Queen Street Studio blog

Strings Attached were our very first Performing Arts residents at FraserStudios. Rigging some very impressive scaffolding in the Studio 12 Exhibition & Gallery space back in 2009, they worked on a very early development of their show A Return to the Trees, which debuted at Carriageworks last week. We’ve invited Strings Attached to perform at our exclusive book launch of 1,386 days at FraserStudios next Friday night and they’re also presenting a one-day masterclass as part of our 30 days & 30 nights program.

Here’s an unedited interview with LeeAnne Litton from Strings Attached, an excerpt of which appears in our book:

You were our very first Performing Arts Residents to occupy FraserStudios. Do you think you left a legacy for other performers?

Ha, ha! Not at all! Perhaps others got a bit inspired by the unusual use of the space and thought of possibilities that never occured to them before. We hope, but I think we never thought about it.

Tell us about your time at FraserStudios. What were you working on while you were here? 

We were researching ideas around a new set and movement vocabulary for a show about climate change. The residency  helped us to consolidate our ideas and dreams around the new show and especially about the possibility of creating a large structure that seemed very ambitious at the time. But the gained experience gave us the courage to apply for funding and now, after three years of a very steep learning curve, the ideas have become a show!

Strings Attached, photo by Arunas Photography

Tell us about the work.

The work is called A Return to the Trees and the show has had two development periods already. It premiered last week at Carriageworks.

What is your funniest memory from your residency?

Hard to remember any funny moments. I think we were mainly just excited and happy. The themes that we were exploring were too painful for laughter at that stage and the dangerous set made it really difficult to laugh at accidents, so we didn’t have many funny moments. But we had lots of tenderness!

Who else did you come across while you working here? 

The residency gave us the opportunity to invite a diverse group of performing artists to come and participate in a few Open Days.

Did you ever write anything on the infamous FraserStudios toilet walls? Anything you’d like to own up to?

No, not one thing. I did read a few, though, trying to find some creative inspiration!

Do you miss anything about FraserStudios?

Our time at FraserStudios was quite magic. It was our first “proper” residency too.

Nobody telling us what to do, no agenda, no pressure and most importantly: nobody harassing us with liability fears and mistrust! We were so excited with our project and also with working with a new group of collaborators with whom we built amazing friendship and working relationships that we still keep.

It was graduation time at that point and after that we were thrown into the real world!

Did you leave anything behind? 

Only a big bag of memories.!

Describe a typical day in the studio. 

Arrival!

Warm up!

Open Improvisation!

Discussion and documenting images/ideas and processes!

Exploration on movement skills/Ideas!

Lunch!

Structured Improvisation!

Discussion and documenting images/ideas and processes!

Exploration on movement skills/Ideas!

Favourite place to drink / eat / nap / meditate near (or in) FraserStudios? 

That is a tough one to say. It would be between the couches in the common space and sitting in the steel tube home (structure-set) that we built.

Does Sydney need another space like FraserStudios? 

Yes. FraserStudios is going to be missed immensely! The diverse range of artists this place brought together, I don’t know of any other venue that does this in Sydney.!

Why do artists need space? 

To have a hub that has a creative buzz for inspiration and networking. To also be able continue to work on the art!

Is it difficult as an aerial artist to find suitable spaces to work in?

Yes. Aerial spaces are scarce in Sydney and those that exist are not financially viable for individuals or small non-for profit companies. The big rehearsal spaces can also be very very strict on liability issues and their overly-tight “safety rules” don’t make our art-form safer, but simply unaffordable. A genuine concern for other people’s safety opens the doors to trust, care and responsibility. But when the concern is based on the fear of our own liability, the doors that are opened only lead to mistrust, blame and more danger. These are great obstacles for creativity. At FraserStudios people listened to us (especially Sam Chester) and worked from our side to help us to be safe, but for our own sake. We learned since then, that if you do it this way, liability is a simpler issue to deal with, simply because nobody gets hurt.

If you could work anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

Our dream spaces would either be an old industrial warehouse with lots of character and close to the city where we could work for longer periods of time with little expenses, or a piece of bushland with a large shed on it where we could do the same but with a bit more of a residential feel to it (and again, lots of time!).

Imagine this was the FraserStudios Year 12 Yearbook (or maybe one of those terrible autograph bears). What would your message to the space be? 

FraserStudios you rocked our world!! I believe without the opportunity of the performing artist residency Strings Attached would be in a totally different place, you helped us launch our first funded creative project as professional performing artists!

Anything else you’d like to say? 

Here’s your chance. A big thankyou to all those behind the scenes of FrasersStudios! Without you guys and all the hard yards you guys have walked, the Sydney Arts community wouldn’t be the same.

Awww shucks LeeAnne…

If you’re interested in taking part in Strings Attached’s masterclass, taking place on Tuesday 5 June, click here for more info and registrations. We’ve also got workshops with Kaz Therese, The Fondue Set and Kate Gaul. Our Kate Champion masterclass has already reached capacity, so make sure you register now before you miss out on the others!