A Small Spectacle
By Phaedra Brown
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“Concentrated, intimate and revealing.”
–Lynne Lancaster, Time Out
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This work was created on the lands of the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation, and broadcast from the lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation. I’d like to extend deep respect to First Nations elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge that Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded.
Furthermore, I encourage anyone who is not Indigenous and is able to, to assist me in paying rent for this event to First Nations land owners through: https://paytherent.net.au/
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A note on the show:
A Small Spectacle is
a solo show, created and performed
by Phaedra Brown in a small
inner-city share house.
An eclectic mix of dance, architecture, costume and sound, the work attempts to convey the idea that a spectacle is as much created in its re-telling and re-imagining than in the event itself. A Small Spectace re-purposes text and sculpture and appropriates video-call and social media formats. The costumes have been repurposed from what was already in the house, and the house itself has been repurposed as stage and set.
This work also explores the self-spectacularisation that comes with shaping oneself within a frame. Particularly in reference to the hyper-curation of self, seen in social media, the screen becomes the tight frame through which some things are accentuated while others are hidden. The frame of the house also plays a role in curating the way the body is perceived; the architecture and its connotations as a domestic space can constrict movement but also offer up a space to be reclaimed.
Finally, Small Spectacle is an ode to the common experience of lockdown and mundane days in isolation. The willingness of humans to imagine, create and share, even while facing collective upheaval, has been, and continues to be, spectacular.
Want to know more?
On guitar & speedy composition: Gabriel Sinclair
Voiceover: Paul Brown (my dad)
Anna Helme, Alison Shirley,
Anika DeRuyter, Hayley Does, Jazmyn Carter & Rachel Mackie.
Content Warning: This show contains coarse language and shows a body in underwear.
SCROLL DOWN TO ACCESS THE LIVE STREAM
︎︎︎
An eclectic mix of dance, architecture, costume and sound, the work attempts to convey the idea that a spectacle is as much created in its re-telling and re-imagining than in the event itself. A Small Spectace re-purposes text and sculpture and appropriates video-call and social media formats. The costumes have been repurposed from what was already in the house, and the house itself has been repurposed as stage and set.
This work also explores the self-spectacularisation that comes with shaping oneself within a frame. Particularly in reference to the hyper-curation of self, seen in social media, the screen becomes the tight frame through which some things are accentuated while others are hidden. The frame of the house also plays a role in curating the way the body is perceived; the architecture and its connotations as a domestic space can constrict movement but also offer up a space to be reclaimed.
Finally, Small Spectacle is an ode to the common experience of lockdown and mundane days in isolation. The willingness of humans to imagine, create and share, even while facing collective upheaval, has been, and continues to be, spectacular.
Want to know more?
Click below to access the Small Spectacle
companion research paper,
“Making Spectacles: Defining Spectacular Performance in the Age of Physical Distance and Digital Saturation,“
Credits
On trumpet & tech help: Aidan BondfieldOn guitar & speedy composition: Gabriel Sinclair
Voiceover: Paul Brown (my dad)
Special Thanks to:
Carol Brown, Helen Herbertson, Siobhan Murphey,Anna Helme, Alison Shirley,
Anika DeRuyter, Hayley Does, Jazmyn Carter & Rachel Mackie.
Content Warning: This show contains coarse language and shows a body in underwear.
SCROLL DOWN TO ACCESS THE LIVE STREAM
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Press the play button (︎) to start stream. (the show starts at 24mins)
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