Tragedy,Responsibility, Injury, Pain. A time based performance

June 17, 2015 Catie Halpin Leave a comment

Today marks the first anniversary of my ongoing performance piece Tragedy Responsibility Injury Pain. I launched TRIP in Walton in the North of Liverpool as I wished to take this innovative work to the regions before bringing it to capital. It began with me dashing myself onto a normally busy road folding my right arm into my body as I flew. This resulted in the initial crack of my left kneecap, followed swiftly by my body weight landing onto my right wrist causing it to fracture in the shape of my ribs. I lay there unable to lift myself from the road waiting for a car to come, with two women urging me to ‘GET OUT OF THE ROAD’. Fortunately I had an ambulance on standby fifty yards down the hill whereupon my ‘assistants’ carted me off to Fazakerly Hospital. Involving the NHS has been very important to this performance and has included many participants from Nurses, Doctors, an Anaesthetist, Tea Lady, Cleaners, a bunch of old ladies, my niece Stefanie Cinnamon Young and sisters Philomena Young, Stella Halpin and my old Ma of course. I then brought the piece to London in the back of an ambulance wearing my signature leg brace and plaster. This stage of the performance took me to Homerton Hospital where I worked closely with the Fracture Clinic and Physiotherapy Department over four and a half months. An evaluation of this stage of TRIP allowed me to take my work to a wider public and medical professions, including my local surgery.

Part two of TRIP was again staged in Liverpool on 27th December by me sliding very slowly on an iced up metal grid at ten in the evening, breaking a bone in my right wrist. The participants included my sister and my dog. I felt it necessary to include canines as an under represented minority that has little or no access to performance art. I took the piece back to Fazakerly Hospital and moved it consequently to Homerton in East London. This stage of the performance took place over six weeks involving bone specialists, bus drivers and blood clinics.

The final performance of TRIP took place on 30th May again with my launching myself onto a busy road this time with a taxi hurtling toward me. With a participant shouting STOP THERE’S A LADY IN THE ROAD’ the taxi driver didn’t stop but I managed get scraped up off the road just in time. This event was taken the next day to Homerton where I engaged medical professionals, X Ray department and Hospital Porters. I came away with a broken ankle, broken bone in my hand, a wooden walking stick and an air boot. Participants in this piece included friends with cars and food.

I feel that TRIP has been vital in engaging both the public and the medical profession in an interactive piece that has taken performance art to a wider audience Throughout the year I have taken TRIP to a Wedding, three Memorial Services, a New Year’s Eve party and a Fortieth Birthday Weekend where it has been received with much success. TRIP can be seen at Sunday’s Art Car Boot Fair with The Outside World All Stars.

TRIP ends in two weeks time with the binning of the boot and taking the stick to The Scout Shop. The performance will not be repeated in the near future.

Fundraising Event

June 9, 2015 Catie Halpin Leave a comment

Thanks to everyone for your support and for the pledges on 10th May, for my two forthcoming multimedia exhibitions, Children Carrying Heavy Objects. The shows celebrate the strength of the young and their indomitable will to survive.

With Colin Toogood from The Bhopal Medical Appeal

In the kitchen at A Little Of What You Fancy with Elaine Chalmers

For those who didn’t make it to the fundraising launch, you can still pledge using the PayPal button below. You have until July to make your donation for which you will receive a reward based on the amount of your gift.

Introducing The Outside World All Stars

June 1, 2015 Catie Halpin Leave a comment

Continuing my longstanding tradition of collaboration with artists, designers, performers and musicians I am pleased to announce the brand new line up of The Outside World All Stars or TOWAS if you like. The All Stars comprise some old favourites such as music maestro Mat Ducasse AKA Matty Skylab, those letterpress lotharios Pixel Press Julieta Hernandez Adame and David Vassie, as well as some new and exciting collaborators including the woman of a thousand voices, Fenella Fudge and choreographer to the stars Dame Vanessa Fenton. There are also guest spots from photographers Claire Lawrie and Alixandra Fazzina, along with the tiny dancers ‘The Little Things’ AKA Georgie & Elvis Wallace and many more.

Mat Ducasse and I have worked together on many projects over the years and this new work is the culmination of ideas that have been buzzing around The Outside World since at least 2011. We are both equally fascinated by the seminal 1955 film The Night of the Hunter and have spent many hours picking over the bones of the story and of the making of the film itself. So when it came to creating this new exhibition it seemed natural to ask Mat to work with me to create a brand new score to accompany a libretto in the form of a reading of the book of the same name, to be narrated by Fenella Fudge.

Fenella Fudge although a very experienced radio presenter having being ‘best known as one of the calm voices of Radios 2 and 4’ as well a voiceover and voice actor, is a new member of the TOWAS team. I am happy to say that she will be working on the show, demonstrating her vocal versatility telling the story of The Night of the Hunter, by Davis Grubb for a contemporary audience. Here she is reading from Louis de Bernier’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

The wonderfully talented Vanessa Fenton danced with The Royal Ballet for thirteen years as well as with the Ballet Nationale de Marseille, Roland Petit, with The English National Ballet and with Wayne Sleep at The London Coliseum, before she decided to run away to join The Outside World All Stars to choreograph a piece for the show. I am very excited to be able to be working with Vanessa as she directs and The Little Things (Georgie & Elvis Wallace), in a performance based on the underlying concept of the show ‘Children Carrying Heavy Objects’.

I have worked with Julieta Hernandez Adame at The Outside World since 2010. She has realised many of my ideas as graphics and publicity for shows and events over the years. Julieta first showed her work as a typographer and printmaker at the gallery making provocative verbal challenges through the written word throwing down the gauntlet and the velvet glove all in one searing phrase. For this show she is working with David Vassie at Pixel Press to create the visual identity for It’s A Hard World For Little Things’, with beautifully wrought letterpress editions as well as designing all of the publicity material. I am so pleased to have them back in TOWASland where they belong.

Claire Lawrie is a portrait photographer who has has collaborated with me on photographing some of the young subjects for the show. I have used these as a basis for subsequent drawings.

Terri by Claire Lawrie

Alixandra Fazzina is an internationally renowned photographer who works in often under reported conflict zones highlighting the humanitarian consequences of war. She is graciously allowing me access to her archives to source images from which to create a new drawing.

The Flowers of Afghanistan by Alixandra Fazzina.

There are many others involved in the show who form part of The Outside World All Stars and who are playing vital roles in the production of the show, including Craig Hunt, Rucksack Cinema and The Bhopal Medical Appeal. This is a very exciting moment for me, bringing together this wonderful group of people to work on the first ‘solo’ show of my drawings since 2011.