Change of Heart
follow this link for Rachel's blog 'My Bleedin Art'

PROJECT BRIEF:

‘A transplanted heart comes with the donor’s unique set of self receptors, which differ naturally, from those of the recipient. As a result, the recipient now possesses cells which respond to two different ‘identities’. Not every recipient will sense that a set of cells within their body is now responding to a second signal. But….as more and more transplants are performed. I think we’ll see a growing number of people reporting these experiences.’
Bruce Lipton Stanford research scientist

And what will happen when we accept animal transplants into our bodies?
Apart from exploring the moral and ethical questions which arise, I would like to create a short piece of theatre which explores the heart as an object of extreme emotional resonance which carries memories into the next body. There are many testimonies of direct experience from transplantees about the influence of the donor of the heart, sometimes with personality changes, often food cravings and recalling unrelated memories.
Not least there is the story of an 8 year old girl who recieved the heart of a 10 year old who had been murdered: the girl had such powerfull nightmares, that she was able to tell the Police exactly what had happened and who had committed the crime, eventually convicting the murderer.
This and other stories will provide the basis of my research & development into cellular memory in heart transplants, and into live performance.
Using my professional artform of puppetry and working with various techniques including object, Bunraku, table top, toy theatre and shadow projections. I wish to create a very intimate performance for an adult audience, to a living room full of people at a time, rather than a large clinical demonstration.
A miniature performance and installation, exploring the emotional impact of our feelings towards anothers very life being becoming part of ours.
How does that make us feel? There will be some audience participation, an exploration of the hearts symbolism in the worlds cultures, working potentially from the audiences feelings and responses.
What is the hearts role in our conciousness? We now know that consciousness is not all in the mind:brain & body communicate through short chains of amino acids. Neurotransmitters found in the brain have also been found in the heart, suggesting communication between the two beyond the neurological connections already identified.
If were confused and afraid, how are we physically reacting?
The brain is ‘logos’ –rational knowledge, the heart is ‘mythos’- intuitive knowledge. These are primary symbols, but while a brain approach to life has little room for the heart, a heart approach necessarily includes and welcomes the brain.
This is the kind of research I would like to further develop into a performance piece, with specially composed soundscapes, to build an intimate atmosphere.

art of heart – carnival
this work in progress performance/installation is based on research & development into the testimonies of heart transplantees. I am interested in the symbolism of the objects in their statements, and how these objects can represent the memories and habits of the in theatre. I wanted the performances to be intimate with individual experiences, as well as a group event in the whole installation. I have been interested in the powerful imagery of the heart and its place in society for a long time, and have created work shown here based on fairytale imagery, carnivalesque worlds and cabinets of curiosities. This is an ongoing project including animation, collage artworks, and object assemblage. Work created will go on to future events and exhibitions around the UK and internationally.

collaborators include
Chantal Oakes – digital animation
John Slater – maker & performer
Stephanie Ridings- director & performer
Verbal Vigilante – soundscape
Emily Hardy – student work placement

Many thanks to Alice Booth & Matt Fenton at the Nuffield for this opportunity.

Workshop Information

see Professional Development workshops in the Education section of the site

Booking Details

Immediate Audience Feedback - "a very moving performance" "Challenging imagery - superbly presented", "Intriguing", "Strong subjects placed with hard hitting images"

All text and images © Dynamic New Animation 2005