Starting Points

At this point in the programme, reflecting on how my thinking has developed since the beginning, its really interesting to think about what the through lines are, and what I would like to leave behind.

My primary interest looking forward to this next project is an interest in how DIY making principles of dillentatism, auto-didacticism and ‘using the best tools for the job’ as well as a stripped-back, minimalist aesthetic, can magnify or strengthen the political ‘message’ or ideology of my work. I’m looking at at the application of DIY ethics everywhere in my work – in the content and form, embracing ability and inability, working within my means but also experimenting and learning, and deliberately not over-producing the work – but also in the conception and development of the piece, pushing for anti-capitalist and anti-hegemonic modes of production and presentation where possible and feasible. I think there is something really interesting in the mirror of a radical anti-hegemonic politics and a way of making/aesthetic quality based around relatively simple means – how can the simple tools be used to maximise the impact of what they transmit? How can a performer use their limited abilities in the most committed way to communicate clearest to an audience?

One key area to develop my practice moving forward is to think more about what audiences can see my work. I’m interested in work being made in and for DIY scenes – the general openness a variety of artistic mediums in these scenes means a warm environment to test out work in these spaces. Additionally, the proximity to activist circles present in DIY scenes could be useful in cultivating/strengthening direct action or community organisation in response to or alongside performance work. Of course, these are trains of thought based on my gut feelings and prior experience, but are a sign that I need to think more about audiences in relation to my work, and perhaps to be more open to other avenues.

I am aiming to concentrate more on my own performance/delivery in the piece – last time I think I took for granted the density of the texts and media in Stupid Cult, forgetting the importance of my own presence, physicality and vocal performance, and this was reflected in the feedback.

As an early experiment with both found text and physicality in the space, I improvised an uninhibited airguitar/singalong to Another Girl, Another Planet by The Only Ones, a song which I feel might come into play in my upcoming work.

As explained fully here, I was deliberately focusing on my physicality in contrast to last trimester, trying to achieve a place between comedy, vulnerability and infectious lack of inhibition which, when applied properly, can be used further down the line.

Similarly, given my familiarity with delivery of borrowed text, I would like to experiment further with original writing/text, perhaps used to ‘interrupt’ the piece and provide a shift in the mode of viewing.

Structurally, I would like to directly contrast the open-ended, durational quality of Stupid Cult with a closer focus on structure so as to reach an ‘ending’ – a conclusion or ‘solution to the issue’ – while also allowing for elements of chance, vulnerability and repetition in the piece.

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