Residency feedback:
Thank you for having us in residence. It was just brilliant on all fronts. It was a very rare opportunity to explore an idea in breadth rather than having an imperative to move it forward to a certain point.
It would have been very hard for us to carve out the time in our schedules without having somewhere to go that was neither home or our workplace surrounded by the distractions and tasks in both. It was great to have the space, the facilities, the woods to walk in, the works to buy string from, the atmosphere of the Level Makers popping in to check what we were up to…
In terms of the idea itself – we know a lot more:
– The tech work was frustrating but I think to be filed under hard truths. We have a much better language to discuss what we want to achieve even if we did not find the silver bullet I had hoped for.
– In terms of the sculpture and the audience experience we have nearly got to where we want to be with an idea and have a really strong language to push it forwards.
We had an invaluable time, we didn’t waste a moment of it, and we are very grateful for your support so far.
Pif-Paf
Eleanor Hooper and Pete Gunson have carved a wildly meandering path through outdoor arts over the last 20 years – always with a distinctive visual and musical flavour and mostly as co-directors of Pif-Paf, a highly respected company that succesfully blends music, installation and physical performance.
Eleanor trained in fine art, toured as a circus acrobat and re-trained in theatre, directing shows for Pif-Paf and others. Pete trained in engineering before jumping into making giant structures… and then performing on them in the great outdoors!
Pif-Paf’s work spans from The Flycycle and Submercyle (two pedal powered Flight of Fancy Simulators), to TOAST where tales, songs, dances and recipes from around the world are brought to vibrant life, and Celestial Sound Cloud where audiences dance beneath an interactive sky – the piece that first brought Pif-Paf to LEVEL.
During their residency, Pif-Paf will be looking at a new project, ‘And…Breathe’. This will be an interactive sound and light installation, exploring how people can experience the feeling of breath, and being alive, together in public spaces.
They say:
‘By reseraching breath, song, air and laughter in science, art and culture and combining them with existing and new tech developments, we aim to create a beautiful rewarding audience experience. We’ll be making music and delving for the first time into MAX MSP (which is very exciting!). This will leave us with a clear idea of how we want to take the project to full development over 2025’.
Images from Pif-Paf’s residency
