Nick Strike:
How do I improvise?
I recall the allegory of a centipede stopped on it’s way by a seated frog who asks; “which leg do you put forward first when you start to walk?” Pondering this, the centipede finds itself paralysed.
?
I tend to develop a work around that which comes to hand. By spending time with the material, holding it in (the liquid medium of) my mind, so to speak, a pattern of associations evolves.
With minimal intervention, a few considered cuts or thoughtful augmentations true to the object’s internal logic, I unearth manifold meaning in what was, prior to the process, just a handy object.
I expect that the work should function for the active viewer to unleash a chain reaction of associations – a critical mass whereby the habitual conception is bent (but does not reach meltdown).
The finished works can be taken verbally as well as visually and will hopefully elicit a question.
There is no solution because there is no problem: Walk on.
FELICITY WHEELER
Live improvised dance performance
10:58
Felicity Wheeler:
(NB yellow highlights are part of Nick's work)
Put on some comfy clothes you can move in, bare feet. Find a space you can swing your arms and roll around in. Come into that space. Make a decision to be there and have an experience that is of that moment. Feel your feet on the floor. Close your eyes. Feel your feet on the floor again. Feel yourself breathing…do this for some time until you feel yourself coming into your body. Take your awareness into your anus and feel yourself releasing any tension held there. Take that release up into your belly, your heart, your chest, your throat and your head. Keep breathing….start to feel the speed of your body. Take your awareness through your body…feel inside your trunk, then take the awareness out into your arms, legs and head.
Keep breathing…expand your body awareness out through your whole body until you feel it pushing against the inside of your skin. Now, expand your awareness of your self out through your skin to become a sphere of energy about 1 metre all around you. Stay with this feeling whilst you continue to breathe. Now lift the corners of your mouth up into a little smile and keep breathing. Feel your heart energy opening and expanding out to fill the sphere of energy through you and all around you.
Keep breathing.
Allow your face, lips, mouth and tongue to release.
Listen to your body, and feel where there is an impulse to move, without responding to this impulse. Now listen to your body, and respond to the first impulse you feel to move. Keep it small and simple. Allow this impulse to follow its own journey, allowing it to take the time it needs. When you feel it is complete, or if you feel yourself starting to create movement, stop and come back to your breath. Listen for the next impulse to move. Allow the impulse to follow its own journey, allowing it to take the time it needs. Repeat process for as long as it feels true.
Keep breathing.
Allow your face, lips, mouth and tongue to release.
Listen to your body, and feel where there is an impulse to move, without responding to this impulse. Now listen to your body, and respond to the first impulse you feel to move. Keep it small and simple. Allow this impulse to follow its own journey, allowing it to take the time it needs. When you feel it is complete, or if you feel yourself starting to create movement, stop and come back to your breath. Listen for the next impulse to move. Allow the impulse to follow its own journey, allowing it to take the time it needs. Repeat process for as long as it feels true.
Nick Strike:
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| NICK STRIKE TH... TH... THE TH... TH... THING IS... Found objects, x-ray of the artist's shoulder, text and performative element Dimensions variable |
