Thursday, 1 August 2013

Secret Goings on and Photos from the Past

It's all gone a bit secret here at Konnektiv, because we are finally working exclusively and deliberately on The Machine, our streetside humanoid installation that will bring delight and wonderment to the heart of our dear town on September 7th, the date of Stafford Arts Festival.

We have been trawling the internet looking for interesting bargains to be had to embellish our costume.  We are seeking novel interesting and very economical ways to create the half machine half madness performance.
Also the fortune cards.  They will be very very special, and a wonderful thing to have, for anyone who has a spare £1 coin rattling around in their pocket.  It's not much to ask for such a thing of great beauty and magic.

As always, we incorporate many different art forms into our performance, here we have the drawn image (art), we have the art of sound (percussive, shrieking, hissing, general strangeness in a machine like way that explodes into a fireworks night of cacophony), we have movement, almost dancelike in it's ritual and precise display, then chaotic, clownish, bizzare, maybe a bit frightening.  (Grotesque laughter....).  And finally the art of the written word, as we draw on the souls of the six dimensions of time, to bring us the dreadful and wonderful predictions that will embellish our fantastic fortune cards.

And for now that is all.

Speaking of the six dimensions of time, here is a randomly produced photograph from our past, with a little story:




Here is the 3rd ever Konnektiv workshop.  Konnektiv started on 10th January 2011.  The members were Lauren, my mum, my daughter Sophie, and Sophie's then boyfriend, Josh.  Oh, and me of course.  The workshops were held at the Spiritualist church, which I was slightly apprehensive about initially.  In fact, the space ended up being lovely, and we had a really nice time there.  And it was free of charge, just what we needed as we had no money whatsoever.

Lots of time and events have gone by since those early days.  Many changes of venue, and a few different members (tho all those original ones stay in touch).  My mum was, and still is, living with cancer, other members of the group had their own health issues.  

From being a band of 5 people with a generously donated space once a week, we have now grown, we have several projects on the go, and currently meet 3 times a week. We provide dramatherapy and mental health awareness workshops for adults with mental health issues, drama for health for children and adolescents, as well as these, we produce performances, stories and generally fooling around in public places. Most excitingly, we are about to become the proud proprietors of a community hall in Doxey, Stafford.

There have been many changes in our group, and many more to come, watch this space ...