^{photograph by Christo Doherty}

Upgrade! Johannesburg and WSOA DIVA Talk

Athena Mazarakis and Tegan Bristow

By Pippa Stalker

 “Time and space…”

“Presence and Absence…”

These are some of the words and concepts embodied in the collaborative work between Athena Mazarakis and Tegan Bristow, both lecturers at the Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mazarakis is a physical theatre performer and lecturer in the Dramatic and Performing Arts division and Bristow is a digital artist and lecturer in Digital Arts. Through their collaboration, Bristow and Mazarakis explore the tangibility of the screen, memory and multiple presences, culminating in an expanding body of work for both artists. So let us start at the beginning…

 Coming To was conceptualised as Mazarakis’ creative component for her Masters degree, and has been performed at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. A revised version was performed between the 21^st-24^th November 2007. Chalk Vision, Bristow’s work, which grew out of her collaboration with Mazarakis, has been accepted for the Spier Contemporary National Arts Contest in December 2007.

 Whilst both of these pieces are separate and grapple with different issues, because of the nature of the collaboration they can largely be discussed as a single entity. With that said, the collaborative element is particularly important in this context because of the way that the piece developed, through an organic process. Both artists played with the technology individually, which was developed by Bristow using Max/MSP/Jitter, coming together and experimenting, going away and coming together again, redefining their expectations, and pushing their boundaries.

 Mazarakis’ aim when conceptualising Coming To was the mapping of memory in the form of the human body. She wished to locate the ephemeral traces that existed through movement and explore the core concept of the connection between memory and the body. In Coming To, Mazarakis hits parts of her anatomy throughout the performance, in an attempt to dislodge the memory embedded within her physical form. Bristow’s intervention into this performance picks up the sounds made by Mazarakis and translates them into almost instrumental noises, reminiscent of chimes. Pushed further the layering and revealing of images through both the movement and stillness of the performance gives the audience the impression of what Mazarakis terms ‘multiple presences’. A single performer multiplies and many moments in time and space are represented in one instant, reminding us of the presences embedded within us in the form of ancestry, memory and history.

 Although the work itself has evolved continually since its inception, each artist has developed in surprisingly different ways. Whilst Mazarakis is exploring the excitement of performing collaboratively with technology, Bristow is embracing the idea of collaboration and performance, with both bodies of work becoming increasingly more visceral and emotive.

[Watch a  slideshow  of  images from the Coming To performance.]

 In Bristow’s Chalk Visions, the silhouettes of performers (of which Mazarakis is one) somehow enact a narrative that was originally conceptualised only very loosely. As the work progresses, the viewer starts to read something quite ominous and menacing into the performance between the two actors.

 Both Mazarakis and Bristow, doubtless through their collaborative efforts, play with the idea of stillness as representative of absence and presence – invisible and yet waiting.  As the performer moves, trails form behind them, indicating their presence in multiple moments in time, and with their stillness, their form disappears from the screen. This constant movement and then sudden lack of it, creates a sense of presence that is waiting even when there is no motion. The waiting is intensified by the sense of expectation from the audience, knowing that the figure is about to move again - it’s just a question of time.

 The sense of the physical is really emphasised by this performance, and the viewer is very conscious of the kinds of movements made by the performer, even when they become blurred due to the (intentional) visual lagging.

 Bristow and Mazarakis, already both talented visual artists, have created something new and exciting through their collaboration – one which has changed and enhanced the way they think about art and performance and its effect on their own work. Watch this space - we can expect great things from them.