Have Your Cake

I performed a new piece of work called Have Your Cake at Kraak Gallery, Manchester for Maria and the Gay's album launch. It was a 5 minute experiment about a phone call to my mum. The piece involved me tricking a man into marrying me and explored the failure of big celebrations (and maybe, actually, the celebration of big failures). It did end up with cake all over myself, and I know it's dangerous territory (female performance artist covered in cream, again) but I knew I had to be in order to tell the audience a small, sad thing. People listened in a way they only could if you'd really embarrassed yourself. There's definitely things in this that I want to revisit!

For more about Maria and the Gay click here
For more info about Kraak Gallery click here

Resonance of Seclusion

I am embarking on a new project with a new company. In October, Small Things will present a performance called The Resonance of Seclusion at The Whitworth Art Gallery. It will tell the real and magical story of Leeds artist, Joash Woodrow, who for nearly fifty years didn't stop painting, at home, brilliantly, furiously, on anything; and how his work nearly ended up in the skip, but through lots of twists of fate, is now considered one of the great British artists. Here's his brother Saul who has been helping us with the story.

Keep up to date with this project here

The Life and Death of Eggs Collective

June and July were taken up in the company of the barmy, brilliant Eggs Collective. A cabaret about life, death and survival, as much as a cabaret can be. It was great being amongst clever women. I got a lot out of being directed (by the amazing Rachel Brogan) and realised the fun you can have cutting between being yourself performing, and a character performing. I took on the role of a disaster seeking air hostess, but really it was me talking about how I don't know what I'm doing with my life, and how it isn't any the clearer for having a long distance relationship or being a freelance artist. My character and me were up in the air!

For more about the Eggs Collective, click here

Working with Rainer Ganahl

Watch the video I made for Rainer Ganahl's current solo exhibition at Bury Transport Museum as part of the Text Festival. I am reading a part from Friedrich Engels' The Condition of the Working Class, about an area of deprivation in Manchester in 1842 known as Little Ireland, on the handlebars of a bike in 2011.

For more information about the festival click here.

Would You Like a Cup of Tea? The Video

Some clips from the performance on Saturday. Thank you to Amy for filming, and the tree for getting in the way!

Landscape Stories

I made a giant map of the Lancashire Hills for Sonia Hughes' schools project. The chidren presented a performance on the 6 metre by 4 metre map, after folding it out. Landscape stories looked at the past, present and future of the area the school children lived in.

Would You Like a Cup of Tea?

Last night I performed a new short site-specific show on a piece of wasteland in Manchester City Centre. Eighteen people showed up in a gap in the rain to sneak through a fence and watch. It is my first experiment in what I hope will become a series of solo shows. This first explored permanence, time and memory, whilst making a cup of tea against the odds.

Taking a Plant on a Journey

Finally here is the long awaited video to accompany the task Kerry set for me, to take a plant on a journey. This came about after the 100 Cauliflowers project I helped her with in London in 2007, when one cauli was left over. Laura and me carried the giant veg across London on the tube to give to our friend Brookie. I was surprised how much excitement a vegetable in public could create- people talked to me about their recipes and stories about cauliflowers. There is no documentation of this journey, just the memory.