The Perverts Guide to Cinema

Just a quick recommendation..

Presented by the eccentric philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek The Perverts Guide is a fascinating exploration into how film plays with our fundamental fears and desires. Taking examples from Hitchcock, Lynch, and a host of other clips from classic movies he teases out the layers of which the filmmakers have created and using Freudian psychoanalyst explains why they have such an impact. There was a clever weaving of Žižek into the sets of the films he was deconstructing which gave the denser theory an essential comedic edge. His discussion of Lynch’s Blue Velvet is particularly fascinating. As one of my favourite films is has continued to baffle me as to why it has had such a disturbing impact (beyond the violence and surrealism) this went some way too finding an answer. If you’re not convinced then this is worth going to see just to note down all the films he references, a fine ensemble. Details are on the vizlang website. It is showing at the ICA until November 2nd.

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It may seem obvious but I’m really appreciating a studio…

As a theatre student (of research and directing) I am not use to the idea of a personal studio. In fact on the first day at Wimbledon when the studio was being allocated I was certain I would not need one and was willing to sacrifice my allotted area for a fine art student. How wrong I was. I have now begun to fully utilise my little area to give a focus to my working process, which is at times quite fragmented.

The Uncanny Gallery is a simple board of pictures that I consider being demonstrations of ‘uncanny’ imagery or at least that represent something that contains an element of the uncanny. This idea reflects the process of artist Mike Kelly when he was compiling an exhibition of uncanny sculpture and other visual art for Tate Liverpool. He organised his ideas by collect a vast range of images, compiling a type of uncanny spectrum from which to organise the exhibition. In turn I have created my own micro version to frame the vast amount of images that I am steadily collecting.

The space also allows me to consider the puppet heads for Love is a Dog From Hell from a new perspective. This may seem obvious but for a few months they have been stored away, having them mounted together allows me to see how they work as a set of three, and I can reassess the overall puppet aesthetic. It has already made me rethink the puppet's eyes. They are currently painted on the surface of the head. Although they work I am finding that when animating them the performer has to work extremely hard to maintain that the sense of life, the sense of fire behind them. I feel that the painted eyes will not be able to convey the depth of expression that the play requires. Therefore I have decided to insert a more realistic eyeball to each socket, a plastic eye that is made with layers. It is a simple touch but I think an important one for the success of these particular puppets, of whom I am asking a high level of ‘acting’ from.


A new addition to my growing collection of bodiless heads is an effigy of myself. This will be the head of my doppelganger I am currently building. This heads contains the plastic eyes that I mentioned above and they already have a greater sense of depth than the completed puppet heads.In Short, I am finding that the studio space is bringing clarity to my working process and I will be making sure that I always have access to a studio in my future practice.

LOVE IS A DOG FROM HELL: FIRST MEETING

On Thursday (19/10/06) Things On Fire resurrected the play Love is a Dog from Hell by meeting for the first time since the summer to re-ignite the unfinished work. Liz came from Southampton to become involved for the first time in the rehearsal process. I had relucentatly put the play to bed for practical reasons but now see a new opportunity to bring in fresh blood and produce the work alongside my research at Wimbledon. The puppets (one of which is shown above) have been made and I intend to work on the mechanisms through workshops with the actors and in consultation with Beth who is now working towards qualifications in costume construction.This week I will sketch out a rough production plan and will meet with Beth for a rethink of the puppet construction.

Love is a Dog from Hell is a response to the life and works of Charles Bukowski. I have been playing around with various poems and bits of text for over a year with the intention of forming a more complete piece. It is my intention to explore the realist beat writing of Bukowski through the ‘unrealistic’ (or should this be un-naturalistic?) convention of the puppet. Due to the nature of these particular puppets I will also locate the puppet/performer relationship in the broader framework of my research concerning the doppelganger.

The meeting was short but productive, I was able to video Joe working with the puppet and realise the advantage of documenting the process. This is the start of a new phase for Things On Fire (if indeed this will continue to be our name). I will update the progress of this work along with my individual research.

Welcome to my first ever blog.