My Stimulus and Further Research

In this blog post, I will talk about my final choice of stimulus for my choreography piece. As well as going in depth with why I selected it and an in depth analysis, along with 

The stimuli I chose is a photograph of a dead tree stump that morphs into an oversized chair with a smaller scaled man is sitting and looking forlorn; the surrounding area is barren and deserted. Personally, I chose this image as I interpreted it through the lens of climate change, deforestation, and the element of over consumerism within this. I came to this conclusion as the image depicts a tree that has been chopped down only to create a chair. The chair in question is overscaled, unused and has a looming impression. In contrast, the man sitting on the edge of the chair appears to be in despair, holding his head in his hands.  I feel the image well represents the irreversible impact humankind is having on the planet, with manufacturing goods far beyond what we need at the cost of the earth. And the concept describes the idea of nature being this interconnected cycle of life and how everything connects to one another when left uninterrupted. 

In particular, the colouring and composition of this photo invoke this image gives me a sense of loneliness and despair. The grey, black, and white colour scheme adds to the bleak atmosphere of grief, reinforcing the impression that all life has been drained from the land. The size of the roots almost seems to be reaching out for something to grab onto, while the scale and weight of the chair give me the impression that it's crushing and looming over them.

While working through this creative process, I will expand my knowledge of the climate crisis and humanity's effect on nature and earth ecosystems. Having well-grounded background knowledge on my stimulus will allow me to make better informed creative decisions and connect my movement deeper to the stimuli. Additionally, through beginning research on my chosen practitioner Crystal Pite, I have found that a few of her Pite centres around severe modern issues, such as the current refugee crisis. After reading some interviews with Piet, two quotes from her stood out to me in relation to my current choreographic task.

"I am also struggling with my own feelings of responsibility and powerlessness,"

-Crystal Pite

I get quite energised by that, to work with content that forces me to extend way beyond my ability to imagine, or even cope."

-Crystal Pite

At this point in time, my vision for the piece is that it will be a timelapse through the life of a tree that slowly deteriorates as time goes on due to the environmental impact of humans. My goal is not for the audience to feel saddened but empowered to make a change and also to be appreciative of the world we still get to live in, however fragile it may be.