On Friday 17th at the Drill Hall we finally had use of our space so we were able to practise laying the footprints out fully. We worked out that it would take more than 16 minutes and 40 seconds to lay the prints, scrunch them up and then flatten them and because our piece is all about the meaning of time we had to decide what to do to fit it all in. We decided that part of our pre performance will now be laying out the footprints, so before we start our countdown timer all the prints will be laid out. This will also attract the attention of passers by as we decided our audeince should come and go as they please so even if they do not see us scrunching/flattening they will see our installation of some form, but we will tell them when we are starting- 2.30pm and 4.30pm if they wish to watch all of it.
As we ask members of the public to print a footprint and sign their name on the bottom we will then ask them to go into the hall auditorium and replace their print with one that is already in place. They then will be told to fold up the old footprint and post it in the box marked ‘Egypt’ this was an idea to represent that some soldiers from Lincoln would have gone to war whilst others were training in the drill hall. Another idea was for them to peg up the old footprint to a hanging line of string across the wall to create another visual image but the meaning for the box would tie in as well with the collection of the election votes ie a ballot box.
It was tiring just scrunching the prints as we took it in turns, so we need to practise more to get used to the timing and the energy and fitness it requires! We are aiming to get 500 prints by next friday so we can each practise the timings and choreography together instead of seperately as the key to our piece is making sure we can complete our installations in 1000 seconds!