Chaise Longue
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
I wore my black velvet dress and slow worm broderie anglaise collar and inhabited the Recreation Room at the Bervie Brow Research Station cold war bunker. The residual adhesive on the walls was reminiscent of the moon phases I drew in a Tiny Act in May 2022. Thanks to Harry Willis Fleming for the photos.
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
I wore my black velvet dress and slow worm broderie anglaise collar and inhabited the Recreation Room at the Bervie Brow Research Station cold war bunker. The residual adhesive on the walls was reminiscent of the moon phases I drew in a Tiny Act in May 2022. Thanks to Harry Willis Fleming for the photos.
Moon Flanges
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
Photos by Harry Willis Fleming. I wore the black velvet dress and slow worm broderie anglaise collar and inhabited the Plant Room at the Bervie Brow Research Station cold war bunker. There seemed to be numbers hanging on the wall.
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
Photos by Harry Willis Fleming. I wore the black velvet dress and slow worm broderie anglaise collar and inhabited the Plant Room at the Bervie Brow Research Station cold war bunker. There seemed to be numbers hanging on the wall.
Sound Globes
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
Thanks to Harry Willis Fleming for documentation. I found some spherical lampshades in the Operations Room at Bervie Brow Research Station’s underground Cold War bunker. They were surprisingly good at diffusing and broadcasting sound. I recorded myself playing the music box and singing Bert Jansch’s Silly Woman, then re-recorded A Maid In Bedlam to be in the same key. I also recorded The Lincolnshire Poacher influenced by the recording from the number station. I activated the globes one by one to stack the songs and sat nearby in my black velvet dress, slow worm and broderie anglaise collar and dress globes, in the Operations Room.
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
Thanks to Harry Willis Fleming for documentation. I found some spherical lampshades in the Operations Room at Bervie Brow Research Station’s underground Cold War bunker. They were surprisingly good at diffusing and broadcasting sound. I recorded myself playing the music box and singing Bert Jansch’s Silly Woman, then re-recorded A Maid In Bedlam to be in the same key. I also recorded The Lincolnshire Poacher influenced by the recording from the number station. I activated the globes one by one to stack the songs and sat nearby in my black velvet dress, slow worm and broderie anglaise collar and dress globes, in the Operations Room.
Jelly Uncapping
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
I found a bucket of metal machinery parts in the Plant Room at Bervie Brow Research Station's underground Cold War bunker. I plugged up some of the holes in one metal box and poured jelly into it so that it would flow from one of its chambers to another without all leaking out. The moment of truth is captured by Harry Willis Fleming in the Recreation Room as I remove the cap of the side chamber to see if the magic has worked. I'm wearing the black velvet globes dress with chroma key green lining, various globes and the broderie anglaise slow worm collar.
Residency at Bervie Brow Research Station 26/08/23
I found a bucket of metal machinery parts in the Plant Room at Bervie Brow Research Station's underground Cold War bunker. I plugged up some of the holes in one metal box and poured jelly into it so that it would flow from one of its chambers to another without all leaking out. The moment of truth is captured by Harry Willis Fleming in the Recreation Room as I remove the cap of the side chamber to see if the magic has worked. I'm wearing the black velvet globes dress with chroma key green lining, various globes and the broderie anglaise slow worm collar.
Singed Curtain
at Cabaret Melancholique, Mildmay Social Club, 2022
I wore a dress influenced by Georgian wedding dresses and Dr Dee, and made a glockenspiel collar out of a coffee table.
I sang Robert Wyatt's "Signed Curtain" while trying to accompany myself.
at Cabaret Melancholique, Mildmay Social Club, 2022
I wore a dress influenced by Georgian wedding dresses and Dr Dee, and made a glockenspiel collar out of a coffee table.
I sang Robert Wyatt's "Signed Curtain" while trying to accompany myself.
I Hear You Now
at "Notes from a Conversation," The Funcanny, Brigstock, Northamptonshire, 01/11/20
This work was born not only of my own line of inquiry following the success of previous Cabaret Melancholique performances, but also as a result of collaborative ideas and remote conversations with my fellow LaaLaa members. After many months of being unable to meet in person, we finally convened, 3 in person and one remotely, at The Funcanny. This was an old space with a new purpose. It embodied the liminality of home and work, real and virtual, individual and collective.
I Hear You Now is a performance involving precariously balanced hand-crafted items that loiter somewhere in the various realms of furniture, costume, musical instrument and scientific equipment.
A chapbook for the performance is available to download, as is a chapbook for the closing event which took place remotely, 15/11/20.
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Eel
Many years ago I wrote some song words about an eel. I'm not a musician and I'm no good at writing music, so I spent several years tentatively looking for someone to put the words to music. Finally I found, via The Lords of Thyme, Miranda Lee Richards, an extremely talented singer songwriter who kindly wrote a beautiful piece of music for my words. Christof Certik played the guitar part. As we entered COVID-19 pandemic lock-down in March 2020, Richard Dedomenici devised the Coronavision Song Contest 2020, following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest. I hastily made a pop video in my bathroom and attic and chopped the song in half to meet Richard's entry requirements. My first video (filmed on my iPhone) was born. I represented the UK in the competition on 16th May 2020 and came 19th out of 30.
Many years ago I wrote some song words about an eel. I'm not a musician and I'm no good at writing music, so I spent several years tentatively looking for someone to put the words to music. Finally I found, via The Lords of Thyme, Miranda Lee Richards, an extremely talented singer songwriter who kindly wrote a beautiful piece of music for my words. Christof Certik played the guitar part. As we entered COVID-19 pandemic lock-down in March 2020, Richard Dedomenici devised the Coronavision Song Contest 2020, following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest. I hastily made a pop video in my bathroom and attic and chopped the song in half to meet Richard's entry requirements. My first video (filmed on my iPhone) was born. I represented the UK in the competition on 16th May 2020 and came 19th out of 30.
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SeaHorse Song
at "Horsey," a Cabaret Melancholique night, The Horse Hospital, 2020 The Cab Mel gang put on a benefit gig at London's Horse Hospital in February. Using my adapted music box guitar and funnels, I sang Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song." A few of the words were altered to make the performance more horsey and you can't see from this picture that I'm wearing a corn dolly horse from my awkward singing helmet. |
Here Comes The Flood
at Cabaret Melancholique, Peckham Liberal Club, 2019
Inspired by the performance costumes of Peter Gabriel in his Genesis days, I made paper globes from old sheet
music of Bert Jansch and morris dances and velcro'd them to my nightie.
Never knowing whether there will be any sort of sound system on the night, I sang through hose pipes and funnels.The song was Peter Gabriel's "Here Comes The Flood," accompanied on the musical glasses.
at Cabaret Melancholique, Peckham Liberal Club, 2019
Inspired by the performance costumes of Peter Gabriel in his Genesis days, I made paper globes from old sheet
music of Bert Jansch and morris dances and velcro'd them to my nightie.
Never knowing whether there will be any sort of sound system on the night, I sang through hose pipes and funnels.The song was Peter Gabriel's "Here Comes The Flood," accompanied on the musical glasses.
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The Awkward Singing Mask
at Cabaret Melancholique, Peckham Liberal Club, 2018 In about 2014 I found a black guitar abandoned on the corner of a street in Northampton, in the rain. I rescued it. I can't play the guitar or any instrument. I transcribed Massive Attack's "Teardrop" onto the punch paper of a programmable music box mechanism, transposing it to the correct key. The guitar served as a sound box to amplify the music. I attached a phonograph horn to a mask made of a wooden fruit bowl. The weight of the mask was supported by a walking stick attached to the legs of an occasional table, which also supported the guitar. As the walking stick was bent and the stand was unstable, I filled a canvas bag with sand and tied it to the stand with black satin ribbon. The skirt worn from the neck to the ground is inspired by folkloric beasts such as the Mari Lwyd and mast hobby horses. I turned the handle, found the right speed and sang to the accompaniment for its duration. |
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In between 2012 and 2018, quite a few performances were poorly documented. I will be addressing this gap in new works in which I recreate or rework the pieces.
I have also during this period been making collaborative site-specific reactive work with the East Midlands group Laa Laa www.instagram.com/laa_laas/. I cannot thank my fellow Laa Laas enough for their support and inspiration. |
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Each week in October I presented an evening of traditional folk songs, performance art and morris dancing, with invited guests. Each week had a theme. |
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Wassail Tree Dress
at Solo, Modern Art Oxford, 2011 I built a wooden dress, mostly from marine ply. It rolled on small casters and supported apple tree branches from which hung cider-soaked toast. I rolled around the gallery spaces, eating apples, drinking cider, singing apple wassail songs and winding a music box mechanism that played wassail tunes. |
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The Pilgrimage
Group performance as part of Sam Lee's residency "Cafe Curio" at Camden Arts Centre, 2011 An improvised performance of music, song, performance art, dance and poetry between artists of various disciplines. |
