Category Archives: Practitioners

What have we gained through ‘Feeder’?

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Food will always be an obsession in human life so there is no reason why it shouldn’t be a part of performance and theatre too. As Di Benedetto states, “food as a component in theatrical entertainments has a long history…in an attempt to unpack the aesthetic uses of food by the futurists and the surrealists in the creation of meaning” (2010, p116). In the Middle Ages, food and entertainment went hand in hand, “food was a performance…Feasting and festivity were inextricably fused in medieval hospitality; the one did not exist without the other” (Cole in Di Benedetto, 2010, p116). This link between performance and food is clear even without noticing it. When entertaining guests, food is expected as an accompaniment, people go and enjoy food as a social occasion with loved ones. Our performance therefore becomes quite a contrast to many people’s perception of food, it exposes the greed, waste and overall negativity that food can also be associated with.

Our piece has become more thought provoking that what we initially anticipated. Our initial stimulus was the feeder fetish but the way in which we presented our piece resulted in a much more varied interpretation. It was a personal experience for each of us. As young female adults in a modern 21st century country, we all feel the need to look after our body and therefore our view on the over consumption of food is rather negative. As Seid suggests, “Everything, for women, boils down to body size” (1994, p7). However, we challenged our own thoughts and took part in a task which contradicts everything we believe is right regarding food and the body. As Coultate and Davies state, “Quite rightly, almost everyone has on opinion on the food they eat, or don’t eat. We have fads and fancies, compounded with views on what is ‘good for you'” (1994, p1). Interestingly of course, the feeder/gainer fetish is a way of life for some individuals who gain pleasure from the over consumption of fatty foods. This is something that we cannot begin to understand or relate to and certainly isn’t something I admire, particularly when it will have such a negative impact on their health. It seems that for many people, from those who are clinically obese to those suffering from disorders such as anorexia, food is allowed to consume their lives in such a way in which they no longer have control. After all, “food is essential to our survival, social ritual revolving around food are central parts of every culture on earth” (Di Benedetto, 2010, p114). The idea of control was exercised throughout our performance from the buying of the food, to the preparation and finally the feeding. In ‘Feeder’ we explored both personal and social reactions and feelings towards food, the female form in relation to food and in particular the gluttony and greed of many people in 1st world countries.

Works Cited

Coultate, Tom and Davies, Jill (1994) Food: The definitive guide Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry

Di Benedetto, Stephen (2010) The Provocation of the Senses in Contemporary Theatre UK:Routledge

Fallon, P., Katzman, M., and Wooley, S. (eds.) (1994) Feminist Perspectives on eating disorders. USA: The Guilford Press

And for dessert…

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Our final performance: three feeders, three gainers and two hours to eat as much as individually possible. 11th December 2013

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The performance: Taken by Darren Page 11/12/13

Due to the result of the drawing of straws, for the performance I was given the role of feeder, much to my relief. In the lead up to the performance we filmed various sequences of the three feeders in a supermarket buying the food which would be consumed and consequently the cooking and preparation.

 

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Preparation of food: Taken by Kirsty Taylor 10/12/13

It was important for this footage to be part of our performance so the audience could see our process and how the food had got to the table. We set up our performance space as it was for our work in progress with the addition of lighting and video footage set behind the gainers. This meant they could not see what had been put into the food they were about to consume reflecting the gainer/feeder fetish in which the feeder could be in control of what went into the food they can eat. The control of the feeders continued as we tied our gainer to the chair using an item associated with the outfit they are wearing. My gainer, Abbi, wore gym clothing and so she was tied to the chair using socks.

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Gainer and feeder: Taken by Jess Jarvis 11/12/13

After we had laid the table and reheated all the hot food our performance could begin. The hot food added an important sense to the performance and allowed the audience to have some direct connection to the piece, the sense of smell, “Smell is said to be the most direct route to memory, emotions, mate choice and the immune system” (Di Benedetto, 2010, p93). By placing the food in close proximity to the audience, not only could they see exactly what was being eaten but can experience the food through smells thereby creating thoughts and feelings as Di Benedetto suggests, “Taste, like smell, can evoke memories that are laden with emotional qualities” (2010, p114). Consequently each audience member can create an individual personal response.

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Display of food: Taken by Kirsty Taylor 11/12/13

To heighten the control we were aiming for, the three feeders held a neutral facial expression whilst the gainers reacted naturally to the task they were completing which was received positively by the audience as they were real, honest reactions. Because the performance was of a nature which couldn’t be rehearsed, it was a task trying to keep a straight face whilst deciding what food I should feed to Abbi. I was tentative at first deciding how much to put on the plate and what combination of food I should use, but gradually I became more confident and sure of what to do. It also became more clear which food my gainer preferred over others.  As the performance went on, it became clear it was going to be a much harder task than anticipated. The physical struggle of the gainers and the mental guilt of the feeders increased dramatically and reached a climax when Abbi had to be sick. This was a shock for us all; although sick bags were in place we never expected they would be used as we didn’t think it would get to that point. I tried my hardest to remain in control of the situation despite the tidal wave of emotions; I felt panicky, guilty and full of concern yet still had the overbearing apprehension of keeping the performance going and completing my task as feeder. Although we never focused on the audience and made a deliberate choice not to make eye contact, it was at that point some members of the audience had to leave, clearly uncomfortable with what had just happened. Unexpectedly, our performance was cut short and stopped forty-five minutes before the expected finish.

Although it was not planned, we were all relieved the performance was over. We were all exhausted; we had pushed our bodies to the limits of what we could have handled either mentally or physically. The performance may not have ended how we anticipated, but we were all proud of the effort we had put into both the process and final piece.

Works Cited

Di Benedetto, Stephen (2010) The Provocation of the Senses in Contemporary Theatre UK:Routledge

Primary Nights 1-2-1: Rebecca Gamble

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Keeping up to date with current news in the area, it came to my attention that Rebecca Gamble was putting on a piece as part of Primary Nights: 1-2-1 which was a series of one to one performances at hatch in Nottingham. Below is a description of the piece:

‘You are invited to encounter a 1-2-1 gastronomic performance that plays with notions of host and guest. Choose your instrument at the door. You are invited to either feed or eat. The encounter ends on the sounding of the bell’ (Hatch Nottingham, 2013)

This reminded me of an earlier idea we had which involved the audience feeding us. This piece on the other hand is one on one and left the audience member to their own devices when it came to decision making. Although we moved away from this idea, it still plays with the element of intimacy and ‘host and guest’. Two people’s relationship with food and the idea of what is appropriate when it comes to someone feeding another person.

I contacted Rebecca Gamble via her website hoping to find out more information on her piece and why she chose to explore the host and guest relationship, as we are exploring the feeder/gainer relationship.

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(Click to enlarge the image and read the email to Rebecca Gamble. Taken by: Kirsty Jakins 4.12.13)

It also got me thinking about whether these two relationships are similar in anyway and if so how? In our piece we are exploring control, whereas Gamble seems to be looking at intimacy and pushing the audience. We too are pushing the audience but in a completely different way. They are as much involved by having to view what the feeder will put the gainer through. In Gamble’s piece the audience could feed her as a host, which is breaking what is the norm. We are also breaking a norm with feeding as you normally feed yourself and can control what enters your body. Here complete control is given to the feeder. These relationships will be discovered tomorrow when we discover out roles in the straw drawing process.

Works Cited

Hatch Nottingham (2013) Primary Nights 1-2-1. [online] Available at: http://www.hatchnottingham.org.uk/?p=3055 [Accessed: 4.12.13].

Last Words, Last Suppers.

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Reckless Sleepers “share the agenda of Forced Entertainment in their rejection of the processes of ‘proper theatre’ or ‘big theatre’ that attempts to present ‘realism in an unrealistic way” (Tomlin 2008, p.361), and their piece Last Supper does just that; mixing real life final words, with those which can be imagined to be true, while all over a last supper. Sat at an elaborate dinner table themselves, “the Last Supper is a performance piece where we invite our audience to dinner, to eat and drink with us” (Reckless Sleepers n/a, online), creating an unconventional performance space within which we currently think of theatre.

http://vimeo.com/64879300

Interestingly, “it…gives voice to the voiceless” (Gardner 2004, online), despite the fact that the performers then go on to eat their own last words. These last words exist in a liminal space; taken and then imitated on stage from actors for whom the words will not be their last, and then being eaten, digested, as though they had never been there in the first place.

“While you might wonder why it’s worth doing, I am inclined towards the view of Timothy Leary who, staring death in the face in 1996, reportedly declared: “Why not?” ” (Gardner 2004, online)

Our performative experiment is dealing with food and eating, so to disregard Reckless Sleepers’ performance of The Last Supper would be unwise. Their intimate setting mimics that which we are hoping to create. Generally you don’t invite a large number of people round for tea, let alone strangers, and this becomes less likely when the topic of conversation is something highly personal. To reveal the last words of those who have died, either factual, fictional or imagined is something highly personal. Often those words are only said to loved ones, or to themselves, and not broadcast for the wider population to hear.

The notion of hosting a dinner party is not something private, and is indeed considered a social event. So to mix a private and public medium within their performance is interesting and thought provoking. The juxtaposition of the private and public is something which we are hoping to showcase within our performance of Feeder. The Feeder/Gainer fetish is a highly personal and private engagement when enacted within couples, so to host it in a similar style to The Last Supper, and framing it for an audience is unusual and adds another dynamic to the established task of the performance. With a contrast to The Last Supper, whose performance came alive by the use of words and language, our performance will have none.

Chewing.

Gagging.

Clinking.

Crunching.

The ominous and deafening silence will have its own underscore. However, this will not be from anything prepared, but from organic noises created by the piece itself. With the silence, the audience will be unwilling forced to focus more on the sounds and noises which occur naturally, therefore drawing them further into the performance. Though this might make some audience members uncomfortable, I personally feel that any other addition of sound would detract from the live performance, thereby giving the audience some form of escape; but when a performance is as intimate and personal as ours aims to be, the option of escape or distraction should be minimal. Our performance wants to push not just the performers’ limits, but the audiences’ too.

Works Cited
Gardner, Lynn (2004) ‘The Last Supper’, The Guardian, 19 November:
Online: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/nov/19/theatre1 (accessed 27 November 2013).
Reckless Sleepers (n/a) The Last Supper, Online: http://www.reckless-sleepers.co.uk/project.php?id=7 (accessed 27 November 2013).
Tomlin, Liz (2008) ‘Beyond Cynicism: The Special Imperative and (Future) Contemporary Performance’, Contemporary Theatre Review, XVIII (3) August: pp. 355-369.

Tasks.

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Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s article on Playing to the Senses: Food as a Performance Medium discusses the use of food as a performative medium and the various ways in which food has been used as art. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett states that

“to perform is to do, to execute, to carry out to completion, to discharge a duty–in other words, all that governs the production, presentation, and disposal of food and their staging. To perform in this sense is to make food, to serve food. It is about materials, tools, techniques, procedures, actions. It is about getting something done.” (Gough, 2012, p. 1)

This definition rings true in our performance on a number of levels. Firstly the “task” of our performance is for the eaters/gainers to complete the task of eating as much food as they can in a given amount of time. The idea of fulfilling a task in our performance was one that our group decided to focus on from very early on in the devising process, having been influence by artists such as Melati Suryodarmo, who’s performance Exergie- Butter Dance might be considered an extreme example of how the act of completing a set task with rules or time restrictions can be a very entertaining spectacle.

(Carey Goodman, 2012)

In watching this performance I found myself going through stages of reaction. First I laughed, because the concept of dancing on butter was strange to me and entertaining to watch. Yet as she started to fall I became uncomfortable. I did not like to see her inflict pain on herself, yet I was mesmerised by the movement and music to the point where I could not look away. It struck me that in completing her set task she was also pushing herself physically to the point of pain but also mentally; knowing that in completing this task you are going to fall and hurt yourself multiple times when you could just as easily walk away would take will power.

While I do not think that the butter in Exergie-Butter Dance influenced our choice to use food in our performance, our aims to push the body to complete a task soon lead us to eating as a challenge.

While Abramovic and Mary Coble have created art using the human body as a canvas, artists such as Fiona Gregore in her piece Water # 1: Decent (2011) create their pieces by pushing their body’s physical and mental endurance without mutilating or putting their bodies in obvious pain or danger. Pushing yourself mentally is a challenge that others can see if you allow them to, but it can be purely internal and private. So what would happen if we pushed our internal body?
We decided to start with the taste buds.
In our original ideas on creating tasks with food we looked into forcing ourselves to eat food we didn’t like. I for example cannot stomach bananas, even the smell makes me feel ill, and so in this experiment I had to force myself to eat one. As you can see below my feelings towards the food had not changed.

Eating

Photo by Andrew Tinley, 2013

 

The experiment wasn’t pleasant for anyone, including our voluteer audience. But it was fascianting. One of the most disturbing things about this experiment was how interesting it was to see each others reactions to the food that they were eating. The discusted facial expressions and noises of protest coupled with a determination that each of us should complete our task made for a mesmerising experience.

 

Word Count

Gough, R (2012) Playing to the Senses: Food as a Performance Medium. Performance Reasearch. On Cooking, 4, 1.

Carey Goodman (2012) Melati Suryodarmo – Butterdance. [online video]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73MJxB7tCkk [Accessed 1 Novemeber 20213].