and the babies

i recreated the space
redesigned the sound
and rethought the image

prior to the workshops
i say with sound designer Wayne Parker
and re-mixed the sound recordings from the first sonic baby walks
and made 2 short films for projecting
with the sound and image from the first two workshops

(sonic baby tunnel, above, is one of those films)


I hired a dome
made with a bent timber frame 
and a canvas shell





the workshop…

we gathered in the dome
listened to bird calls 
shadows of birds floated on the floor

together we watched the film of the first sonic baby walk
projected onto the dome

sonic baby walk

put your headphones on and have a listen...

[having trouble embedding video.
in the meantime watch sonic baby walk on vimeo here]


the babies looked for the sound
the image didn't hold them
too high?
too far away?
not real?
not familiar...

i was fascinated by the sounds we heard together

the sounds we all seemed to tune into
and the sounds that passed 

we went for a walk

found space in the playground
to stop and listen



















went up the lift

to the sonic baby tunnel
time for sound play
and this time... 
time to listen to the babies
and they did sing

back to ArtPlay

and into the dome
we watched and listened to 
the sonic baby tunnel film

it wasn't perfect but there were some lovely moments
and i hope the parents felt a little less like lab mice!

one mother's response:


the sound was too loud 

(technical hitch) 
quite an unpleasant experience for the mother.
but...
she said it made her realise 
how noisy our babies world is
and how 
overstimulated 
they so often are just by the 
immediate environment

a profound insight 


how can i create a similar response 

without it being distressing?

there is no need for a new mother to feel distressed

at an arts event
even for a profound insight

a great question to ponder...


to the beautiful young mother and her baby 

who offered that profound comment
thank you 
and I really am sorry for the volume

and i wonder has the sound in your world changed since 

sonic baby?

(more detailed reflections on sonic baby here
including the difference between a workshop and an experiment)