Crawl Me Blood is inspired by the work of Jean Rhys, whose book ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, expounds the landscape and complex race relations of post-colonial Dominica.
Presented by Vitalstatistix in association with Aphids
“It was a wild place, untouched, above all untouched, with an alien, disturbing secret loveliness. And it kept its secret. I’d find myself thinking, what I see is nothing – I want what it hides.” Jean Rhys
Crawl Me Blood is inspired by the work of Jean Rhys, whose book Wide Sargasso Sea, expounds the landscape and complex race relations of post-colonial Dominica. Jean Rhys languished in obscurity until a radio play of her work drew attention to her exceptional talent as a writer.
This ambitious work in development, which will include a radio docu-drama, live artwork and sound installation, uses the sinister eden of the tropical garden and the gossip-ridden, music-blasting medium of live radio to explore the myths we make of paradise.
The atmosphere of Crawl Me Blood is that feeling of being lost and alone on the dance floor; of when a bombshell drops as a relative tells you something hideous about your own family; that uncomfortable gripping and crawling when you experience your own racism. The work takes its name from a saying that ‘what crawls your blood’ are the secrets you sense but are not told. In Belizean Kriol this phrase is akin to saying ‘it gave me the shivers’.
As this year’s Adhocracy residency project, interdisciplinary artists Halcyon Macleod and Willoh S. Weiland will work with ten South Australian artists to explore the theme of ‘longing for paradise’, including romantic notions of landscape versus reality and dislocation. The collaborators will create short audio works, which will be integrated into a mockup installation. Adhocracy will enable the team to experiment with a dynamic layering of audio and visual worlds, and physical experience.
The work-in-progress, as a participatory experience for audiences, alongside artist talks by the team about the residency and the work, was presented as part of Adhocracy 2015, over three nights.
Supporters
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
This project was assisted by Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts.
