I’m currently developing my bid for the Wandsworth Art Fringe (WAF10: 3-19 May 2019.)
Three components are planned:
1. Cycle of Life: building on and further developing the four linked multimedia presentations I did at the Showroom Gallery;
2. Blink: a video looking into and out of my eyes;
3. Music from some very special antique Singing Bowls. This is beautiful in itself, as well as spacing out the other videos / multimedia installations. It will facilitate a thoughtful / meditative approach to the other content.

I want to highlight how much support is available from WAF. There’s great advice on everything from accessibility to funding. My number one issue now is finding a venue!

1. Cycle of life

My dad was an expert at living. When the doctors told him he was terminally ill, he wisely didn’t stop living.
I’m proud that I helped my dad make active living his priority even when he was actively dying.
Alongside my dad, I learnt that dying can be a living, loving, giving, sharing – and creative – experience.

Dying is, after all, part of the cycle of life.
For everyone.

Ultimate living, for my dad, is skiing. So my dad and I thought and talked about his last Black Run. This is super-scary, super-fun high-level skiing.

Above left is me showing the Black Run story. I’m facing away from the audience as I speak so they can focus on the Black Run and my dad whizzing down the mountain

At the bottom of my dad’s Black Run, I step back and turn to face / talk to my dad and the audience.
Above right is the life size image of my dad, on his skis, when I talk with him.

After my dad was so close to dying that he had stopped speaking, he still somehow found the energy to stand up out of his bed.
This does not happen. Except it did with my dad!
He didn’t want to die lying down.

He got up and stood up like he was skiing.
Truly Deathbed Skiing!

Above you can see me showing some Deathbed Skiing. This is from when I was at the Showroom Gallery, standing alongside a ‘story bus’.
For WAF, there will be choreography rather than a ‘story bus’.

Shortly after my dad deathbed skied, he took his Last Breath. My representation of this is what is shown below left.

To the left of the compound image above, a colleague is clapping my dad’s heartbeat – that soundtrack is far left, and the claps activate the lights.
I’m talking, to the right, and far right is the soundtrack of my speech.
The centre shows the image projected onto the wall behind us: an ‘acorn-heart’ germinating into a fantasy plant – as shown in the single image above.

Watered by my cold tears. the small plant grows into a little tree, and then a little black and white forest.

Later, when I wash my dad’s body, the larger amounts of warm water mean that the trees turns green, and steadily develop more and more fruit.

For the WAF performance, the fruit forest will grow and grow to surround the audience. A simplified version of this is shown here:

2. Blink

This is going to be a video looking deep into, and out of, my special eyes.
It’s based on a cut-up video of a simple blink, as shown in the images to the left below
The image to right below gives a taste of how I can change the images.

The eye is the only place you can actually see the brain.
That is, if you know how to look like doctors and opticians fo!

Blink gives the audience an idea of what can be seen deep inside a blinking eye.

I’ve got special eyes (the doctors say sick, but I say special!). So my blink-views are not like anyone else’s.
I’m also going to show some views out of my eyes. These are special too!

I’m going to share how I see things in some special-sick ways.

And also show some of the amazing places and wonderful things I’ve seen.The image at the very top of this post shows some images looking inside my head. Plus one image looking out at something very special.

Below are some images of the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. These beasts have 16 colour-receptive cones (humans just have three), and can detect ten times more colour than a human, including ultraviolet light. They definitely blink in some very special ways!

3. Singing bowls

Between each of the projections / performances, there will be music from some antique Singing Bowls. This is beautiful in itself, as well as facilitating a thoughtful / meditative approach to the other content.

I am going to create a special bag / plinth for these very special Singing Bowls – and document the making in another video.