Creative Technology

Creative Technology Module: 'Mother said you looked like Johnny Cash'.

Karen Shannon MA Creative Technology The University of Salford Tutors: Paul Sermon, Mathias Fuchs July 2009

Introduction. 'Mother said you looked like johnny cash' used creative technology tools to explore and express personal ideas and thoughts around the death of an unknown loved one. The work was presented at the greenroom in Manchester, July 2009. It involved an installation of a dead body placed on a high plinth, cameras, vision mixer, fish eye projector, garage band software to play out a voice over, performer (myself) and two groups of audiences who where invited to take part in and witness the passing thoughts & feelings of this cathartic event. It mixed poetry with common word and used simple technology tools to involve the people present by projecting their image onto the installation in a ghost like way.

Death is a part of life but many of us fear it and are generally reluctant to think about our own death and we may live our life as if we were going to be in this world forever. There are also many aspects to death; the diverse values that people hold about death and dying, different religious beliefs and what happens to our 'being' after death? Clearly, the fact that we die, whether it is an end or a transition, does affect our relationship with life.

'Mother said you looked like johnny cash' set out to challenge and make sense of how you could grieve and say goodbye to a Dad who was never known. The aim of the work was to evoke thought around the meaning of life & death in a sometimes humorous way and help the performer to say goodbye to her Dad who looked like Johnny Cash.

The Process. I have always been interested in the subject of death & dying, this really materialised from my early experiences of working as a nurse in a hospital environment, where I cared for dying people and experienced different kinds of death, both the long suffering and sudden death. I also observed the profound effect and consequences death had on family members, friends and partners. Death is sad, heart wrenching and painful but it comes to us all, and for this module I wanted to explore some of the themes of death & dying, particularly around memories of life and the grieving process. At the beginning of this process I had no idea that this subject matter would be so overwhelming, utterly complex and turn out to be a personal journey about the loss of my own father who had recently died, but who I never, really had a close relationship with throughout my life. I started the process by exploring what others artists had produced work around this subject matter. I viewed the work of Bill Viola, 'The Passing' (1) a 54-minute video in black and white that showed the birth of his son and the death of his mother, as well as landscapes, the galaxy and nature, which gave the viewer a sense of the extremities of life and the differences between the real world and the metaphysical universe. 'The Passing' was a very poignant piece of work and I used the visual imagery of the work to start to think about the prose I was going to use as a voice over in 'Mother said you looked like johnny cash'. While watching the work I wrote down a number of words & phrases that I would work with to inspire my own words for the piece. I also wanted to use some well known poetry in the work, I researched into the work of John Donne, who wrote both personal & metaphysical poetry in the 1590's, W.H Auden, (1907 – 1973) who wrote the 'Funeral Blues' & 'No Man is an Island' of which I used a verse to both open and close my own work. I explored some of the text of William

Shakespeare, who wrote a prolific amount about death & dying in his plays and sonnets. Words & thoughts of inspiration from Bill Viola 'The Passing'

Taking these words and my research into poets who had written in depth about death, I started to put together a poem that explored the thoughts and feelings that I had about the loss my father who I never knew. This was a hard process, I felt anger, pain and loss but also a great relief that I could get my thoughts & feelings out in a creative manner. It took me a long time to write the work, it mostly took place early on Sunday mornings – a time when my mum played Johnny Cash at home whilst I was growing up. Indeed, the title of the piece came from my mum, who said that my father looked like Johnny Cash, and in some way that is how I'd always imagined him and why I loved the music of Johnny Cash. 'Mother said you looked like johnny cash'

We are gathered here today to witness the passing of Brian James Shannon. Born …... Died.......Recently. Brian James Shannon AKA Johnny Cash He was meant to be my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my lar de dar I thought that love would last for ever: I was so so wrong.

You lay there now- dead – dead as a door nail Your flesh mottled purple your hair once dark but now like a silver fox skin, your eyes so so I cant seem to remember your eyes – strange that don't you think? windows of the soul aren't they– mother said you looked liked johnny cash the man in black - mysterious I never really knew you I never held your hand, I never stroked your hair, kissed your cheek or heard your sound now I never will look at you up there dead out of reach as always escaping this mortal coil you were meant to protect my heart

not let it bleed like this. God this is hard what do you say to someone you never really knew – do you know? breath breathing – its good for you breathing lets it all out I do that when I'm in the pool you know dad try to breath in all the good things and breathe out all the, the pain, the anger and the hurt the water takes it all away, laps it to the sides of sky blue walls down the plug with the dead skin, length of hair, the dirt & traces of shit & piss it's so sad that you knew nothing of me – everyone I know goes away in the end – (sing) mother said you looked liked johnny cash I only have three memories of you dad The day you took me to Norwich – my brother football boots, me a riding hat, but I didn't even have a pony The circus , the clowns, I cried all the way through. You came to the door a dark shadow – asked if you still had to pay maintenance for me - shocking Can I cry a vale of tears over you – you who left me when I was small will anyone hear me, does anyone care, am I allowed to grief You there, yes you can you comfort now please Just one small touch of warm flesh, a brush of the hand, a special look, a squeeze of my heart

I have nothing left to say johnny cash -I have listened to you all my life but have never really known the you – oh it makes your heart bleed makes your heart bleed tears let me leave your flesh now may it turn to dust may it float across the oceans to find a way to lights of glory Let the purple angles take you

far away to the other place No regrets Johnny? I think so Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. & Johnny Cash & my dad who I never knew. Goodnight Daddy --

I also explored the work of The Centre of Attention's Schwanengesang/Swansong (2004) (2) which offered the the public in Vienna an opportunity to rehearse their own funeral. First the participant selected a song for the ceremony; they then lay on a plinth, performing death, while the song is webstreamed.

Swansong. Study for Karlsplatz, the Centre of Attention, 2008

This work inspired me to think about how I could get the audience involved in the work I was producing. I wanted the viewer to be able to reflect on their own mortality and to think about their relationships with people they loved and how important it was to nurture these whilst alive. I decided that I would project their images onto the body and I sketched some ideas about how the piece would work on a practical & visual level.

The first thing that I created was the body, I cast a body out of chicken wire and then applied mud rock to get a smooth outline. I mounted the body on a wood frame so that it could be placed on a high plastic frame, giving the effect of a dead body placed on an elevated plinth/slab. I then covered the body in white sheets, which would be used to project images of the audience on. Once I had a structure to work from I started to play around with cameras & a vision mixer to get the right effect, I wanted to create ghost like images of people on the structure. I also visited the greenroom to get measurements of the space and talk to the technician about the installation and it's requirements. It was decided that I would get in the day before to set-up and then be able to do a dress rehearsal the morning of the performance.

The piece required quite a complex technical set-up to reach the required effect. However, I achieved this by using the following equipment.

Two Sony HD V1 cameras set at 10 frames per minute, focused on the audience, with s video leads into the vision mixer.

Edirol vision mixer which mixed the two images together, with EFX, one input negative and the other white. The vision mixer then had an output to the projector which back projected the images of the audience onto the white sheets. I used a fish eye projector as I didn't have much throw in the studio space at the greenroom.

I recorded the voice over straight into and edited it in Garage Band, I played out the voice over through a Apple Mac book which was connected to two Edirol speakers,

I also attempted to broadcast the performance live over the web using ustream, this proved to be problematic as the connection to the web was not very stable in the studio space at the greemroom and all I got was the first opening image. This was the first time that I used stream, and I would now like to explore this in more depth and if I were to do the work again, I would spend more time on the live broadcast element, so that the work could reach larger audiences and that I would have some documentation of the work.

http://www.ustream.tv/

Conclusion Going through the process of creating this work has been a very cathartic experience. It has enabled me to play with new ways of using technology and presenting work in a public space to express inner thought & feelings around the difficult subject of death & dying. The process to put the work together involved many different practices, making, writing, use of technology and performance. It also involved a great deal of emotional input and thought to be able to deal with sensitive and sometimes painful issues. However, I did find some closure in dealing with the death of an unknown father figure through the work, and to be able to share the experience with close friends and colleagues did enabled me to grieve and find some peace. The audience as witness also played a crucial role in making the experience a real life one, it brought up emotional feelings in people that enabled them to also express their thoughts about death & dying. Certainly, the comments from audience members confirmed this, they were very moving, honest and frank. Feedback & Evaluation As part of the process to get feedback from audience members, I produced a feedback form, which I asked to be filled out at the end of the viewing of the work. I wanted to get some thoughts and comments about their experience of being involved as a participant, and to inform and shape any potential future developments of the work. Feedback Results. Question 1 How did you feel when you entered the space? •

Not as shocked as I'd had some warning about what to expect however it isn't a nice feeling to walk into the space. Once realising where I was projected on the sheet I wanted to try and keep still, I didn't want me to distract the piece even though I enjoyed watching others fidget!

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Reluctant, a bit nervous.

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I felt in a very solemn, quiet and clear atmosphere. Not really like a church, more a theatre – but then full of light and clarity

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Calm, slightly uncomfortable as entering a private part of a friends thoughts that I wouldn't normally share in

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Intrigued as I didn't know what to expect

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Reference/solemnity/anticipation

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Sad (My own daughter, Molly 9 years old)

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Initially confused, then slightly intimidated & apprehensive then peaceful, respectful & intrigued

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Quiet, respectful

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Calm but intrigued

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Anticipation

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I'm glad you spoke to us about the piece before we entered the space. Infact that was almost part of it. I felt better prepared

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Intrigued and in anticipation

Question 2 What were you thing about when the performance was taking place?

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I was listening to what was being said. I really like Johnny Cash so it was occurring to me that this man really didn't deserve the compassion or playing of such a beautiful song

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I thought about your word, I was very focused on what you said. My thoughts were more subconscious emotions. I felt like I was @ a funeral. Bodies were tense, unsure of what to do

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I tried to imagine how the person who was dead looked like, how he was a human and a father. I also thought about my father and even though I knew him still miss some information

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How my actions in life affect those that love me

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About 2 of my friends who died aged 40 and 50. My friend dean killed himself after an illness and at his funeral they played Johnny Cash singing 'Beast in Me' – a song that was a rare point of emotion between him and his father

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Karen's pain & anger & sadness

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Very Sad! But cool (My own daughter, Molly 9 years old)

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About what it might feel like for you Karen, talking about your dad. And about the technology bringing us, the audience into your piece

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How it would feel to be in this situation – not knowing a corpse – and why it matters. Whether the sound was live or recorded. How brave the piece was in confronting personal feelings

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Karen's words and situation

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Thought it was very deep and was enjoying the visuals & audio

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I was thinking about your experience. I was thinking about my own daughter . Thinking about love for her

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My Dad, who died 5 years ago. Didn't really know him, but he was always nothin!

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It changed throughout. I felt very sad for Karen when I saw her face toward the end

Question 3 How do you feel now, after the performance?

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Odd actually. I've hardly encountered death in my life and I try not to think about it and although I understand the piece and try to use this understanding as a barrier to my emotional involvement I don't think I've managed to and it has still affected me in some way.

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I felt very moved, and closer to a friend. I felt quiet, and of of peaceful

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I am still thinking about this person and about child-father relationships

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Sad for the artists experience but happy that life goes on

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It's taken a few minutes to reflect – you remember people you have lost amd dont want to speak to anyone

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Pleased that Karen has had this opportunity to express her feelings 'does anyone care?' yes they do

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Sad! Unhappiness (sad) (My own daughter, Molly 9 years old)

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Impressed by your bravity, honesty & performing skills

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I am left with a memory of a lovely song and a ghostlike moving tapestry

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Pleased to have seen it

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Very moved. Johnny Cash's music means a lot in my family and death too

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Quiet – would like to talk to you about the piece some more

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A bit sad – will my daughters know me?

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I don't know

Question 4 Any other comments? •

It was extremely touching, raw and emotional. It was very strong having you on stage, this was when it became real and not just a performance. Well done Karen a brave personal piece

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A very brave and honest performance. Thank you

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Beautifully conceived in it's simplicity – but with complex emotions

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Lovely classical effect in images reflected on folds of sheets

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Sadness (My own daughter, Molly 9 years old)

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Well done darling. Gold star, Shannon! X Noah

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A really strong vocal performance and good use of writing + prose. The Mystery of it all

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Well done Karen!

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I would also have liked to explore the installation – learn more about the video aspects. I felt I shouldn't move. Although I would have liked to

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Very interesting and thought provoking

Budget Expenses that were associated with the work are listed below, the main cost was the hire of the greenroom technician who had to be present in terms of health & safety regulations. Item

Cost

Total

Making of Body

£40.00

40

Sheet material

£23.00

23

Flowers

£18.00

18

greenroom costs including technician

£120.00

120

Equipment on loan from LGG & Salford University

£0.00

0

TOTAL

£201.00

Bibliography (1) http://www.billviola.com/ (2) http://www.thecentreofattention.org/home2.html