How we have changed the use of our space

Site Specific – How we have changed the use of our space 

Last week was our final prep before our actual site specific performance. We were given the opportunity to finalise our idea and to gather together any final props needed for the performance. We went and fetched the props that we needed in order to create a compelling performance: we went to DT and managed to get our hands on long planks of wood which we would use as a structure for our ‘shanty house home’, and we managed to get some sheets that would go over these planks of woods to act as a roof. This set up would have reflected the poverty that heavy drug addicts in shanty houses have to live in.  

This was the first time that we were able to use these props in our space, and so it allowed us to experiment with them to see what worked and what didn’t, which opened our eyes on how we could have improved our performance.  

For starters, we initially set up the wooden planks across the whole entire space, however this left many areas of the space uncovered and empty, and we just didn’t have enough recourses to cover the entire space. This encouraged us to change the way that we were going to set up our props for our performance. Instead of covering the whole entire space, we decided to restrict our idea to a smaller section within our space. This would be done by blocking off a large area of the space, and instead just setting up and focusing on a particular section. This would allow the audience to feel the pressure more of the negative effects of a drug house since they would be able to experience and witness our performance much closer and much more ‘in your face’, since the space would be much more restricted.  

We decided to have a washing line, along with hung up clothes at the entrance of the performance, trapping the entrance. This would symbolise the ‘trapped’ nature and atmosphere of our performance, and would also reflect the poverty that drug addiction can cause. The washing line would act as a barrier, trapping the victims of drugs from leaving the shanty house. The clothes hung up on it would show that the space is our home, and would devastate the audience since they would see that this decayed space is somewhere where people actually live.  

We will have massive sheets covering our shanty house, to show how isolated drug addicts are from society. The sheets would cover the entire shanty house and the drug users would be trapped inside. The covering sheets reflect how this hidden, desolate life of drug addiction takes place around us and we don’t even realise. It also represents how drug addicts are trapped inside their own little world and bubble, and how they are outcasted from society.  

Another element of our performance, is the use of the metal cage door. A drug dealer will pass drugs through this door to one of the drug addicts. The metal door acts as a barrier. It’s a barrier the separate the drug deals from society. It represents how trapped these people are and how issues about drug abuse need to be addressed.