Me and Penny Arcade (triptych)

Yes, it's the weekly Vile existential crisis! We don't really need to go into the exact reasons behind the dour face and the moaning emails to friends who would rather be hearing about... well, anything rather than the doubts of a man who has set himself an impossible task. Let's just say I am disappointed that I didn't get into any of the categories for the Creative Scotland Awards...

On the positive side, I do have a massive interview with Penny Arcade, and I'll have enough material for another half a dozen articles before I decide to release the unadorned text. And I have been looking for a good place to put her final message to me - and the readers of the blog. I think it's perfectly framed by a spot of my misery. 

Getting something like this in my inbox is thrilling: I have only ever seen Arcade perform once - but I reckon I can nip into The Albany on my way home for Christmas this year - but she is one of the personalities that fascinated me as I was being seduced into my love of performance-that-will-not-fit. When I opened this email, it was like having William Burrough's Words of Advice for Young People turn up with a new dedication, just for me.

I will say this to you and to everyone who reads your blog:
Notice your fears, your longings, your dreams, your nightmares. Face them as soon as possible because they will be with you always and the sooner you enter into a real relationship with all of yourself the better. 

Aim for a rigorous inquiry, a rigorous honesty with yourself. Respect your own development. Believe me, it is worth it because we all get stuck with ourselves for life. 

Amor Fati, the love of one's own fate. You have a fate, you know? No one escapes that. Build the life you want, build the person you want to be. It is okay to have heroes, to understand how others have created themselves as humans and as artists but don’t just copy and hope for the outcome you want. 

Actively pursue your innate values because values must be grown by each of us and they are bought and paid for on the installment plan of life though our own experience. There is no one like you. Isn’t it wonderful? You are in competition with no one when you choose to develop yourself. But you have to choose this over and over. It never stops being an active choice. Ever.

Okay, so I am being a shameless fan-boy here: but that is kind of the point of being a critic, at least for me. It's part of the job to voice concern, to identify those parts of an art-work that don't function, to assess the impact and skill. More importantly, however, is the need to be inspired, to believe that art has a purpose. If I stop believing that, if I stop being enthusiastic about artists, it's time for me to get back in the classroom and teach Latin grammar.

Anatomy Seeks Artists, Vile Seeks Credit

It must have been Arches Live! 2011 when I predicted a future pantomime emerging from the grotesque cabaret of Ali Maloney. When the call-out for Anatomy's third Live Art inflected, cabaret style evening went out, I immediately contacted Maloney, claiming that this was my idea.

Here's the press release.




PANTOMIME FOR THE END OF TIME

Friday 14th December 2012
Summerhall, Edinburgh

CALL OUT FOR PERFORMANCE PROPOSALS

Following on from the sell-out successes of of ANATOMY #1 and #2, we are delighted to announce our return to a more regular spot. ANATOMY#3: PANTOMIME FOR THE END OF TIME is the first in a regular year-round programme of our spectacular performance variety.

A contemporary take on the music hall variety show, ANATOMY is a
platform for performance artists of all disciplines. Beyond scratch,
it creates a stage for risk-taking performance and breath-taking
theatrics in Edinburgh’s exciting new multi-arts venue, Summerhall,
within a historic anatomy lecture theatre.

ANATOMY seeks proposals from theatre practitioners, artists, dancers,
music makers and destroyers, sculptors, story tellers, film makers,
clowns, poets, photographers, mimes, installations, painters, weirdos
and burlesques; the abstract, the comical, the terrifying, the
sublime, the unfathomable, the beautiful, the life-changing and the
oddly mundane.

Proposals should be for pieces of 5-20 minutes in length.

There is, as the more eagle-eyed may have noticed, a vague theme for
ANATOMY #3. Celebrating both ‘the season’ and the pre-scheduled end of
all life and existence as we know it, we would welcome proposals
involving, responding to or becoming a PANTOMIME FOR THE END OF TIME.
This theme is loose and you are free to use it strictly, loosely or
not at all; adhering to the theme is not a deciding factor in
selection.


If ANATOMY is somewhere that you and your art belong, please download
an application form and return, completed, as a single file, by 9th November 2012 to:
anatomynight@edinburghpeergroup.com

Selected acts will have access to rehearsal space in the week before
the show, technical support, and a small expenses budget of £30.

For further information, please contact
anatomynight@edinburghpeergroup.com, or visit here
The deadline is Friday 09 November 2012 at 00:00.


Unfortunately, Maloney had, in fact, called his Ratcatcher "a dark pantomime" and I was simply stealing his idea. Artists can apply to perform without worrying that any profits made will be ending up in my pocket, and my lawyers won't be in touch.