UEL Dissallows artistic expression yet again.....

Just been told that i would not be allowed to give my participants a glass of wine during the performance, a performance which is attempting to create social bonds with people from the same peer group, i think that a glass of wine is a powerful tool with what it does physically and more importantly, psychologically to make any environment more social (in moderation of course) but i guess ill have to go on without doing what i want to do in terms of artistry and fit my art in to someone else's standards.

Here's a copy of the response:

Hi Talia and Lloyd,
 
See below (you cannot use alcohol in your project)
 
Best
 
Luis C. Sotelo-Castro
 
Senior Lecturer
Theatre Studies and Community Arts Practice
IPAD-Institute for Performing Arts Development
 
School of Arts and Digital Industries
University of East London
1 Salway Road, E15 INF
Tel: ++44 (0)20 8223 7622
 
 
 
From: Stephen B Wilson <S.B.Wilson@uel.ac.uk<mailto:S.B.Wilson@uel.ac.uk>>
Date: Thursday, 24 April 2014 13:48
To: Luis C Sotelo <l.c.sotelo@uel.ac.uk<mailto:l.c.sotelo@uel.ac.uk>>
Subject: Alcohol & Drug Misuse Policy
 
Hi Luis
 
I found the following clause on consumption of alcohol in the above policy at http://dl-cfs-01.uel.ac.uk/hrservices/documents/emhandbook/AlcoholDrugMisusePolicy.pdf
 
“It is not permissible to consume alcohol on UEL premises, except at licensed premises or at UEL- organised social functions. Where alcohol is permitted, due regard to religious and cultural differences must be considered and no-one should feel obliged to drink alcohol to ‘fit in’.”
 
I believe all functions would need to be organised by UEL’s caterer.  Please let me know if you need any further information.
 
Regards
 
Stephen Wilson
Interim Facilities Manager
Facilities Services

I think ill drink to this now whilst they can't censor me haha

The idea that i settled on

I decided that the idea i most liked was the picnic idea as it will hopefully provide a visible change in that i will actually be able to see in my next year of university at UEL.

One of the things i need to do now is an expenditure list of everything that i will need to make theis picnic feel like a relaxed and social event and not a sociological-artistic experiment.


So i hacked into my piggy bank and i went shopping....

I got picnic mats so the floor will be more comfortable for the participants

 

 

And i got inscense beacuse i think insence is a generally relaxing thing that will help to combat any nerves the participants may have (i hope)

 

 

And of course i got some Tupperware for the picnic food to go in as well as paper plates, cutlery and cups for drink. 

My Ideas so far

we will be assessed on the question of " how are you collaborating with people"

"your participants have to be active co-creators of the work"

ideas of what type of performance i would like to do -

• a picnic that invites people to come to uel to sit in ___ groups of ___ and switch around every 5 minutes, the participants are given a list beforehand of  10 things they need to think about eg you favorite music genre and artist from that genre, best thing that happened to you in this week, best documentary they have seen... and then at the end we will see if everyone feels like they know each other more after.
• "what makes you feel free?" interview people asking them what activity makes you feel free whilst doing that activity with them ie dance class, longboarding, reading a book, chilling on the park...  Include notes and questions on what makes them free in other aspects, clothes, a music track that can be used on their part of the video etc.

Group Song in Class

On session 3 we devised a group song about what we didn't like about working in a group. This process started by individually voicing our opinions and then after we had made the list it was then turned into a song with the help of a guest lecturer who brought in a guitar.






I thought the song was quite humiliating and pointless being it was a song that could have EASILY thought up by some 5-6 year old kids and accompanied by some dance moves that looked like a drunken sobriety test (walk 3 steps, clap your hands twice, etc). Considering the amount of future talent that 'should' be in that room we could have surely made something worth listening to.

That being said i took part and didn't sulk about it as the teacher seemed nice and generally  enthusiastic about the task taking place.

The guest lecturer did say something that i liked -
"songs are not statues, they are not carved in stone and can be manipulated.''

5 stages of planning and evaluation (Woolf, 2004)