There is so much to update as its been a busy time recently but the first bit of news is that I have been collaborating with Hanna Tuulikki on costumes for Sing Sign which will be an installation and performance in Edinburgh Arts Festival 2015.
Inspired by a map of Edinburgh, Hannas graphic drawing of the Royal Mile has been digitally printed onto Tyvek to form a scroll down the front of the costume. In addition exagerated Tyvek collars decorate felt Baroque inspired coats and flashes of gold and lace can be seen in pleats and cuffs.
SING SIGN: a close duet is a vocal and gestural suite devised for the historic ‘closes’ of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. In these confined medieval spaces two performers present a playful Baroque scenario. Their face-to-face encounter is also relayed in a film installation, at Gladstone’s Land.
Composed and choreographed in response to a street-map dating from 1765, the street layout provides a visual score. The music takes the form of a wordless hocket (a musical device where the melody is split between two voices), divided between the singers in accordance with the closes, as they branch off from the arterial high street. The choreography spells out street names, in a back-and-forth progression, weaving together British Sign Language, mimetic hand gesture, and exaggerated body language.
Reflecting on the nature of dialogue and bringing together the seemingly opposed forms of singing and signing, Tuulikki explores the diverse, non-sensical ways in which we experience the city, immersed in sensory data, and mediated by the language(s) we have access to.
SING/SIGN is performed by Daniel Padden and Hanna Tuulikki, and developed with Deirdre Nelson (costume), Karen Forbes (British Sign Language choreography), Daniel Warren (film), Pete Smith (sound), Robin Gillanders (photography)
photo shoot with Robin Gillanders
