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The Mezzotint - an installation space in which I gave regular 15 minute performances.

This was an interdisciplinary performance project which explored relationships between performance and illustration. The work resulted in an inductive investigation into audience/performer interaction. The question was how performance and illustration might relate, and the investigation focussed on possibilities for, and issues arising from, the involvement of audience in the action of a narrative. As well as suggesting a model for what the genre of ‘performance illustration’ could be, some specific performative discoveries emerged from the work – for example the need for playfulness and irony. The size of the audience made a difference to the impact of the work; experiments with a single audience member rather than a group resulted in a highly visceral experience for the participant, whereas a group could enjoy the frisson with feelings of safety.

The work was parasitic, taking illustration as images/objects visually representing stages of a pre-written narrative. The 15 minute performance involved retelling a version of M.R. James’s short story, The Mezzotint, in an installation. This was permanently open and visitors could handle and read pastiche letters, diaries, sketchbooks, and see a reconstruction of the mezzotint itself in a heavily gilded frame. Although interactive throughout, the mock contractual ‘Faustian pact’ that ended the performance provided the fullest interactive experience for one member of the audience ‘legally witnessed’ by the rest.

Following development in the UK, the performance was invited to the Illustrative Festival 09 to complement work which expanded the boundaries of illustration in that festival, such as video animation and random image generation. This was the only performance piece invited to the festival and it attracted considerable attention included being filmed by local television. I published an account of the research in the German publication, Objects 4, 2010.