James Turrell exhibition

It's a long drive and it's £20 to get in, but this exhibition hit the centre of my world. To spend time with the work of a person who dedicates their life to learning, experimenting, contemplating, making.... for James Turrell his medium is light. "Like music or sound, light is not material" Turrell says in an interview with Lord Cholmondeley (pronounced chumly). The Lord of the manor who has collected great art works by sculptors and installation artists and has his home, Houghton Hall, open to the public. You walk amongst colonial wealth in the former home of the first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, taking in the artworks and simultaneously being in awe of the artwork and lapped by luxury and privilege, enjoying the luxury and being lefty angry about it in equal measures. It was a KlangHaus day-out, we walked first to the Water Tower to see a piece called St. Elmo's Breath. From bright sunlight to pitch black. A dark room where you allow your eyes to be played with by Turrell. For 10 minutes it's an eyeball massage, trickery and play... you see white halos in your peripheral vision, shadows, wavy lines, pulsing colours...you don't see what I see, your eye ball is your eye ball! Brilliantly disorientating even when your eyes adjust and you go for an explore on how it was done...you can put your hands into light where you imagine a screen should be. Turrell speaks of how our eyes are made for twilight, which happens twice a day. At midday if the sun is bright, we squint or wear sun glasses. At twilight our pupils are open, you can almost feel the light. He also says, we use light as food, we absorb it through our skin to get vitamin D. He speaks of the soft maritime light we have in the UK, his main working studio is Arizona, in a volcano crater. We walked to Skyspace, an impressive wooden structure with a square hole for the ceiling.....you look at the sky. We returned at dusk and watched the sky turn a deep navy blue, the lights in the room a soft yellow. When we left we were surprised to see how different the sky was outside, much paler and realised that Turrell had again been playing with our eyes, affecting what colours we saw. The series of aquatint prints of cubes of projected light was strangely emotive. The hovering triangle of red light, menacing. Sitting with this man's art was one of my favourite things. Thank you Mr.Turrell.

Learning how to learn

I'm reading a book called Finding Your Voice by Barbara Houseman. It's for actors, but as a singer it is completely relevant, as a learner of anything from art to medicine..it seems pretty relevant.

Lyric learning - I'm there

Aguas De Marco... all 89 lines, I'm there. Not because I don't fluff a syllable here and there, but because it's now very enjoyable. The images tumble forward and the kinetic triggers pop into action moments before the deadline. I still have the enormous leap of singing accompanied by a guitar. Bring it on!

Lyric learning ...

Stumbling over one or two syllables only in the 89 line song Aguas De Marco. Also a new thought has arisen of how to cope with wrong words during the song performance and being able to carry on in a calm and 'that doesn't matter' way. The rhymes push the song along and a wrong word can have a jenga effect. I'm going to try some drawing exercises and pull the song apart to put it together again. Also I'm thinking about longevity....learnt lyrics quite often fall away...is the only way of keeping it there to do it daily? I'm thinking yes. Note to self, research longterm memorising techniques. I do find writing out lyrics helps me and I am a bit of a kinetic learner..a hand movement or head turn attached to a phrase helps lock words in place.

seemingly stuck

Firstly why am I doing this? I don't have to... I have now sung Aguas De Marco maybe 50 times and I still haven't sung it through without stumbling over a word or three.....and there is the great question of what is the point of art/creating stuff/gaining skills/climbing the mountain. With this lyric learning, I'm trying to work a way around myself, I DO know what the words are but other thoughts pop into my head or I just believe I am going to mess up. I am trying lots of different ways to nail this song... in a gentle way, ha ha. I've slowed the metronome to 111bpm. I do feel stuck, but I reckon I will get it, singing with the music should help...keep going...keep climbing the mountain, make the rubber meet the road, humph.grrrrrrr. This picture makes me laugh because it's me in a rage....determination!Just read a good quote from Peter Gabriel, 'creativity comes from the freedom to fail'.

Learning Lyrics ...nearly done it!

I started to relearn the lyrics of Aguas De Marco on August 9th, today is September 9th and I'm pretty much there. I still have to sing it through without a stumble, I have not managed that yet...though I am soooo nearly there. I have used several different methods. One from the great Alexander Technique teacher Suzanne Duncanson..holding a pencil between your teeth whilst you sing, gives renewed focus, for fairly obvious reasons of it being hard to sing! I keep trying to tell my brain that the lyrics are easy and enjoyable, that allows the words to flow, but then I sabotage it by thinking, I'm gonna muck up soon...and I do. Running out of breath plays another part in not flowing with the lyrics. I have been using a metronome at 107bpm...really slow for this song... it's painfully slow but I'm trying to summon the lyrics ahead whilst singing the current line. Trying to do that in an easy story of images and not panicing... doubt and panic and it all goes to crap!I'm speeding up the metronome and aiming for a complete unfluffed version later tonight! Now there's a challenge!

Standing with art

I'm reading Dan Richards' book The Beechwood Airship Interviews Wanted to make a note of a lovely thing Jenny Saville pointed out. When you look at a painting or original piece of art, you stand where the artist stood, a unique vantage point where the creator spent many hours, you can't do that with music.... you can with performance art, watching something unfold in the moment....and interestingly you can with KlangHaus.

Learning lyrics

I have set myself a challenge of learning the song Aguas de Marco, by Antonio Carlos Jobim. It is 89 lines of mainly non repeating lyrics. It's like a non-obviuos list. I love the rhythm of it and I'm going to know it soon. I started months ago, learned about six lines and then got bored. My renewed interest has meant I now know 35 lines of 89. I love singing it. Walking helps. learning in small bits really helps but the sequence from the beginning seems to be very important. This is the Portuguese version...that would be amazing to learn... the sequence from the beginning seems to be very important. I restarted learning the song on August 9th. in 8 days I have 39 lines. Goals are important. Then the tricky part is maintenance...keeping the lyrics in there. Almost a daily work-out! I should know this song in 14 days time. August 31st!So then I need to perform it in front of people. CHALLENGE!

SomersetHaus final day

The schedule of our final day runs as follows. 10am meet Sal and carry the slide projector and lenses back to the hire company, east London. Insight, a lovely knowledgable and friendly couple, ex-art students with hundreds of lovely slide projectors. I look at one shelf and notice a box with a familiar name on it, Ben Brett, I tell the hire people, I know Ben he's almost a neighbour, we laughed at the small world of the analogue. 1pm Sound test, I had requested another sound-test, we are now seriously considering doing an actual KlangHaus here and Mark had been making an unbelievable racket, so thought we better check out levels. Mick Figg, the sound-man said he could hardly hear a thing. Phew. 2.30pm, look at the Embankment Galleries as an alternative space to use for KlangHaus within SomersetHaus.... bit posh! 4pm look around the Engineers Flat on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall as a potential KlangHaus. This was a bit of an intense thrill! Eddie the head tech is extremely accommodating. We will make something happen here for sure. Then back to SH, pack up...do a final walk through and say goodbye to the space.

R&D Day 14 SomersetHaus

This morning Sal and I had the pleasure of meeting Caroline Pope an experienced and lovely choreographer. We again took her through the space, spoke of the building and wove in more of our back-story. We look forward to working with her. Later we saw some maintenance men and charmed some door codes from them. So more exploring... I love how the building keeps revealing itself, more doors, more cupboards...top of the range 1990s AV and sound equipment.. Helen Kemp, friend and artist came and visited, she fell in love with the door, again, so calmed by the space and didn't want to leave. I wanted to make a film of each of us talking about an remembered experience. We started with Mark. He spoke of Stewart Lee who he'd seen perform a few days previous. Then I asked him to tell his story of The Small Animal Hospital show in Edinburgh. This revealed insight in how Mark works as a performer, kinetic structures. Valuable task and no doubt full of other gems from all of us once we have a go. We talked about making a creative constitution. - respecting one another - how we share what we do - how we safely share ideas without fear of ridicule - getting over ourselves, coping when we get stuck ( quite often by walking/moving) - 'we are already there' ie we already know shit loads, never undersell our experience. quietly work on our individual self-estime, self-understanding and self belief. 'We are in it now'. Everyday there is a bit of annoying admin. Today we had to book the cars into the loading bay for tomorrow's get-out.

R&D day 13 SomersetHaus

My day began with a vocal lesson from the very high powered vocal tutor Mark Maylan. Scary leading up to it but brilliant. Lots and lots of work to do. My top and mid range are very under-par, breathing too full of effort, top notes thin and wobbly, core strength pretty lame. All good stuff and I look forward to making my singing experience of making noise feel much more effortless and easy. Today we have arranged for lots of visitors to come and share in our thoughts and findings at SomersetHaus. We set up the space in our routine way. We walked through a possible route. Jeron arrived and unofficially was our first guest. Sal and I collected people at 6pm. Wanting to engage with 7 different people all at once is a tricky skill, like holding jelly. It works for moments then slips away, then works. again. If we had to do it again, we should have a welcoming party of all of us if it needs to be personable. We took them into the dark room. Most people settled , thou one friend got very anxious and claustrophobic. It was fine, we just opened the door and we all went back into the light. We explored the upstairs, which was a reminder of how an 'audience' can run away into parts of the building which are dangerous, two friends disappeared into an unboarded attic, I held my breath... I think that's how you keep people safe isn't it.... then down into the space...Jon had set up some sound design and Sal's lights were purring. No one wanted to leave. Even though we had the most basic set-up, no one wanted to leave. They loved exploring, they felt calm, almost nothing was happening, but it was a world they wanted to live in.

SomersetHaus day 12

It's Sunday, we had a leisurely morning eating breakfast in the sun, writing, reading, thinking. At SH Jon got excited about the language of the river and our Inland Revenue space... taxes, currency, river currents, tax levies, river levies, death and taxes, boatman, the Stix, undertow,tax haven, what the river takes away, deposits ... the richness of the dominating features were showing themselves. At 4pm we met Grace Simmonds, studying an MA in performance, architecture and other extraordinary corners, we brought her into the space and into the dark. We talked ideas at breakneck speed. I asked Grace of other possible KlangHaus spaces in London, she immediately put forward Balfron Tower in Poplar. We took things slightly slower today. Ideally we would have had a day off, but coming towards the end of our time at SH spurred us on. In Edinburgh our Mondays off were very powerful and rejuvenating. Highly recommended.

SomersetHaus day 11

After yesterdays' great find of a level access point to our space, I went exploring upstairs for more ways into the space on the level. I connected two parts of the building that had seemingly been separated. I realised that a lift was hidden round a corner. I jumped in and went to see where it landed. I went down two floors using my pass to activate permission. The doors opened onto a magical space, well exciting, like a scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey... The Austerity March was happening outside the front door and the others had gone off to join in and record the helicopters.. I was alone in the space and suddenly a tall man appeared with a young tall woman. THey asked to look around.. I was quite unprepared and gathered myself and started to spiel out some old crap...The man said, 'I am the reason you're here...' my mind whizzing I realised he was Jonathan Reekie, Artistic Director of the place, showing his daughter around. I found my stride and walked him through the space, delighting in the minutia of the rooms. Mark appeared and we took Jonathan and daughter into the dark meeting room, we told them the story. We took them into the other crap rooms and listened to the acoustics. We took them into the cupboard full of water and sang them a song. By the time Sal and Jon appeared the atmosphere was good. Sal showed her films of fountains, filmed in the courtyard yesterday, but looked timeless. 4pm Mia and her friend Luke turned up. We took them through the space, we talked smells as Mia does perfume reviews and has a 'nose'. We finished the day by working together in the space, practicing new songs whilst Sal projected colour and films on and through us. Mark played the drums in the stairwell.

SomersetHaus Day 10

Visitors.We set up the space, the routine gets under-way. I love routine, getting on with it. The space is ready and I go to meet our first visitor Frances Lynch. A wonderful singer and singing tutor. I take Frances into the windowless meeting room and turn off the lights. We chat for quite some time. I bring her into our world, where we are at with this particular building, meanwhile Frances is listening to how I create sound and how I use my voice. Frances says, ' I think I need to see you now' , so we move into one of the other spaces, I make tea and we do some work. I apologise for not having a piano to pitch to, Frances regales her annoyance at the piano. 'the piano is not as pure as the voice, vocal pitch is much purer, let me demonstrate she says...' Like a mathematician, she demonstrates a piano note and a vocal note of the same note.....vocal pitch is slightly sharper and brighter. My throat tightens with awe and fear! This woman is music, she doesn't just sing, she is the singing. We throw vocal notes across the room, hers are full enormous and wonderful. Mine are thin and quiet. Frances saw KlangHaus in Edinburgh so was familiar with my style and technique of singing. She asked me what I wanted to work on. I can do the loud and quiet, but the bit in the middle is a bit boring. Spot on she said. The mid and top part of your range are unexplored. There is a disconnect. Sing from your feet not your throat or chest. Imagine the sea coming in through your toes and out through your heels, think of that when you breathe. She mentioned extended vocal techniques....my knowledge is sketchy! Work on your core, core strength, use your pelvic floor muscles, just a little bit...basically, work on your middle! good stuff. Frances met, Jon and Sal and they talked science and maths. Next visitor... Pasco, Director of Norwich and Arts Centre and mentor, always inspiring and great fun. We thought big and then even bigger, then we got practical, then we drank lots of coffee. Next visitors Molly Rigg and Louisa, who work as producers at Somerset House, Molly has been a friend and colleague and helped us back in 2012 at our Butcher of Common Sense show at the Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury. Molly's greatest action for me was to open the fire door which looked alarmed, but wasn't. We suddenly had a whole new playground outside and an accessible ground level access point and our own dead rat. We can do a show here at Somerset House... possibilities abound.

SomersetHaus Day 9

The emailing and the admin start to vie for attention. We are constantly negotiating and researching, aiming to talk to people who can help/inspire/facilitate our shows. We can make the work, but we need to make it more financially sustainable. For us to find a business model that works. I want to talk to a producer from PunchDrunk, who have a great business model. Take over a building, have a bar and cafe to help cover the running costs and then your totally unique selling point is.... a show...in our case, a KlangHaus. You set up for 6 weeks as a pop up, get all the licences...Bob's yer aunty. I walk along the Thames feeling like I have the answer to my working practices....do business in the morning, email whilst the brain is in full gear....then take a long walk, have lunch/breakfast/whatever... then settle into some creative making of art and music. Unfortunately, today I couldn't settle on anything. Emailing and charging that side of my brain up took its toll. I could not settle on anything creative. I tried an idea of route making,pathfinding, nothing emerged... actually...that's crap, I did do lots of creative stuff it just didn't strike gold.... that's part of it...however, emailing needs to be quarantined. Discussions continued in the yard over a beer.

SomersetHaus Day 8

This was one of my favourite days. I think the excitement of going to Manchester, nearly getting stranded there, getting out of the situation and managing to be okay. Improvising, breaking the rules and being okay....I took that energy into SomersetHaus and set to work. Mark and I hid in a cupboard...we worked out a routine. Tension and release. We walked the corridors, practiced songs, worked with Sal and the lights. We kept going when we would have paused for thought. We pushed the ideas. It felt very satisfying.We planned a film of Mark in the cupboard. Sal and Mark got on with filming. We spoke of the meeting idea for the show format and hooked it in with the seance....

Manchester ( Day 7) International Touring Conference

I left the KlangHaus team in London for a day's conference in Manchester. 06.16 train from Euston, the early morning walk along the river Thames to Vauxhall station was extra special. Sailing through the country on a seemingly silent bullet. A stone smashed the train windscreen at Milton Keynes and then we were kind of on a go slow. Got to Manchester, found the trams, bumbled my way onto the right tram. entered Salford....a strange spread-out landscape, do they imagine we have long Lowry-like legs to stride the wasteland/development...I walked past iconic landmarks which looked like a crap drawing of someone's wildest dream...sorry Man-U stadium, Coronation Street and BBC Media-City...and there, before me was the Lowry Building. I climbed the orange carpeted stairs, eyeing the purple pillars and red walls using my Lowry legs...why is everything so big? The Conference:International Touring Advice a summary... you need at least an 18 months lead time, setting up this work is always a slow burn. Any project needs to pay for itself, there is NO Subsidy. Start off in western Europe and find your feet. Your show must transmute cultural understanding. Get local knowledge.Source local set-building materials/equip. Use our talents of promoting and using signed performances/autism-friendly/accessible/relaxed. Collaborate with your foreign host. They might want experience with technicians or vice versa!offer to teach/give tutorials/lighting workshops. Offer a package give them a menu, after-show talk/tech workshop. Why Tour Internationally? Financial benefits. Audience development. Inspiration. Geo-Political aims...diplomacy Put 'International' on all your literature and web content. Think International from the start...set building, equipment, marketing. Be financially risk-free. Join I.E.T.M.org ( Artists International Development Fund £5,000, could help get your I.E.T.M costs covered... make friends, networks of support. Exchange Rates : Quote in £s, get payment in pounds. If euros/dollars guarantee it at that day's rate. No Small Currency!! You'll need an IBAN code and a BIC code. Schedules of payment: on signing 25% of the fee. A quarter or third just before arrival, Final payment within 2 weeks of final show. Carnet: a list of everything with it's value and place of origin. Must remain the same as when you arrive as when you leave, even the consumables such as gaffa tape! Visas: sort them 6 months ahead. An okay weight is 150kg, don't make a heavy show! Tax ; don't get double taxed...local host withholding local tax. British Council Territories of significance... M.I.N.T , Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey. Met some lovely people, and hooked up with old friends. Had a tour of The Lowry with a view to a possible KlangHaus. Wandered around Manchester looking for possible KlangHaus buildings. .............My journey home was an adrenalin junky's dream...it began with me being so tired that I was hallucinating at the arrivals board and re-imagining my departure time...I missed my train back to London by one minute. I got back to London after crying at the train ticket salesman and saying, it's a mistake, just like this morning's delay to my train, my ticket was transferred to a later train, that gave me one minute's grace to catch the last tube back in London. I ran, I got it, I became a little bit religious for a moment.Knackered!