Spill: Overspill: alex eisenberg

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Small Talk 05 - Void Story by Alex Eisenberg

Void Story by Forced Entertainment

Soho Theatre

24^th April 2009

7.32pm – 7.37pm

Unreserved Seating:

Fourth Row – Seat 7/8/9 - (A)

Fourth Row – Seat 8/9/10 - (P)

On Stage – Usher (U)

You can read an introduction to Small Talk here.

______________________________________

7.32pm

A: Hello…How are you?

P: Are you supposed to sit here?…no…

A: Sorry?

P: Are you sitting with him?

A: No…

P: Oh okay…Sorry I thought you were with him.

A: Oh…I thought you were together!

P: Oh no…[ALL LAUGH]

A: No…I’m on my own actually.

P: Oh okay…

[PAUSE]

A: I’m a bit puffed out!

P: Yeah I just ran here as well.

A: Okay…

So what do you reckon it's going to be like?

P: Probably quite slow…

A: Why do you say that?

P: Cos they often…they can do that sometimes…be very slow…Have you seen stuff before?

A: Yeah I have.

P: But you know…I like it so…

A: You like slow?

P: I don’t mind…well…I kind of like a bit of both…the text is often good so…they can get away with it.

A: So you’ve seen quite a lot of their work before have you?

P: I’ve been seeing them for a long time…yeah…yeah…

A: Got any favourites?

P: ‘Dirty Work’…that’s quite a long time ago. ‘Speak Bitterness’…that’s a while back umm…I like their earlier stuff better actually.

A: Okay…so you’ve been a long time follower and it's 25 years in the making.

P: But I mean…I saw some of that on video…yeah…’Dirty Work’ I saw live…yeah…I did a workshop thing…like a residency with them in ninety-nine…ten years ago now…which was good but…

[LOUD]

U: Hi guys, welcome to Soho Theatre!

If I could just ask you all just to scooch along just a tiny tiny bit…In front of all of you is a number on the back of the chairs in front of you…if you all look at a number and all sit behind one that would be perfect. Because then we can get 14 people to every row…cos we’re completely sold out. Thanks a lot!

A: That was funny! …It is quite squashed in here isn’t it?

P: I think they always have to do this…and they do this speech…

A: They’re used to it…she seemed quite practiced.

Oh right…we’re getting into seat 9 and 10 here.

P: That’s right [LAUGH]

A: It's amazing how much room there is when we all…

P: Yeah…you see everyone wants to give themselves a bit more personal space.

A: Well also these seats, you know they’re quite…

P: Rigid?

A: Rigid…yeah [ALL LAUGH]

[PAUSE]

A: So have you been to anything else in Spill?

P: No I haven’t…I haven’t had a chance…I’m just going to see this and the other one tonight and that’s it…that’s all I’ve been able to…I would have liked to have seen some of the stuff last week but…

A: Oh you are seeing the show after?

P: Yeah.

A: That’s good.

[PAUSE]

A: So…are you involved in the arts at all?

P: Not really any more no…I look after my son now.

A: Oh wow!

P: Yeah!

A: How old is he?

P: He’s two.

A: Lovely…that’s your full time work is it?!

P: I used to do a bit…just marketing stuff…but I have to look after him now.

A: But you didn’t want to bring him along tonight though?!

P: I don’t think I could handle it!

A: Really! Is he a bit of a…

P: Well he’s in bed now.

A: Yeah.

P: He’s normally in bed about seven, seven-thirty. It's how it is with that age.

A: It would be good to go to bed at seven-thirty…

P: I go to bed about nine-thirty…[LAUGH]

A: Oh really! You’re an early sleeper?

P: Well I have to because he gets up at half six…otherwise I…I like my sleep so…you know…

A: That’s being a mum, isn’t it?

P: It's like…going to bed at eleven feels like a late night. Like, I watch a movie and I’m like…wooo ‘late night’. [LAUGH]

Gone are the days of drunken craziness!…Well I still do that occasionally but…you know…

A: Well I suppose you sort of succumb to the schedule of your child…
P: Yeah…they take over…

A: Yeah…It's interesting that…I’m not in that sort of schedule I’ll be honest with you!

P: It's funny…it does take over…I wasn’t before and now… you’re like…wow it's a very different thing!

[PAUSE]

A: I’ve been wondering what it's like to sit up there on those stools.

P: Probably not good.

A: It seems to be going quiet now…

7.37pm

VOID STORY

22.21pm

To find out about Alex's Small Talk click here: Small Talk by Alex Eisenberg

Below are links to the other conversations that I have had:

Small Talk 01 - Inferno

Small Talk 02 - That Night Follows Day

Small Talk 03 - Purgatorio

Small Talk 04 - Saving the World

Alex Eisenberg is an artist making performance. He is helping to coordinate SPILL: Overspill over the course of the festival.

Becoming a child or a lamb? By Alex Eisenberg

La Nourrice (come drink from me my darling)

by Samantha Sweeting
Part of Visions of Excess

Shunt Vaults

12 April 2009

Photo: Richard Andersen

Exploring Shunt Vaults during Visions of Excess, I round a corner where there is this small arch - not enough room to stand up in. It makes you crouch and so you get smaller (or shrink). It feels like a safe place, antithetical to the expanse of the rest of the vaults, a haven or a womb. Outside the arch is a video showing a woman bent over on all fours with her breasts out whilst a small lamb attempts to suckle on them. There is an obvious moment of confusion but also intrigue – how does the lamb know to suckle on this woman’s nipples? Is it real (breast) milk? Is there any milk at all or is this just some form of stimulation for the woman? But most of all, I wonder how it feels, not only for the woman but also for the lamb. And already, I know I want to find out – how does this feel?

Inside the arch is Samantha Sweeting, wearing a virginal white dress (‘her performance gear’). It’s almost a nightdress, but also a farm girls’ dress (she is ready for action). The setting of the brick arch begins to evoke a sense of fantasy; it is dreamy, dimly lit and calm. Samantha is sitting on a milking stool, smiling and gentle. There is raw sheep’s wool on the floor, perhaps there was also a spinning wheel in the corner? I can’t be sure…as I was there less to observe or watch the ‘scene’ but rather to place myself firmly within it, to become part of it and, by default, to become the work (and the lamb), with Samantha.

My mother breastfed me for a relatively long time. I can remember breastfeeding. I can remember suckling on my mother’s nipple. I can remember this as comfort. I can remember this as warmth. I can remember this care. I can remember this love.

Thanks Mum.

And now, 25 years old, a gay man, I sit on the floor, getting ready to suckle (again).

BUT

How to sit?

How to suckle?

How to be in this space?

There is not much conversation. Samantha asks me to make myself comfortable but I already am – the wool is soft and her knee provides a gentle rest for my head. She strokes my hair. She is wearing some sort of mechanical breastfeeding system (I think it’s called a nursing system) though I barley notice what is in fact this prosthetic extension to her chest, since a sense of regression is already present. She reveals one breast and, of course, even though I thought I didn’t, I know what to do:

The first moment I notice that there is no sign of milk. (I am not sure how much to expect). The man-made mechanics of the nursing system rupture the moment as she has to adjust the flow rate of the milk. Breastfeeding is a delicate business and the conditions have to be right.

Then, this memory creeps in about how it tasted back then - like orange juice or chocolate milk or whatever flavour you want it to be? This milk is apparently almond flavour – only the faintest hint though – this milky almond flavour. Then, this quick idea about the size of her nipple and the subsequent comparison to my mother’s nipple. There is a difference – I think? Perhaps it has something to do with my grown mouth but there is the idea, at least, of a different size. And in some small way I am yearning for that original size. Through this active and intimate engagement with Samantha’s body and particularly her nipple, I am I am finding myself almost unavoidably going back to what I know, to what I knew – it seems almost innate. The act itself sets the stakes high by being so intimate, by making a physical connection and thereby inducing an undeniable presence in the audience of one – in this case me. The suckling goes on for a while, but I end too early. I end before I allow myself to regress too deep into memories of childhood, memories of nipples and all that that entails. The process of becoming a child (or a lamb) only lasts for as long as I allow it to - for as long as I suckle. I am in control here. I leave the arch and emerge.

There is a small break before the next person goes in.

Stood there, outside the arch, the act of suckling appears to me to be evocative, generous and beautiful, however as I leave its disappearance yields a further journey, since it is in the comparison between the memory of being a child and being present during the suckling event itself, that La Nourrice... operates. This comparison can only happen afterwards, as there is little room to process whilst suckling. So, walking away from the arch, I compare the potentially erotic act of suckling on a women’s nipple with a situation that evokes the purity and innocence of childhood - breastfeeding. I compare the innocence of the lamb with the idea of bestiality and amidst all of this I find Oedipal echoes unsettling me, as I compare me now, to me then and all in relation to a mother figure/Samantha. I ask again, how does it feel?

As I look back to see the next person going into the arch, the work continues to expose itself and in the process it exposes me. Only now does La Nourrice... begin to raise its ethics. I am left with the burden of having placed myself in this situation in the first place, of having made the decision to play, to take part in this ‘out of the ordinary’ act. How does it feel? Now, rather than some sort of fantasy journey motivated by curiosity, into childhood or into my relationship with my mother, the work evokes feelings of embarrassment, trauma even. A small but complex interplay is present between my complicity in the act of suckling and the politics of engagement with this work. I find myself asking questions about the objectification of women, the notion of motherhood and my own relationship to all of this. This is lingering work, which doesn’t and cannot ever entirely satisfy. I continue to ask myself - how does it feel?

Thanks Sam…

Alex Eisenberg is an artist making performance. He is helping to coordinate SPILL: Overspill over the course of the festival.

Small talk 04 - Saving the World by Alex Eisenberg

Saving the World by Gob Squad

Greenwich Dance Agency

10^th April 2009

3.09pm – 3.17pm

Unreserved Seating:

Third Row – Seat 1 - (A)

Third Row – Seat 2 - (L)

Third Row – Seat 3 - (C)

You can read an introduction to Small Talk here.

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3.09pm

A: Hello

L: Hiya…

A: How are you?

L: I’m okay, you?

A: I’m alright…had to wolf down a sandwich just before I came in…I came a bit late…I’ve made it.

So what do you think it's going to be like?

L: I’ve got no idea? What about you?

A: Well…I think there are going to be a fair few projections…it looks like…

L: Seven screens…

Have you seen anything by them before?

A: No…have you?

L: Yeah we went to see something last year called ‘Kitchen’.

A: Oh right…how was that?

L: Amazing, amazing!

A: Oh really…

L: Yeah…it was kind of…it was at the Soho Theatre and it was kind of…the stage was a screen but they were filming everything behind the screen and projecting it live and it ended up with members of the audience going behind the screen and participating, and my partner, she went to it twice and actually performed in it once.

A: Oh wow…

L: Cos she was dragged off…by the company. And you know, it was great…very funny…very interesting ideas!

A: Great…

L: And we were totally blown away by them so that’s why we came today.

A: Have you been to any other things in the festival?

L: We went to see Inferno last week and C went to Purgatory as well…yeah, I liked Inferno but the people I was with didn’t like it that much…what about you?

A: I’ve seen things yeah…

L: Any recommendations?

A: Well…everything’s only on for a couple of days.

Hello J…!!

J: Hello Al…you alright?

A: Yeah good…

J: Busy working?

A: Busy…yep…yep…busy working…

J: Saw you talking to them out there…apparently Berlin, Germany…it's the place to be!

A: It's the place to be…this is what I have said…

L: Generally or….

J: And you can live for a fiver for a year!

A: Fifty – you can live for fifty quid a week…

J: Fifty quid a year!

L: Fifty quid a decade!

J: Live on cheese and sausage…

A: Not cheese…!

L: Fifty quid – how would you live?

A: You’d get a nice little flat…you can get…food…bratwurst…

J: You may even get a ‘driver’ for that much…in Berlin, it really is…it's the answer!

[LAUGH]

L: Fantastic…

J: They don’t ask you how you are spending the public’s money…

L: It's the way it should be…

J: It's basically elevated to a social concern, in that a healthy mind is something that should be part of public spending.

L: Yeah…

J: Whereas over here we’ve got the Olympics – so it's healthy body.

L: Slightly bigger bill as well, probably.

J: Yeah…well obesity is more of a hot topic…we’re the third most obese or second most obese after Germany.

L: It's all that bratwurst…they get it so cheap!

A: What do you think of this then J?

J: Absolute gold…I mean those projectors…I could just watch them for a while.

[LAUGH]

L: Yeah…it will probably be a disappointment when they actually turn on…won’t it…it’ll ruin it…

J: Yup…turning on will turn you off!...

[PAUSE]

Right, I am going to my seat now.

L: Enjoy the show…

A: See you….

A: Its not that busy is it?

L: No…no…cos they are doing two evenings…when is it? Last night and tonight?

A: Yeah…so I think there’s one on tonight…

L: It's a weird time for people to come in the afternoon on a Friday.

A: It is Good Friday though.

L: This is true…and we made a day trip of it…we came from North London…

A: Me too…

L: Day trip to Greenwich. We got the bus here.

A: I drove…but I had to stop in Tower Hill, so a sort of two-leg journey.

L: Well we were up at Kings Cross, and we thought, we could get on the tube…

A: You took the bus all the way here?

L: We got two buses, one to Peckham and one to here…it only took…less than an hour.

A: That’s pretty good actually…

L: And it's not often we get down to Greenwich.

A: I’ve been here a few times but hardly.

L: This place is amazing…is this quite a well known sort of dance place…?

A: Yeah…

L: Is it a school or a…?

A: Yeah it's space and support for artists.

L: So where do you live in North London?

A: Near Golders Green at the moment.

L: Yeah…we live in Holloway.

A: I drove through there this morning.

L: Holloway Road looking glorious on the bank holiday morning.

A: Quite empty…which is good for the drivers.

L: Yeah…everywhere was very quiet today…it's one of the quietest days of the year I reckon.

A: You know I didn’t even realise it was actually a Bank Holiday today.

L: You notice it when you get out though…on the streets.

A: You do…it's definitely quiet.

L: Yeah…I think the only place that’s busy today is Greenwich. [LAUGH]

A: What…cos we’re here!

L: Yeah…us…amongst others.

A: Slightly tricky seats, aren’t they? Mine’s got a bit of a dip.

L: They remind me a bit of school seats.

A: Yeah…very stackable.

L: Yeah…good for stacking – not for sitting.

A: Not the best! [LAUGH]

L: So I’m wondering if any people are going to appear?

A: Yeah, me too.

L: Or if it's just going to be….screens?

[PAUSE]

How many are there in the company?

A: About four or five I think.

L: Some from Nottingham?

A: And from Germany…they are a mixture of Germany and England.

You know…I’ve got…hayfever’s coming at this time of the year you see…so I’ve got quite an itchy eye.

L: You taken anything for it?

A: Usually, but I keep forgetting to go and buy them.

L: Hmmmm….I’ve had hayfever for many, many years and I tried last year…

A: The injection?

L: No…just to not take anything…

A: Right…

L: And it was kind of okay, once I got used to it…more comfortable…I think I did last year……C, did I not take anything for hayfever last year? Did I completely stop?...And it kind of worked didn’t it…?

C: I thought you had something for your eyes.

A: Yeah…I have the eyes coming now…

C: Reddy eyes?

A: Yeah…

L: Not much you can do when the eyes come…you’ve got to take a tablet really. You can’t just hope they are going to go away.

A: Every time before I see a show…I sit here and I start scratching my eyes!

L: Wow….

A: I know…

L: That’s quite early…because I think I get it a bit later…it depends on different kinds of pollen…doesn’t it…

C: Do you know what yours is? Is it grass or trees or…?

A: I don’t know specifically…but I do get it quite badly…so I ought to know.

L: Hmmmm…mine’s kind of grassy isn’t it….and then trees…and probably flowers as well…in fact it’s everything!

A: It's pollen! [ALL LAUGH]

L: It's pollen!

A: But…where is the pollen in grass?

L: Ummm…some grass will have little seeds…won’t it? Is there pollen in there?

A: I don’t know? There’s hay…?

C: What about flowers, no…?

A: Cos they say hay and hayfever…?

L: Yeah….hmmmm…

A: Oh…I think it's going a bit more quite now…

3.17pm

SAVING THE WORLD

4.36pm

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To find out about Alex's Small Talk click here: Small Talk by Alex Eisenberg

Alex Eisenberg is an artist making performance. He is helping to coordinate SPILL: Overspill over the course of the festival.

National Platform - Day One - 18th April 2009

National Theatre Studio

18 April 2009

Over two days, the SPILL National Platform presented 20 performance works by emerging artists, selected from almost 300 applications. The works reflected an incredibly diverse range of forms and themes: durational and installation work, engagements with the conventions of theatre, interactive provocations, and autobiographical narrative.

As writers, we knew we would be unable to respond in detail to all of the work, but we also wanted to avoid imposing any selective criteria, even a random one, on which work was covered. We decided in advance of the Platform that we would impose a constraint on our responses. This would provide a structure for giving equal space to each of the performances and would make the most of our limited time. We decided that we would respond to each of the works, and we would limit our response to the space of a 3x5 index card.

We like the idea that each of the identical cards seems analogous to the opportunity offered to the emerging artists: a blank slot, to be filled individually, but unavoidably to be experienced side-by-side with the rest of the programme, as part of an assembly or collection of material.

Although for the most part we have prepared our cards after the event, there’s also something about this format that reflects the experience of writing: taking notes in the dark, collecting fragments and impressions and responses. Trying to capture not just the event on stage but our internal journeys. Thinking always, at every moment, even before the moment has finished, about how to translate into words the transient and complex experience.

These cards are only scraps, only partial and inadequate records of the events of the weekend, but we hope something of the extraordinary and boundless diversity of work is reflected by these responses. Perhaps they can stand as the beginning of a discussion – please add your own comments below.

Theron Schmidt

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Mamoru Iriguchi - Pregnant?!

by Alex Eisenberg