MENAlab proposal 01

PROJECT SCRIPTS FOR 5 DAYS of SITE ANALYSIS

5 days / 120 hours / 7200 minutes / 432000 seconds / many languages /

surfaces ready to receive / senses open / countless assumptions /
many acts / some dreams / lots of courage / boundaries pushed / many
conversations / much that is seemingly useless / moments of kindness /
stains left on the body / baggage released / rigor / laughter / questions /
transects / collections / shifts in perception / much making /a group of
individuals / one chosen site / many explorations / a time to begin / the
finishing will happen later.

THE BEGINNING Argue for one hour about which site to choose.
pause. obtain hat. fold 4 papers. select site at
random. begin.
THE END The exhibit, it can be powerful, it can be
beautiful, it can be mundane. showcase the
ingredients . distill the recordings. bottle the
product. invite the public. savor it with the group.

We live in a world where our actions and intentions are mediated by learned and acquired
behaviors that very often limit the potentials of our interactions. Often it is assumed that this is the
path that we must take. It is what we have been taught, what we have been told, and very often
the place we think we feel the safest. Sprinkled upon this blanket of mediation are brief passages
of respite. These alternate moments tend to have no expectations, no expected returns, no real
forewarned intentions. They are not taught, they are not learned, they are not judged. They are
simply participated in. These moments it could be suggested, are our most memorable. They are
the ones we learn the most from, the ones we etch on our gravestones, pass down to our
grandchildren, share with our friends over coffee. They are simple, they are effortless.

The places we inhabit are the stages for the many performances that define who and what we are
and who and what we have the potential to become. There are traces all around these stages.
Traces of past performances, some memorable, some not; some frightening, some playful; some
undiscovered, some very tired; some repeated many times; some yet to be performed. They are
full of many voices, many of which are very loud; many of which are but a faint whisper. The
stages that contain these performances are constantly changing. They change based upon our
understandings of the plays we see and the voices we hear. This change has the potential to be
informed by an understanding that is suggested in the simple, unmediated moments in life.

Script for five days of Site Analysis proposes an intuitive process for beginning discussions
about a site. The intention is not to prioritizes one method versus another, intuition vs reason;
public vs private; observing vs recording ; listening vs talking but to loose ones bearings in the
oscillations, allowing for each to reveal what it has to offer. The interest is not where a
conversation goes but how to start one. This project proposes an alternative approach to site
analysis that is grounded in the power of performance and narrative to create
knowledge. Performance being acts of the everyday that unfold without necessarily involving
rehearsals and an audience.
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Scripts for five days of Site Analysis frames an environment that directs the parts we play and
the voices we hear in our quest to understand the potentials of the stages we participate on. This
is done in ways that makes us question the parts we have learned to play and hear, and lets us
fully understand the possibilities of the parts that we might yet play and who we might begin to
listen to. It promotes the discovery of new ways of playing and reveals new things to listen for.
The project will take a group of participants through a series of site-specific activities.

GLOSSARY

Story A narration or recital of that which has occurred, a

description of past events, a history, a statement, a
record
Storyteller One who begins a dialogue and engages an
audience in a story, invites people into a world that is
not their own
Performance An everyday act that plays out in the site

SEQUENCE
STEP 1.

Each day will begin in an unassuming space. Walls/floors/ceilings coated in white craft paper,
storytellers familiar and unfamiliar enter. There is one table on which they share a meal. The
participants will begin the conversation with stories from the stages they have participated in and
with examples of stories that they respect and admire. Site performances are scripted.

STEP 2.

Three performances are selected and carried out in the site.

SAMPLE PERFORMANCES

01 walk 100 steps. stop. draw for 10 minutes. repeat. for 2 hours.

02 walk at night. walk where you feel safe. make an object.

03 walk a path in the archives . walk it again in the present. trace.

04 select a route through the site. begin a dialogue with a stranger. record.
repeat for 2 hours.

05 select a route. walk it with someone. don’t stop talking. go off site. record the
experience.

06 plan a route on a map. abandon it. role a dice for direction. record your
meanderings.

07 sit in one spot. record until required to move. move. return to spot. record
again.
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08 map the sunny spots. notice the scars. pause. smile. apply lotion.

09 find some trace of love. find some trace of hate. find something secret. hide
something .make a treasure map.

10 collect fears. collect dreams. collect boundaries. collect garbage enough to

have a fire. burn it and draw with the charcoal.

11 recite a Hamlet soliloquy. when a dramatic pause is needed. draw.

12 measure the site with your body. make a ruler. prepare a map at the scale of
a finger.

13 imagine transparency is opaque and opacity transparent. record as if you

have Xray vision.

14 map the shadow between the cracks of buildings. map the stars visible from
an alley. trace the horizon line.

15 hold a color in your hand. walk the site. record what you pay attention to. List
101 things with that pigment.

STEP 3.

Participants return; recordings are brought back; a place within the space is selected to place the
content of their performances. This can be on the floor/on the wall/on the table/on the ceiling/on
the storytellers/on objects found within the study area. Reaction, reflection, dialogue, participants
will begin to talk, will begin to listen, will begin to hear.

REPEAT x5
FINAL PERFORMANCE

On the last day, the doors of the space will be opened to the public. Offerings of food and drink
will be available. There will be no alterations to the space of dialogues. All of the week’s stories,
all that has been revealed in the 5 days of performances will be unedited.

CATALOGUE/ AFTER PARTY

The original story-tellers. and any of the willing new storytellers will distill the recordings into
hand made books. The making of theses books starts a dialogue for sharing some of the work
that TASMENA is doing. All extras in the play, people in the study whose voices have been
heard, will receive a signed copy by the participants. These copies will have the recipients’ names
and contributions recognized.
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THE DRAMATURGES - samples of work

MENAlab proposal 01