Monday night’s class at the Bridgman|Packer workshop was
definitely a new experience. In my theatre based classes, I am often required
to do movement based explorations, so that part of the class was a little
familiar to me. However, I am not used to being projected onto different walls
and interacting with other projections. Watching a projection of myself on a
screen made me somewhat self-conscious of my movements. Despite this, I do think
the ideas behind Bridgman and Packer performances are fascinating and I enjoyed
learning about what went into their performances. For instance, the two
performance artists spoke of the ways in which they attempt to convey meanings
and create art by combining live performance with previously recorded footage.
Their performances involve both projections of themselves dancing live as well
as prerecorded dances and videos. As a double major in both Theatre and Film
Studies, I thought the ideas behind their work seemed like a new and
interesting way of combining different aspects of each of my majors.
The Bridgman|Packer performance this past Friday
was wonderful. I think that having participated in the workshop before their
performance really enhanced the experience for me. Because of the workshop I
was able to better understand what the performers were doing and how much work
they must have put into it. Ultimately, I think the workshop made their final
performance seem all the more impressive. The first half of Monday’s
performance was definitely my favorite part. I particularly enjoyed the part
where they moved in and out of the screen and projection to create more
dynamics and interactions. Also, by watching Bridgman and Packer interact with
their own images I was able to better understand some of the ideas they
discussed in the workshop. I also really enjoyed the portion of the performance
where their images were projected onto each other. We were only able to work
with this a little bit during the workshop. I think the images the two created
when they projected onto each other were very impactful and interesting. All in
all I am very glad I was able to participate in the workshop and attend one of
their performances.
