Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Barefoot Blindfold: Some reflections - Paul Conneally

Reflecting on Barefoot Blindfold I'm more and more drawn away from the video installation / recorded performance or gig and art gallery to space time specific.

Barefoot Blinfold was not recorded as part of the piece.

Barefoot Blinfold happened for and with people, plants, animals and objects in the there and then.

Only this snippet caught by Miriam Keye on her phone and probably a few other similar videos and photographs by passers by exist.

Some drawings and words too and above all emotions.

Taken hostage by nature - choreographed by birds - exhilaration!


The blind man's guide,
Meek and neglected thing, of no renown!
Soon will peep forth the primrose, ere it fades
Friends shall I have at dawn, blackbird and thrush
To rouse me, and a hundred warblers more!

from 'The Recluse' by William Wordsworth

Artist Paul Conneally during his and Anne-Marie Culhane's Barefoot Blindfold piece at 5am on Loughborough University Fruit Route.

Eleven were slow walked by Anne-Marie Culhane into an orchard section of her ongoing Fruit Route work at Loughborough University to take part in Culhane & Conneally's 'Barefoot Blindfold.

Participants chose a fruit tree sat against it and were blindfolded in order to foucus their senses away from the visual for the the first half hour and then still in silence to spend the nesxt half hour without the bliindfold recording their emotions / reactions to the fruit route at dawn.

Conneally invited them during the blindfold session to allow the sounds to choreograph.the movements of their upper body and arms. This is a short section filmed by Miriam Keye of Conneally being choreographed by nature in fact by birdsong.

This is only a small part of the whole of Barefoot Blindfold but offers perhaps opportunities to explore the idea of being choreographed by nature further in other works to come. Perhaps we already are.

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