how I learned to stop worrying and love live art

Hi guys. wow I can't believe I haven't posted anything in nearly two months, rubbish! I haven't had time to do anything much recently besides panic, so please do excuse.

Still haven't really done much worth talking about, but I want to sometimes do posts about other people's work instead of just mine. I think this is the first one.

This weekend I was lucky enough to go to In Between Time in Bristol, a city I had only briefly visited before. It's a live art/performance festival with participatory stuff thrown in. I have a very limited experience of live art and didn't really think I liked it. How my eyes and mind were blown wide open!

highlights:

1. The String Section performed by Reckless Sleepers: four ladies in black dresses and heels performing a symphony for wood and metal: basically, sawing the legs off chairs bit by bit whilst they were sitting on them. I liked this piece very much, it was quite uncomfortable but funny to watch them frantically destroying the structures that they needed to support them.

2. The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein - How to Become a Cupcake

Okay this one was a bit nuts and not at all what I was expecting: women in bras and tutus smearing food all over everywhere, yeah yeah I thought. I ended up really enjoying it though, just because of its apparently disorganised structure and the bit where the Famous becomes a real boy, and the bit where she dances to the Backstreet Boys over and over again while the other women squirt cream at her for about ten minutes. Thought this one was kind of aggressive, although I liked it. I didn't take any pictures because I was mesmerised by the sight of a naked woman on crutches weeing on a pile of popping candy. I am sure you can find pictures on the internet of that sort of thing if you like.

3. Holzinger and Riebeek - Kein Applaus fur Schiesse

ohhhh... this was the same day as the Famous, and I had seen so much human flesh and fluids by this point that when the whole pulling string out of a fandango/throwing up/weeing stuff happened (within 5 minutes) I was like, oh hooray. But this was THE BEST thing I saw all weekend! It was so sweet and warm and funny, such a delight. I have developed massive crushes on both of them and rekindled my love for Devendra Banhart. I came out feeling like I'd taken some giant drugs. I still have no idea why I liked it so much.

4. Silvia Rimat - If You Decide to Stay

No nudism in this one, just a nice lady dressed as a bunny, pondering on probability and chance, and celebrating the fact that we all went to see her show at that precise time with rum and nibbles. I did cry though, when she asked who would put sleeping pills in their children's lemonade at the end of the world, and no one said yes except me :(

Me and Oly took part in Kate McIntosh's Worktable in which I deconstructed a chamber pot with a crowbar.

Live art makes no sense to me, I can more or less grasp meaning from it, I enjoy it, I feel moved by it. Is that enough? I don't understand how it's constructed. I watched loads of hour-long shows that felt, to my uninitiated mind, like unconnected series of things indiscriminately wedged together in a sequence. Maybe it's just because I'm used to static images or something. If someone would like to talk to me about this I would be grateful.

Also while we were recovering from performance-fatigue, we wandered round beautiful Bristol and had a look at the graffiti on Nelson Street

this looks like a John Campbell?

Plus other things which I've forgotten. It was a great time and I feel like I'm changed forever. Until probably next week. Anyway I will try and write more soon, i will make something, I promise. don't leave me

xx

Elvis and Shirley

Hey. It's been AGES since I posted anything, nearly a month, what a complete waster I am! You must be famished for some stupid crochet. Well, here's some.

Remember I made an Elvis monster? He has been on some adventures since I last saw him! What a crazy guy. Here are some of his snaps (courtesy of Shirley). I will attempt to caption them even though I don't know who, or what, a lot of them are. I think this will add a certain dimension to the piece that it was lacking.

Road trip time.

This person is something to do with Cokey Cola, I suppose.

Ridin'. I love this photo.

'Pardon me boy, is this the cat who chewed your new shoes?' Ha ha

This says 'Sippin' to Saddles'. I do not know what that means. It sounds exciting though, something to do with horses I should expect.

Elvis was an American person.

Erm... a conflagration. Elvis looks so happy doesn't he? Wheee!

Hey it's Shirley! Let us have a look through your specs, willya.

The painting of Elvis has a black eye.

I love this. I want one in my house. I would drink Pepsi-Cola if I had one of these.

This is so very cool, me gusta.

I think this is at Elvis' grave. I thought it was the world's most wrecked piece of paper but I now think it's a rock.

It appears that people enjoy erecting guitar sculptures, Elvis monster likes sitting on them.

According to another photo which I haven't posted, his mother took Elvis to this shop to buy a bicycle. Then he wanted a gun, but she wouldn't let him have one, so as a compromise he got his first guitar. Hang on, what happened to the bicycle? I don't really understand this story, but I guess Tupelo Hardware has been doing well off it for a few decades, so everything's all right.

Elvis monster meets melancholy-eyed Elvis aged thirteen.

Hello receptionist.

When he was alive, Elvis enjoyed sitting on top of a cup and eating a plant.

This lady has very frilly sleeves and therefore I like her.

Elvis contemplates what to have for his tea.

Can you spot him?

Oh there you are, hello!

Okay this is probably bad taste but Shirley took it, so blame her. I guess he is just doing a make-sure before they set off again.

So there we are! I enjoyed that, did you? I have a few friends travelling about at the moment, with monsters about their untrustworthy persons. If you are reading this, travelling friends, please can you do me a flavour, and take a few snaps for me? I love it, I really love it. My silly little monsters going off all over the place, they are so flighty.

Anyway. Oh! Just to let you know, I have a stall at the Chorlton Arts Festival craft market on Saturday (the 21st). It's at 11am til 4pm and at St Clements church on Edge Lane, come down and high five me. I have some fairly all right stuff to sell. Not only that, but there will be other stalls (I know!) and some other shit too, I don't know what, music and cake and ales and Chorlton hippy stuff I should think. It's always a nice day out so just bloody come, will you. Have a look here for other Arts Festival stuff. I need to stop saying 'stuff'.