Moving Ink Evolves: A Collaborative Art Experience at CircoMedia

The 3-day Circus as Drawing workshop at CircoMedia, Bristol, the brainchild of Jonathan Presitly, felt like a natural development for my Moving Ink project, offering a chance to move from observing to embodying movement, exploring raw, unintentional energy with a space for imagination.

What truly excites me about this process is the freedom of movement, a space where the chatter of the mind fades and pure creativity flows. It's about the range of marks a body in motion can create the imprint of force and flow. 

The workshop was held at CircoMedia’s Kingswood Campus, the former Mary Carpenter reformatory for delinquent boys. Heading into the gymnasium was a trip through time, the brown floor, high ceilings and sun warming only the edges created a coldness in the room, reminiscent of Monday morning P.E classes. There I was greeted by two distinct categories from the artworld. Older visual artists, mainly females, mums, used to painting in home studios, who had just raced to drop off their kids at a birthday party for the day so they could enjoy their creative outlet. Contrasted with younger circus performers, who just rolled out of bed on campus.

The first task was to pair up visual and circus performers and experiment with making marks from the circus performers apparatus. The instructions were broad, and we were a little lost. A group of young circus performers and I, strangers navigating into this artistic experiment with minimal guidance. Timidly looking around the room, drawing inspiration of what we could, we began painting each other’s toes. It took time but the experiments became more novel and daring.

Timidness alchemised into excitement, circus performers took to their apparatus, and I began to feed them with different materials, skipping back and forth from my bag of goodies. Classic drawing equipment was out; this was the time to be bold with bigger materials. We found that brushes offered control through intention, while sponges, closer to the body, channelled raw energy. Poster paint was a good medium for experimenting, but ink’s fluidity was mesmerising. It resonated with the Zen practices of Hitsuzenduō and Ensō circles, where artist surrender to the creative force.

Ink Hoop Spinning by Nick #1

Nick spinning from a hoop with Sumi-Ink in his Sock

Ink Hoop Spinning by Nick and Heidi #2

Ink Hoop Spinning by Nick and Heidi #3

The dynamic shifted when the visual artists were asked to impose more guides and include restrictions. Prepared from our mornings experimentations we rolled out a large paper under some ropes. I gathered my box of goodies, this time closer to the action and Nick prepared his ropes. I directed Nick as if he were my brush. By using colour-coded prompts, I asked him to vary pressure, speed, and direction, aiming to translate the nuanced possibilities of a brushstroke through his movement. In the beginning, it was challenging. It felt more clunky than just letting him spin - there was a constant back and forth with instructions which broke the flow and made it hard for Nick to translate the 'variations' of the brush stroke especially in the dedicated areas.

However, for our second attempt, we got into a flow - Nick hopped into a body suit and I painted him with white paint, a cold awakening as it dripped through the suit onto his skin. Reminiscent of when my sister threaded chewing gum in my hair, ‘let’s have fun and make a mess', not even a thought of the consequences. I told Nick to roll across the paper; he created a satisfying mark and emerged with a childlike look in his face like he just painted a wall that he should not have. 

This permission to make a mess, to not worry about getting the ‘carpet’ dirty. It was a huge blessing. It's what we all want to do as kids but are stopped short or told off before we can create anything at all. As adults, and artists, in this space we could capitalize on the mischievousness, and it was super. We continued to build on this creating a greater shared vocabulary of experimental and playful marks: why don’t you spin around and squeeze the paint straight out of the bottle. With this mischievous and fun, balanced with my artistic direction we moved beyond simply capturing residual movement of energy, but deliberate marks imbued with texture and force to create considered compositions. 

To me the marks created were not just random or abstract. My mind conjures characters and figures. Like the spirits which emerge from the foliage of trees after a run through the woods, or the faces in the clouds as you longue across the fresh cut lawn.  With a few tweaks from my brush, working the shadows and highlights, these characters will come alive.

Two spirits dancing: the second attempted of shared vocabulary using spins, rolls and straight lines

The final day, led by Diana Krasovska, unlocked a crucial element: playfulness. We started with a non-verbal game. Moving in the space the idea was to pay attention to each other and see what rules were emerging between us. The rules started off simple, someone began crawling, others followed. Then someone gently rolled on the floor, caressing the brown sprung floor with their hand moving yesterday's dusty white chalk.

It was constantly evolving, others would offer variations, or totally different rules. Mini groups formed. I got lost in the eyes of another performer as we started to mimic each other's eerie movements and make strange sounds like creatures emerging from a turquoise swamp painted by an impressionist. We were brought out of our cypher, a strange game emerging as others played with the hanging rope and crashing on the mat. Transported to our childhood, a game of duck duck goose emerged, with a twist: Goose did not mean chase if you just wanted to lie down. Overall, it was a fun exercise that developed a sense of trust and inclusivity within the group.

Evolution of games

This, I realised, is foundational. Art resides within us, and any tightness or unwillingness to be vulnerable and present hinders the expression. Building the confidence to play and create freely, especially in collaborative settings, is paramount. Half the work is forging a connection that allows for unencumbered expression and joy.

The workshop culminated in an exciting exercise: visual and performance artists were separated. I chose to step into the performer role, to challenge myself away from the comfort ‘behind the paper’ now offers me. First, we responded to the artworks created earlier, while the visual artists captured our movements. Diana encouraged us to let go of initial artwork and begin playing with the other performers. 

Then my partner (visual artists), Julia, entered the performance space with a large paper trying to capture our shadows. Stuck halfway up a ladder dancing with another performer Juila placed the paper under my foot and began to trace it. I slid the paper across the floor with my foot; the rustle and scratching awakened the silence of the performance space. I began to dance with it. It was a pivotal moment. Something unlocked in me, the touch of the paper triggering the memory that I was not just the performer, but a painter too. I was liberated to dance across the room and interact with the other visual artists. Rolling myself in a large paper, it invited the curiosity of other visual artists to move into the ‘performance space’ and act more freely: Not just as spectators but as performers too.

This merging of worlds, a fluid dance between performer and visual artist is the essence of what I have been searching for with the development from Moving Ink. A feeling of unencumbered expression, that when we create, we feel like we are playing. Not thinking about an outcome or aiming for anything in particular but being fully alive in the process.

Moving forward, I am developing a body of work with performers, investing in high-quality materials to capture the nuances of these dynamic interactions. Playing with movement and expression, the interplay of unintentional marks, giving space to spark imagination and then deliberate marks to refine and create works of art. We will create large-scale collaborative artworks with dancers and other performance artists. Through a similar process to the one developed at Circus as Drawing.

If this resonates with you and you're a performer or dancer interested in exploring this intersection of movement and mark-making, please get in touch.