Went AWOL, back now

So I have been neglecting this blog terribly and that’s such a shame as I have had loads of fascinating stuff going on and now have made loads of exciting plans for the future of this site and for Trauma Unit in general. One of those plans is to update more, so I’m hoping I can bring lots of beautiful things to this site as the new year starts.

Here’s a quick and very enthusiastic round up of things that have happened since my last post!

+ Developed and performed ‘Girls Girls Girls’ with Kate Bowtell of Switch Performance. Working on this project with Kate was a big change from how I’m used to performing – there was no blood letting for a start, it was a dance piece and also we had regular rehearsals – but I really enjoyed exploring a new way of working and getting some insight into how other performers create work.

+ The image above, of myself and Kate during our first ‘Girls Girls Girls’ was taken by the lovely Izaskun Gonzalez of Compulsive Behavior. She used what I believe to be an old, slightly broken camera to take some stunningly sinister pictures of the performance. Izas is one of the many creative people I’m very happy to have met recently.

+ Also in my absence I was visited by the always inspiring Suka Off. It was a whirlwind visit in which they packed in 2 photo shoots, 2 video shoots and 1 trip to a pizzeria with myself, Franko B and Manuel Vason.

I performed as part of their new Inside Flesh project (use the password ‘carnalfluidity’ to access the website) in a video I’ll be revelaing more about soon, and then assisted in the filming of a powerful collaboration involving Franko getting covered in black liquid latex and Manuel shooting some incredible images as myself & Sylvia Suka filmed it all. The project is called ‘Black Dragon’ and you can view some of the images here.

+ Discovered Kleinkunst, a fascinating blend of academic papers and live performances. It’s apparently a series of 3 events and I attended the second, where amongst others Marisa Carnesky and Lucifire were speaking on the theme of the ‘Pleasures of Brutality.’  Luci’s talk on Grotesque Burlesque was especially good, as she explained how and why she mixes beauty and suffering in her own performances. I was experiencing my own form of suffering, with a really sore throat and lost voice on the night, so couldn’t engage in the discussions as much as I would have liked. I’m definitely going to be at the next one and have been keeping an eye on the events Facebook page to see what the theme will be.

The above image (Which I swiped from Facebook) is from the piece that Lucifire performed on the night. Luci and her partner Dave Tusk danced a darkly romantic and very bloody tango, it was very beautiful and for me a perfect illustration of the events ‘Pleasures of Brutality.’