SELF HELP
SELF HELP
(research & development)
images © Mark Philip Simpson
During a week of research at Shawbrook Dance, I explored the questions “what is the armour we build around ourselves?” and “how do we cope?”. I worked with David Ledger to explore who we are together and the daily act of performance we call living. We carefully craft the restrained, palatable caricatures of ourselves, knowing that we are acceptable, as long as we are not too powerful. What does this do to us psychologically? The ideas that emerged encompassed laughter as a coping mechanism, hyper-britishness as a social protective mask and the inevitable outpouring of suppressed rage. The research process was documented in stills by Mark Philip Simpson (below). With thanks to Shawbrook and Arts Council Ireland.
