Immersive Researched Recreation of Spoken Moments In Daily Medieval Life
( A two year multipart large project fusing research and performance)
"The Chapter House" -A reading of extant words in an extant location
and
"In the Kitchen"- A detailed recreation of hearing a woman discuss a period recipe
Both works, write ups, blog posts, filmed classes and performances are all sub posts from this page.
To access papers, documentation, videos and more please return to the menu and follow the steps below.
1. Click on the arrow after "Immersive Researched Recreation of Spoken Moments in Daily Medieval Life"
2. The Menu of work in the image on the right will appear. Click on what you wish to see.
What is this "immersive" work you did Agnes?
Two years ago I was trying to think of a way to have my storytelling merge with my love of research. Of course, I could always study the history of a piece and its author but I wanted to add another level of work. It occurred to me while going on yet another “Virtual Trip” that it would be amazing to be able to know what my storytelling would have sounded and looked like in the time it was written or after.
Imagine hearing a Venetian read Machievelli aloud. What does the room look like? What would they be wearing? Where in a building are you and what do you feel, smell and notice?
There are living historians, performers and others who specialize in these recreated moments and pondered how I could create “enchanted ground”, “time travel”, “living history” of a sort. For me, I decided I would try to capture an everyday spoken word moment. I would study not only the text I would read, but the location, season, clothing worn and other details relating to one moment. In this way I could blend two aspects of my hobby together.
This seemed like a multipart project but I had no idea that each aspect of this short moment in time would be a project in of itself. What I discovered was that this project would be more like finding a set of nesting dolls. Every time I opened one level, a new one was presented. Finally, after much work, I reached the point where I could film my final product. Hours and hours and hours of research, blogging, proof of concept work and more to produce a few short minutes of video. Additionally, communication with museum staff, gaining permissions, speaking with others ( especially in the time of our current plague) takes a lot of time and persistence.
"The Chapter House"
Spoken Moment Research Project Two-
The natural progression of the Spoken Moment Project One was to look at it and find areas that could be improved. One was to actually be able to present a medieval piece in a medieval location. This led to in depth research of the Chapter House at The Worcester Art Museum, up to and including contacting the current owners of the remaining parts of the priory in France, virtually touring the area, finding our more about the Benedictines of that specific chapel and understanding what would have actually been read in the that room. In short, I was able to know to what extant words were said in an extant location. It was almost a window into a moment in time.
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The natural progression of the Spoken Moment Project One was to look at it and find areas that could be improved. One was to actually be able to present a medieval piece in a medieval location. This led to in depth research of the Chapter House at The Worcester Art Museum, up to and including contacting the current owners of the remaining parts of the priory in France, virtually touring the area, finding our more about the Benedictines of that specific chapel and understanding what would have actually been read in the that room. In short, I was able to know to what extant words were said in an extant location. It was almost a window into a moment in time.
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Spoken Moment Research Project One- “In the Kitchen”
The concept of this entry was to use Art and Science research methods and thought processes to recreate a common spoken word moment from between the 12th and 15th century. This moment would be as if one could“go back in time” and view a medieval moment. It is both a research piece and performance art. The viewer should feel as though they have a window into the past. A Medieval Recipe was used as the piece that was spoken and all aspects of recreating as close to extant moment ( ie. clothing, foliage, materials etc.) were researched.
The concept of this entry was to use Art and Science research methods and thought processes to recreate a common spoken word moment from between the 12th and 15th century. This moment would be as if one could“go back in time” and view a medieval moment. It is both a research piece and performance art. The viewer should feel as though they have a window into the past. A Medieval Recipe was used as the piece that was spoken and all aspects of recreating as close to extant moment ( ie. clothing, foliage, materials etc.) were researched.