I came across a small park for this individual site observation task. I was really drawn to the structure as I entered the park. I felt the space had such a contradiction from the incredibly straight lines and static objects to the trees creating this overhead arch. There was a slight breeze so it really brought a sense of living from the trees; as they moved the shadows on the floor also adapted and changed. The space had naturally set the idea of a traverse space by having the benches either side but due to the relaxed nature of the park there was no sense of performance as pedestrians walked down the aisle.

I couldn't help but be distracted by the natural sounds happening around me. If I had just looked at the picture I've attached I would have imagined an idyllic atmosphere and the idea of birds chirping, people laughing, maybe hearing a dog in the background. However this was definitely not the case and I suddenly became very aware how this space was still in a city. The noise of industrial tools being used was at the forefront, it completely contrasted the space. 

As I was looking around at other pedestrians it became apparent that anyone passing by solo normally had headphones on or airpods. I thought about the idea of hearing your own music when walking past in normal life. We can be so distracted that sometimes we may not notice the little things when walking by. Also the idea, that if you've always got your own sound playing will you ever truly have a full reflection of a space, or simply an interpretation you've created from your own soundscape and reality. 

When stood at the beginning of this very linare pathway the lamppost at the end felt incredibly significant. It was the first thing to break the natural flow of space and cause an obstacle for humans and the non-humans pathways. I really felt the lamppost created an energy that projected different channels of energy into space. I liked the idea of playing with the shape of the lamppost and embodying these different directions. 

Something I was incredibly passionate about and I still wish I could have taken further was my reflection of the space's energy. We had a location that was incredibly used by the public; business men, family picnics, children’s space to play after school, couples calm time, photoshoots, dogs and their walkers. I really questioned what this space had that allowed so many people with diverse interests to share this space. I think it came down to the sense of privacy you felt, the security of being in a circular structure. You felt less on show compared to if you were sitting on the canal. I noticed how people in smaller groups liked to stay on the edges more and those of larger groups were drawn to the centre more frequently. I felt that in this space you could see power in numbers, more people provide more confidence. Bigger groups didn't mind being in more exposing areas as they had enough people to deflect any attention from themselves away.

This was something I wanted to harness in our work. The idea of when being in the centre more explosive and fuller movements were performed in a group formation. And when isolated around the outside, we contrasted this. Within our piece there was a moment where we all separated around the benches on the outside of the structure. All that was performed was a moment's balance upside down before I started to walk around and collect the group one by one. This moment of breathable stillness allowed us to show the calmness the people felt from the outside. 

For me I was drawn to the idea that our audience could stand where they like. Within rehearsals we had practised this and noticed a trend that our audience felt safer watching from the outside with some bolder people venturing into the middle. Due to noticing this trend we started to be a lot more playful with what happened in the middle, more games, and more circular running paths.We really tried to take a step back and notice the structures and space, from there we took our inspirations for the movement material.  Unfortunately where our audience stood some members in our group disagreed with on the very last day. I passed the message on that was rehearsed and most voted for within the group to our audience that arrived and was about to watch our creation. However some members had shared a different private message with our audience we were all unaware of. It created something new as all our audience stood in the middle. A new energy was created. I was disappointed, I feel we let our audience down. I think in order to have had our audience there we should have focused more on the outside of the space and charging around allowing our audience to keep having to turn for us to stay in their vision. I was disappointed that such a crucial decision was never agreed as a group. I think this last minute decision didn’t allow the audience to view the bigger picture of the structures we were copying and performing in the space. They were too in it to have that overall view of where we were. The tiny details of being able to see ourselves in mirrors and look up towards the reflective ceiling mirror to see ourselves whilst performing were lost and not transparent enough. Our audience didn't have the chance to see these things for themselves by being placed within the centre. 

 Unfortunately I feel within our group there were a few individual last minute decisions that I myself are unaware of what the thought process was on why these changes happen. There was no group discussion of these changes. I feel if it's unclear as to why for us in the group, I cant imagine the questions the audience would have been thinking whilst watching. I feel they could have been searching for answers that we had no intention of answering.