Hannah Nicklin – Page 68

Image shared by SkyD on Flickr via a CC license

Thought I’d throw some brief reactions to BAC’s One on One Festival, which I was very glad to finally get to on its last day – this Saturday.

Firstly, I love BAC. It’s the only arts centre I’ve ever felt like I belong in. This may have something to do with the kind of work I’ve experienced there – all buried away in different corners of the building, asking you to explore it – but either way I need to get back and see more things there. In fact on that note I just popped them in google reader (RSS link here) – take note theatre companies, have a blog, and mention stuff you’re doing there, a feed is a brilliant way for people to find stuff out without you bending their ear about it (Twitter, usually).

OK, so, for those not familiar with the #1on1fest format – basically it’s an awful lot of pieces of theatre/performance/intervention/experience for one. Or occasionally two. But mostly one. For this version of the festival I picked a set ‘menu’ of 3 piece (one main, two sides), but could also ‘do’ one of 10 extra pieces around the building, ranging from posters appearing throughout the building which suggested progressively scenes for two people to play out, to a couple of tin cans on a piece of string for you to ‘phone in’ famous movie lines from, and a mysterious message about the ‘loveliness principle’ which gave you a series of clue to follow if you called a certain number.

I chose the ‘out of body’ set menu. I write an awful lot about immersive things, I kind of felt myself interested in intimate or single-person experiences to transport rather than immerse. Here’s what I got:

You Only Live Twice (But Die Once) – Kazuko Hohki

This played pleasantly with sound. Introduced (after removing your shoes) to a light, minimalist space, you lie down on a futon and voices speak to you from a radio, and inside your pillow. They can hear you reply. Unfortunately there was a lot of noise bleeding in from outside so I never quite drifted into the world of the piece. This meant the payoff (SPOILER, SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON’T WANT IT) of your being woken by a lady ninja above your head, didn’t quite hit it. For me, female eyes looking through a space in black fabric says ‘burqa’ before it says ‘ninja’. This may be a British thing, or it may have been I never quite left my British body behind well enough for it to work.

And the Birds Fell From the Sky – Il Pixel Rosso

This was my ‘main’. A piece using video played into a visor, 3d sound in headphones, and the effect of sprayed whisky, brushes of hands, and the sitting down on a vibrating car seat to create an out-of-body (or in-another’s-body) experience. Continue reading And the Sky – #1on1fest

I was asked on Monday by @quietriot_girl to talk to @DAaronovitch about the brief moment when I was threatened with arrest on the day of the March for the Alternative. It was fleeting, and the officer and I were both firm but polite, so I hadn’t really thought about putting something down about it. Especially when compared with wider, more serious betrayals by police officers, the conflation of UKuncut with the Black Bloc, mass arrests for peaceful occupation, and the general media hullabaloo that typically follows such a large protest.

However @kmachin and a couple of others asked me to put this up on my blog, as opposed to Twitlonger, because it’s more easily linkable. So here you go, don’t ever let it be said I don’t pander to public pressure.

I was approached by a sergeant Hanna (pictured right) while I was walking along Oxford street with #anticutsleeds folk after the march (early evening; cold!) and asked to remove my pink scarf covering my mouth and nose under section 60 of the Criminal Justice Act, or I would be arrested. It was quiet, with just a few stragglers walking around. Most of the ‘action’ was then happening about 5 minutes away at Fortnum and Mason. I replied that I thought I couldn’t be required to remove clothing, and he explained that special measures in the CJA which can be signed into effect by a senior officer allow concealing one’s identity to be an arrestable offence. You can (a later google found out) be imprisoned for a maximum of 51 weeks for doing so.

I asked if I could take a picture of his I.D., and he reminded me that I was still wearing my scarf. I remarked that we had a similar name, and removed my scarf. We smiled at each other slightly ironically, and I moved on.

The encounter was brisk, but polite. Why is it notable? If I have nothing to hide, why not show my face? Because our criminal justice system should not require me to prove my innocence – not by what I wear or any other means. Reasonable suspicion, and the burden of proof; semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit – “the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges”* those are the principles by which we consent to be policed.

These powers of removing items that obscure identity were plainly brought in to enable their FIT officers (plenty on the ground) to get clear coverage of everyone – to build up a picture of regular protestors to target. For that same reason I believe the #ukuncut lot were arrested whilst the black bloc were running amok causing much more media-friendly trouble – for their phones (all confiscated); their networks. Continue reading I Was Nearly Arrested for Wearing a Scarf