Tuesday 1 May 2012

Horseplay at Proud Camden Exhibitions

Proud Camden is a fabulous venue set in the Famous Stables Market of Camden Town with the original stables intact and used as a feature. Horseplay is an event which runs once a month in the stables. A fabulous name don't you think? The organisers of Horseplay invites artists of all mediums, be it actual 2D artists, installation artists or performance artists to take over a stable for the evening and make an interactive art piece whatever it is!

I had been to a couple of events there and was amazed and very entertained by the different artists on show! I joined in a silent tea dance, watched a maypole dance with ribbons by delicately painted dancers, a band performing on a pole dance podium and a short film.

This inspired me to take on not just one but 2 stables for one evening in August. I wanted to create a divide between men and women but also integrate them fully as a performance piece. I have a dance/performance background and have also created installations so the following idea came to me. I created a very girlie pink room called 'Georgia's Party' and a very manly room called 'Mine's A Pint' based on my previous projects.

Stable 1: Georgia's Party was decorated in streamers and balloons with a birthday theme in mind. Photos of birthday parties were stuck on the wall too. A video from the original 'Georgia's Party installation was played on a wall mounted flat screen TV. There were little cakes and nibbles just as you would get at a child's birthday party. It was actually my friend's birthday and so she was 'The Birthday Girl!' and sat on a special throne in the room! We played games such as 'musical statues' and 'musical bumps' and played 'pass the parcel' which went down a treat. As this was a girl's room, men were only allowed in if they wore a pink party hat!

Stable 2: Mine's a Pint was decorated with photographic stills of working men's clubs, a project I have spent 12 years on. I also stuck used bingo tickets and raffle tickets over the walls to add to the ambience. I showed a video I had taken in one working men's club on another wall mounted flat screen TV. On the central table, I had unused bingo tickets and bingo dabbers ( which create big round dots to mark off your numbers!) and a children's toy bingo machine. People were invited to play a game of bingo. As this was a man's room, women were only allowed in they wore a fake paper moustache attached to a straw!

I wanted to emphasise the role play of each gender and it worked really well. It was hard work performing 2 pieces but they complemented each other perfectly as a pair!

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