The idea was to group-create some fictional characters, in order to take the experimental seance work (Experimental seance I and Experimental Seance II) one step further.
In the seance work so far, we have tried to contact fictional dead people and non-fictional living people. The idea of this devising session was to develop characters who are fictional but alive, who we'd like to meet but haven't actually met yet. While the original idea was to make these drawing based, the documentation I present below is solely textual. In subsequent sessions, we will draw the characters and then develop improvisations around the text notes to bring the characters to live. We'll also make some costumes for them.
The first stage was done by working with pre-designed sheets divided into boxes, into which participants inserted descriptions of different aspects of characters. The sheets were passed round so characters were developed based on a mix of ideas from everyone in the group.
The following are the typed-up transcripts from the originals, in which answers were hand-written into the boxes. They are named after the characters they describe.
I think there may also be drawings, which I'll upload when I find them. .They have disappeared into the black hole of collaborative art which lives in my house.
Dean Cuff
Age:
61
|
Job
/ main life occupation at time of writing Community Penal Service
|
Place
of residence:
Harlow, Essex
|
Type
of house / dwelling
A cave in middle of
hill
|
Main
internal passion:
Beauty
|
Recurring
life situations
Parole. Getting
picked on. Breaking and entering
|
Best
character trait:
Optimism
|
Who
attracted to
Himself
|
Name:
Dean Cuff
|
Friend
types
Anyone with a
car/money
|
Worst
habit:
Wiping Nose on
Sleeve
|
Asthmatic. Has type
I diabetes
|
Worst
character trait:
Slovenliness
|
Political
alligence
UKIP
|
Main
life event
Near fatal accident
while driving a forklift truck
|
Preferred
clothes
As mentioned in
‘appearance’
|
Appearance:
Slight awkward
gait. Highlighted mullet. Tracksuit / trainers combo
|
Attractiveness
to others: how much and who:
Very ugly so no
such luck unless Rohypnol involved
|
Sexual
habits:
Got him front-page
coverage on local paper
|
Life
philosophy:
(1) Life’s shit and
then you die
(2) Life’s what you
make it
|
Love
object (s):
Himself
|
Main
way of relating to other people:
Violently
|
Penelope
Age:
33
|
Job
/ main life occupation at time of writing Sex work
|
Place
of residence:
Chucca in Madrid
|
Type
of house / dwelling
Top floor apartment
w/ Juliet balcony
|
Main
internal passion:
Assessing other
people for type 2 diabetes
|
Recurring
life situations
Keeps falling in
love with gay men
|
Best
character trait:
Procrastination
|
Who
attracted to
Bus drivers. People
on the edge. People who spell ‘Trouble’
|
Name:
Penelope
|
Friend
types
Rancid queens.
Girls with acne & glasses
|
Worst
habit:
Public masturbation
|
Health
Overweight. High
blood pressure. Myopic.
|
Worst
character trait:
Nit Pickin’
|
Political
alligence
Right on
|
Main
life event
An early
family-related sexual experience
|
Preferred
clothes
Black. Short.
Expensive.
|
Appearance:
Highly fuckable,
but with early worry lines, keeps her hair in a bob, wears provocative
outfits
|
Attractiveness
to others: how much and who:
(1) Not. (2) Rarely
(3) the desperate
|
Sexual
habits:
As above, plus
insertion of small animals into available orifices
|
Life
philosophy:
“Don’t stop
thinking about tomorrow”
|
Love
object (s):
Bus drivers
|
Main
way of relating to other people:
Tindr
|
Leon Stern
Age:
44
|
Job
/ main life occupation at time of writing Eeks a living writing for academic journals
|
Place
of residence:
Spitalfields
|
Type
of house / dwelling
2 up, 2 down.
|
Main
internal passion:
Pilately
|
Recurring
life situations
Kitchen sink dramas
|
Best
character trait:
Stubbornness
|
Who
attracted to
Dead bodies
|
Name:
Leo Stern
|
Friend
types
Wallflowers. Dom
tops.
|
Worst
habit:
Returning to the
scene of the crime
|
Health
Aidz.
|
Worst
character trait:
Basically a cunt
|
Political
alligence
Communist in
theory. Tory by habits.
|
Main
life event
THE CRIME
|
Preferred
clothes
See prev. Cardigan.
Sandals.
|
Appearance:
Grey hair. Tubby.
Glasses. Cardigan. Sandals.
|
Attractiveness
to others: how much and who:
Attractive to drunk
/ inebriated single ladies etc.
|
Sexual
habits:
Masturbation –
favourite fantasy involving action in prison
|
Life
philosophy:
Art for Art’s Sake
|
Love
object (s):
Vibrating love-egg
|
Main
way of relating to other people:
Passive
aggressively
|
Harlow Enfield
Age:
72
|
Job
/ main life occupation at time of writing Copywriter for advertising company / Vanity Fair
|
Place
of residence:
New York
|
Type
of house / dwelling
Condimonium in an
Industrial Building
|
Main
internal passion:
“Finding the One”
|
Recurring
life situations
Endless misery
after ‘the one’ turns out to be a cunt
|
Best
character trait:
Hope in humankind
|
Who
attracted to
Physique pictoral
models
|
Name:
Harlow Enfield
|
Friend
types
‘Interesting’ New
York types
|
Worst
habit:
Blissful ignorance
|
Health
Not good –
arthritis, glaucoma, onset of dementia.
|
Worst
character trait:
Doesn’t listen
|
Political
alligence
Apolitical
|
Main
life event
Meeting Princess
Anne at the Royal Variety Performance 84
|
Preferred
clothes
Denim shorts,
sunhat, big Jackie O glasses.
|
Appearance:
Charles Hawtry
x Jodie Foster in “Taxi Driver”
|
Attractiveness
to others: how much and who:
Curiousity value.
Etherial, sparky.
|
Sexual
habits:
Frottage
|
Life
philosophy:
“Never give up”
|
Love
object (s):
His Persian cat and
Ingrid Bergman
|
Main
way of relating to other people:
Baby touch
|
