Jon Clarke

Hello! My name is Jon Clarke and I’m a physical theatre performer based in Melbourne, Australia. 

I’m going to be tying myself to enough helium balloons to fly. 

However, this isn’t a reenactment of Up (even though I love that movie). For a start, it's indoors! I’m interested in exploring the movement potential and mechanics of neutral buoyancy in dance and theatre and the sculptural and architectural potential of giant helium balloons.

Why are you doing this?

Well, why not? Doesn’t everyone dream of floating through the air?

But seriously, there's a lot of unexplored potential in neutral buoyancy. That's basically where the amount of helium in the balloons that I’m tied to counterbalances my bodyweight. It’s a delicate and unstable point.

There have also been a couple of strong influences. One is the gorgeous sculpture by Charles Pétillon that appeared in Covent Garden in 2015. The other was the spectacular live art installation by Noëmi Lakmaier in the Sydney Opera House this year for Antidote Festival.

The visual and performance installation impact of these influences has got me convinced that, if I can get into a room with enough huge floating balloons, I’ll discover something magical. And as well as needing your help to raise money to make it happen, I’d love for you to share in this journey of discovery. 

If all goes as I’d hope, we’ll get it out there for the whole world to see!

What are you going to do?

The opportunity to conduct this exploration is supported by Sydney-based physical theatre company Legs On The Wall as part of their SPARK residency program. The program aims to support independent artists in the development of ambitious ideas and to build networks with others to make them happen.

During a week-long residency inside The Red Box in Sydney, I'll have a great opportunity to explore the practicalities and possibilities with enough 8ft diameter weather balloons filled with helium to lift me off the ground under controlled conditions. 

The exploration will be organic and driven by the people in the room, but some questions to get us started are:

• Can we achieve neutral buoyancy safely?
• As a soloist, what movement potential is there and how does the choice of harness affect this?
• How can existing and engineered thermal currents in the room affect the movement of a soloist in neutral buoyancy?
• What can a duo working as a flyer and ground-based partner achieve?
• What behaviour do fifteen single balloons exhibit in the space? 
• What potential is there for lighting with tethered and moving independent and clustered balloons?
• How can balloons be used as architecture or set in the space? What improvisation leads from this?
• How can we use circus apparatuses with the balloon cluster, including corde lisse, straps and roue cyr?

It's starting to look like a week isn't going to be long enough...

Who are you doing this with?

I’m not just a crazy independent artist. I've got company! I’ve assembled a team of veteran artists and industry professionals to contribute to the success of this project.

Lee-Anne Litton (Legs On The Wall, SPARK coordinator)

Lee-Anne is a Sydney-based maker, aerial choreographer, aerialist, dancer, performer and collaborator who has created and performed in works within the realms of physical theatre, circus, dance and live art installations. She has a curiosity in the line between aerial performance and dance theatre. Her strong investigation and passion for Contact Improvisation informs her work both on the ground and in the air. Lee-Anne has performed nationally and internationally with some of Australia's leading physical theatre companies.

David Jackson (Brown Paper Circus, rigger and associate artist)

David is a performer, director, teacher and rigger with experience across a range of platforms including circus, acting, physical theatre, and visual arts. He is inspired by innovative storytelling and passionate about the role of the arts in community. He has performed for Sydney Festival, Vivid Sydney, LATT Children's Theatre (Seoul), Brainstorm Productions, Legs On The Wall, Sydney Trapeze School and several independent theatre productions. He has been teaching circus and physical theatre for over 8 years and is also a co-founder of Brown Paper Circus, performing in and co-directing their productions We Are All In The Gutter (2015) Return To Centre (2016) and directed Please Consider Our Neighbours (2017). In addition to performing and directing, David has also worked as a movement consultant for theatre and designed sets/installations for performance and events. David has trained at Circus Monoxide, Caserne (Montreal), Legs On The Wall, and Sydney Trapeze School, as well as contributing to creative developments and workshops with Catapult Circus Festival and Force Majeure. He is a qualified advanced rigger, with experience in circus, performance and entertainment rigging.

Roger Graham (Expert Safety, Safety Officer)Working across Film, TV and the Arts since the 1980s, Roger regularly trains Production staff from major Networks and Production houses in the management of safety systems and the current state of the legal framework. Roger is no stranger to helium balloon antics. He already sent Todd Sampson skywards as part of the ABC program Redesign My Brain (the cover image for this campaign). Roger has a long history of assisting companies in television, film and theatre to do risky things as safely as possible. His role in the project is to ensure that the exploration goes as smoothly as Todd’s.

Helium for the project has been generously supplied by Elgas.

Cash costs

Covered by Jon

$400 Flights from Melbourne to Sydney

$180 ground travel

$540 Sydney accommodation

$540 per diems 

Materials (crowdfunded)

$2,400 Helium gas provided by Elgas 16x 8.7m3 cylinders @ $150/unit

$1,200 16x Latex weather balloon provided by Hayden Agencies @ $80/unit

+ 5% Pozible fees of $180

In-kind support (no cash cost)

A venue for the exploration and all rigging and safety equipment (Legs on the Wall)

All Safety Officer time from Roger Graham

All rigging and artist's time from David Jackson

All artist's time from Jon Clarke

Total costs = $5,440

Pozible target = $3,780

In the happy event of a meeting the fundraising target, I'll be raising additional funding to cover the travel costs for the project. If we meet that, I'll start raising money for artist's fees.

Challenges? What could possibly go wrong?

Death and dismemberment

As I'm going to be at the mercy of air currents and the tensile strength of rope, a comprehensive risk analysis is essential. 

Luckily I've got one of the best names in the business on the team. Roger Graham's approach is not to say that something can't be done, but rather what needs to be considered if we do it. 

I don't want to take the fun out of this pitch with a full rundown of all the safety considerations, but if your concern makes you hesitate in pledging then get in touch and I'll share the complete risk assessment to show that this will be a safe operation. Makes for excellent bedtime reading...

Booooring...

There's no guarantee that neutral buoyancy is going to be an interesting or navigable state! In the event that floating around tied to balloons is impossible or boring (I have my doubts on both those fronts though...) I have a host of other interesting areas of research that will become the focus of the week. And even the Plan B's are pretty exciting.

Nice, but no thanks

The project may not be picked up for a later stage development after the initial explorations; this investment and fundraising might amount to naught. There are three things that may prevent this:

1. The residency will conclude with showing to industry partners and stakeholders. It's possible that a producer or an established company will be present.
2. I will be promoting the residency and its outcomes through online media and local press. I want this thing to go to the next stage as much as you do!
3. I'll be documenting the journey and results during the residency. It's reasonable to expect some beautiful footage and images, and these will be able to ignite interest in a way that my current speculation cannot!