Tom Simkins reflects on his recent Hatching Residency

I finally managed to apply for my Hatching residency at Talking Birds.

I wanted to try out more movement and performance related work, and also explore my synesthesia. After a few initial ideas of how I might explore this, and some helpful and supportive conversations with the Birds I set out to see how I could explore or express my relationship with my senses in synesthesia through movement.

Having had specific ideas to begin with, by the time I started the residency I had only the aim of exploring this and exploring processes. Charlie at Talking Birds had arranged for Emily Robertson of Highly Sprung to mentor me with the movement. I knew I was talking a big step into the unknown and I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew this was something I wanted to explore.

On the first day I settle in to the wonderful welcome which is completely standard at Talking Birds. I get restless, I procrastinate, I try to try some things out and then I start to make a mind map of my the different ways I experience synesthesia as a starting point. Seeing sounds and music as textured and directional light and colour being the most dominant. 

After lunch Emily arrived and guided me through a contemporary movement warm up and gifted me with an amazing process as a starting point. The suggestion was to draw what I see while I listened to different pieces of music. Then to consider descriptive words to go with the different elements of the drawing. And then Emily got me considering those while trying movement. It didn’t come completely naturally, but I was given the space to explore. When I got stuck we moved onto trying movement with a trolley as an object to interact with and we tried it to some pieces of my own music – which were very familiar. It’s hard to explain but having the trolley to play with was like my crutch and license to play for the whole two weeks. I bought one along because I’d used one for some movement in a show recently, and being new to physical performance it was my comfortable way in.

The process Emily gave me framed the rest of the two weeks. I again struggled, procrastinated. I dreamt of using physical theatre and clowning. I looked at tech to emulate a synesthetic experience, did some research.

And then each day, I  encourage myself into moving to sound. To explore and be uncomfortable. To find moments where it felt like it all flowed. Whenever I was stuck, I would fling myself around with a trolley. Or just exist with it, perform with it, consider what I was trying to explore and find a flow. The space to explore this was incredible. The space to go through discomfort and doubt then to explore and feel free and discover things.

Following another or Emily’s suggestions I tried to map out the movement, which became a big part of my process. One day, I ditched the trolley and just moved and reacted – I felt completely free. Then I used a photography light and light up beach balls to map out the shapes I was seeing, using body and movement to convey other parts of the texture. Another mentoring session with Emily got me thinking about what I was communicating and helped me to feel free to map movement less literally and be expressive with it.

On the last day, while trying to film the best versions of ideas I had come up with but getting frustrated, I suddenly tried something new. I set my phone up to record using a light painting app with a slow shutter speed, and played with it until I was able to put on a song and map out the textures and shapes of what I saw with movement. The results were pictures that look pretty close to my synesthetic experience in many ways – an amazing break through.

I could describe so much more or what I explored and discovered during the residency, but here is what I’d like to focus on. The residency gave me space and time, and support to try something new and uncomfortable, to play and to imagine and to learn. At times having this space and support to try something felt quite emotional. It was a freedom I’d not felt before. It was such a strange time for me to explore something new, having recently lost a parent, and struggling more with my chronic condition – fibromyalgia as a result.

But there it was – support, space, and guidance to allow me to be brave and explore the unknown. And I will continue to. I’ve developed ideas of performances including painting the images I see, mapping them into expressive movement, clowning, and finding ways to encourage others to explore their own sensory experiences.

Thank you to Emily and Talking Birds for their incredible guidance and support and to Talking Birds for the opportunity to play. I became a freelance artist in no small part thanks to Talking Birds through connections made at F13 gatherings, and gentle support in exploring my artistic ideas since I first met Janet on a zoom call in 2020. What a beautiful company.