emma waltraud howes

scheuklappen

2010-10-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

'Die Tanzerin Palucca is leaping free through the forest, Marinetti's Feet can be seen below the shrubs, Emmy Henning's 'Dancer' is strangling us to death, Hugo Ball can't stop screaming at us from behind the trees: 'Why must we restrict ourselves to minimalism?!!!'

With playful irreverence for these mythologies, and the traditions of a certain past, we broke down the fourth wall a long time ago. We are not illusionists. We are searching through the rubble for possibility. What impedes individual and collective expression? Is there freedom within form? Can we utilize stricture to apply clarity to chaos with sincerity?

scheuklappen: models as restrictive guides (2010)

felt, adhesive, straight pins

work in progress

I am working on a process based research project. Its shape will evolve through gesture, drawing, video, and sculptural methods. I am gathering information that entails a dialogue with my colleagues concerning their various backgrounds, relationship to art history, and theoretical concerns. I want to know the underlying philosophy behind each persons practice. I will construct a series of blinders, from felt and transparent adhesive. These objects will be designed specifically in response to the personal information gathered, and tailored for each individual. The intention is to produce models as restrictive guides. We will then take time to work independently of one another, wearing our separate blinders and experimenting with productive sensory restriction. After this period of research I will adapt these individual scheuklappen into a whole to form a collective soft sculpture. Together we will wear the resulting object as we perform various tasks. Together we will take a walk in the woods, we will trip over each other's perspectives, we will drink our morning coffee, we will have a discussion while we sip our nightcaps, and we will see what this accumulative monster produces. The documentation (video), sculptural elements (material processes), mind-maps (drawings), and theatrical events (Gesture) will provide the foundation of the project.

instructions

2010-02-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

Instructions for an Unexpected Absence (2010)

instructions, studio 303, montreal, quebec

mp3 audio track

Instructions for an unexpected absence is an invitation to occupy an empty stage. It is a pragmatic text that came from a desire to exist in two spaces at one time. I could not be present for the performance but wanted to offer someone my place on the stage. It was intended as a gesture of affection to the people I could not encounter. With the aim to play with limitations, and an ability to adjust to constraints, a series of propositions were developed.

The performance consists of a mp3 audio track where I apologize for my absence and invite the audience to take my place on the stage. The participants are then lead through a series of simple movement instructions.

photo credit: jean-francoise lalumiere

180 seconds (2009)

short and sweet, la sala rosa, montreal, quebec

A performer is given the simple instructions that she must transport herself form the stage to the bar without touching the ground in 180 seconds.

Communication cross Continents (2009)

le party, la 2e porte a gauche, montreal, quebec.

http://www.la2eporteagauche.ca/

A series of instruction were sent to a group of performers from Berlin to Montreal. A series of restrictions were imposed, a set of tasks were to be fulfilled. The improvisation was framed by these limitations.

subtle architectures: dare-dare, montreal, quebec

2009-08-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

dare-dare, montreal, quebec
hand carved photographs from performance documentation

http://subtlearchitectures.dare-dare.org/

Each performance in this series addressed a site formerly occupied by Dare-Dare since the beginning of their project dis/location in 2004. The first was performed as a solo. The second set included an invitation for six participants per day. The third and final performance was intended for twelve contributers per day. Participants were encouraged to sign up for one or all of these actions and were provided with their own Subtle Architecture Kits, which included chalk, a chalk holder, and a folding ruler.

subtle architekturen: jena, germany

2009-05-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

subtle architekturen: the transient nature of spatial order (2009)
crash!boom!bau!, jena, germany

chalk, chalk holder, ddr ruler, hand carved photographs from performance documentation.

http://www.bauhauslab.org

Subtle Architekturen: The Transient Nature of Spatial Order was developed for the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus in Jena, Germany. The evolution of this specific triad of performances was influenced by my research into the history of the Bauhaus school, specifically the work of Oskar Schlemmer and the 'Triadic Ballet'. I used a DDR ruler and heavy chalk to demarcate my locations, strict lines in contrast to abstract gestures performed in public space.

subtle architectures subtiles: 3e imperial, granby, quebec.

2009-02-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Subtle Architectures Subtiles (2008)

3e imperial, granby, quebec

chalk, ruler, carved photographs from performance documentation.

http://www.3e-imperial.org/

During a one-month residency at 3e imperial, Granby, Quebec, I worked to develop the project Subtle Architectures Subtiles. My daily work consisted of constructing and shifting spaces along a meandering. Granby is a small town and I often found myself working alone. I began to wonder what it would be like to have other people accompany me in this process. I invited people to show me the spaces they frequented. They took me for walks around town and described the quality of these locations. It was this aspect of the process that prompted a restructuring of the project for the subsequent Dare-Dare series.

raumanderung: ein formloses diagramm

2008-07-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

Raumanderung: Ein Formloses Diagramm (2008)

sternbrueke, ilm parc, weimar, germany

contact microphones, wireless transmitter, amplifiers

A performer moves on site. Contact microphones, attached to foot and hand, transmit the sound of her movements to amplifiers placed at a distance from the location. An informal diagram is constructed by the placement of speakers in space, one on top of the bridge, and on either side of a sight line. the performer engages with her containment, an acoustic and rhythmic dialogue between logos and the sensing body.

plastic dynamism

2008-05-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Plastic Dynamism (2008)
performance mix, new york city, u.s.a.
felt, rubber tubing, industrial thread

The project Plastic Dynamism was developed though a process of movement. Prosthesis from felt and rubber tubing were built. I proceeded to move within these containments to inspire the building of others. through a process of accumulation an abstract figure was constructed. The resulting sculpture was worn for a series of live performances and documented with super eight. This footage was employed for further productions and a short film in collaboration with Solomon Nagler and Steve Bates.

plastic optimism: a practice in enabling constraints

2007-12-18T05:23:00.000-08:00

ignition 4, leonard and bina ellen gallery, montreal, quebec.

felt, mini speakers, mini lcd screens, foam core, wood, bungee cords.

photo credits: caroline boileau

A series of soft sculptures were built from 1" industrial felt, a headpiece for one occupant, and another for two. The completed sculptures were hung from the ceiling by means of bungee cords. Small amplifiers embedded in the walls of these constructions played back simple instructions for movement, step to the right, up, down. A third sculpture included steps that lead up into a foam core building. The participant was encouraged to place their head within, in order to view footage of a person moving within an institutional setting, the original foam sculpure placed upon her head.

plastic optimism

2007-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Plastic Optimism

An ability to adjust to ones surroundings, to utilize structure as a means to propel oneself forward towards invention

Enabling Constraints

A method utilized to provide structure to chaos, to present clarity amidst a proliferation of obstructions

A stubborn curiosity, to engage with the boundaries that contain, to press up against borders, to consider seemingly concrete forms as malleable.

Certain determination

Subtle shifts of spatial design

Agility upon encountering obstacles along a meandering

You fall into a hole, the next time you encounter the gap, you perceive it, but still tumble within, meeting the opening a third time, you observe it, pass along side, evading the collapse, only to trip into the next

A process of thinking through movement

Improvise with perceived limitations

Agency

An intention that informs the decision regarding a movement

Towards a certain disruption of spatial order

A methodology

Pass through form to recognize its function

A certain fondness for incongruity

Abstract articulations

Kinesthetic negotiations

Neurological acrobatics

day two

2007-05-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

subtle architectures

day two: 05/20/07

subtle five (revisited):
I revisit the last site that I performed in the day before. I have three observers who have come prepared to find me and follow the performance. This drastically changes the feeling of the event. The anonymity is lost and I am self-conscious of my actions, in a manner that is altered by familiar faces.

subtle six: bus stop, telephone booth, bicycle parking

A lady asks me what I am up to as she draws in a long hale on her smoke. A man is talking on the telephone. An observer comes to sit with me and introduces himself. We speak for a while before I depart.

subtle seven: exterior hudsons bay

I am joined by a young women, She is wearing pajamas and has a kinetic, faced paced, movement. She wants to play with the chalk. We spend some time together drawing on the pavement.

I return to this spot later and find that the yellow lines have been cleaned up and the only trace of the performance left behind is a drawing that the young woman drew on the road.

subtle eight: loading dock

I draw myself a large space. I work within the confines. There are not many people around. I have the time to explore the boundaries to the fullest extent. In this spot, an empty loading dock, I seem to go unnoticed by the passers by except for the occasional glance in my direction.

visualeyez : day one

2007-05-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

subtle architectures
day one: 05.19.07

http://visualeyez2007.blogspot.com/

The initial inspiration for the project Subtle Architectures came from the presence of yellow lines in front of government buildings. These lines designate smoking areas and I enjoyed watching as people stood just inside the demarcated space, in order to bend to exhale. Their gestures touched on my interest in the construction of social and private space.

The first realization of the project took place during a ten-day residency at Visualeyez Festival, 2007. This event is hosted by Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta, offering artists an opportunity to test out new projects in an atmosphere conducive to research-creation. For this initial series the locations and times were not announced.

subtle one: parking meter
A pedestrian walks over the yellow chalk lines but shows no sign of recognition. The physical performance is rendered invisible in close proximity.

A man shouts out from a car window, are you having fun?

subtle two: empty lot Two young women run out of a hair salon, are you all right? The shout is heard from a distance.

subtle three: parking lot
There is a twenty-story apartment building near by. Faces are looking out of windows, watching from above.

subtle four: pedestrian sidewalk
Waiting for rain, a man asks as he passes by.

Driving in there cars, people watch from a safe distance.

The cars slow down but do not stop.

subtle five: Park Bench
People double glance.

day four

2007-05-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

subtle architectures

day four: 05/22/07

subtle eleven (revisited): park bench There is a man sitting within the boundary I drew. He seems settled with no intentions of moving. I sit on an opposing bench and draw a line around the same foot as the day before.

subtle twelve: smoking boundary lines
I have found lines that demarcate an area for smoking. I lean slightly outside the line. A man, in passing, informs me that I am slightly off balance.

subtle thirteen: campus stairs
There are two young women sitting beside me. They are deep in conversation and take no notice of me. One of them gives me a quick glance when I pull myself up the wall methodically, but looks away as soon as I notice her looking.

This invisibility is in stark contrast to the large audience I have accumulated from the festival. People sit at a distance forming an audience. I am back on stage within the context of a college campus.

subtle fourteen: between two parked cars I want to hide now. I have a following that I am attempting to divert. A man asks me if I am okay, a car stops to see if I want to cross the street.

day three

2007-05-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

subtle architectures

day three: 05/21/07

subtle eight (revisited):
I revisit where I left off the day before. My anxiety levels are high in response to a public demand to see my performance. I expect to encounter an audience who will follow me along my path. I am somewhat relieved to arrive to an absence of observers.

subtle nine: empty parking lot Without the expectations of a public gaze, the absence of a viewing public, I am left to wonder where my actions begin and where they reach completion. I define spaces in which to situate this practice, I watch other people sit and rest, I move almost imperceptibly.

subtle ten: brick wall

I draw a larger boundary and wait. There is nothing. I look over my shoulder, I gaze at the ground, and I document the spot in which I stand. I am alone but aware that someone could be watching. Today I am performing normalcy. I am trying to find the most honest of articulations. I remain still.

subtle eleven: foot
Only my foot is outlined by a square. I am immobilized, except for the twitch of an eye.

hiding in plain site

2006-03-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

Hiding in Plain Site (2007)

Run Time: 8:00 s

Mini Projo, Montréal Arts Intercultural in association with Studio 303, Montreal