Tapra 2014 Brochure

artworks that place the participant at the centre of the work. The term, Performed Ghost was created to describe the memories and emotional engagement that the participant experienced in the practice-led research during Sarah Winter’s doctoral studies. The analysis of participant reflections from three creative practice cycles are utilised to discuss the role of the physical space in terms of design, construction and the participant experience. The paper draws upon Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space (1964), Ilya Kabakov’s Total Installations and Leibniz’s theory of Monadology (1714) to provide a conceptual framework which enables an investigation into the elements and techniques that can be utilised to construct an immersive environment. Of interest is the key question - how can the space be manipulated and constructed to evoke memory recall and what then is the effect of these memories? The role of ambiguity in spatial design and the construct of the Monadic Environment will be discussed as possible techniques for using the physical scape as a means for accessing the internal geography of the participant and as a result, evoking memory recall and summoning the Performed Ghost.

Sarah Winter is a performance maker, installation artist, academic and designer.

Her research and practice focus on memory and the audience experience in immersive environments. She is currently completing her PhD at Queensland University of Technology after achieving f irst class Honours investigating audience driven dramaturgy in visual theatre making. Her work as a solo artist includes site designer at Metro Arts for Brisbane Festival (2013) and Food artist on The Last Supper (Reckless Sleepers/WTF2013). In 2011, she received a number of awards for boy girl wall (The Escapists/Metro Arts/La Boite/Critical Stages Tour).

Bridget Keehan Evocations of Past, Present and Future in Day to Go, a site-specific show Through its scenographic design, the performance of Day to Go, presents the town of Barry through a multi-layered staging, evoking a mingling of past, present and future in momentary co-existence through scenic arrangement and choreography. I employ ‘palimpsest’ as a means for articulating both the method of creating material and the ways in which the performance resonates.

The idea of ‘palimpsest’ is used to describe the ‘writing over’ and ‘erasure’ that is happening when a site (which has an identifiable current use) is re-inscribed through performance that reveals past usage of the site. To illustrate this I describe how, in the performance of Day to Go, sites such as the former Lido (now communally acknowledged and used as a dog walking area) form the basis for the creation of a synchronised swimming display and, for the creation 168