Unperforming: Workshopping a comedy night by artists

Please follow link to register for the workshops

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unperforming-workshopping-a-comedy-night-by-artists-tickets-367490954337 

Dates:

Video intro will be sent to participants

Workshop 1 – 10.00am – 4.00pm 12th July (at Newbridge)

Workshop 2 – 13th October (at Laurels)

Performance at Laurels – 13th October

This project is part of the ArtHouses:22 programme and is hosted and supported by The Newbridge Project. For more information visit arthouses.net or get in touch at arthouseswb@gmail.com

Artists Fritha Jenkins and Louise Ashcroft love pease pudding stotties so much that they are coming all the way from that London to mentor a group of North-East based artists through the process of developing and performing a short comedy work at a special edition of their famous art comedy night Unperforming, taking place at Laurels comedy club in Whitley Bay.

Unperforming is a funny live art night showcasing work by a selection of artists, which Louise and Fritha have hosted for ten years, at venues such as Artsadmin and Milton Keynes Art Centre. For this special edition, participants will be mentored through making their live works, using objects and ideas relating to their practice, from which comic possibilities will emerge for showing at the event.

You will be required to bring materials and objects that interest you, and to work with each other to spark off ideas through a series of creative games and challenges, involving improvisation, writing, speaking and gesture.

The resulting short, live works can be individual or collaborative, and will be shown together during the public event, with opportunities for online mentoring sessions leading up to the event.

Participants are committing to attending four elements: an online meet and cuppa in late June, a 1-day workshop on 12th July, one or two online mentoring meets during the Summer, and a 1 day workshop in early Autumn the day before the comedy night itself (13th October).

Great for artists and other creatives who use humour, and those looking to shake up their conceptual and material approach.

Overview of project:

1. An informal initial introduction on zoom (late June/early July evening, 1hour) where Louise and Fritha give an overview of the project to potential participants, chat about their practices and how they can develop ideas around humour and comedy through the project.
2. The 1st workshop (12 July – 1 day) will begin to explore humour and comedy in live art practices through a practical hands-on session, sharing materials and ideas. Participants will be asked to bring props / materials that they want to use to promptly storytelling.
3. 1 or 2 open zoom support sessions with Fritha and Louise will be available to participants in the next period where they are independently developing material and ideas from the 1st workshop (total 4 hours)
4. 2nd workshop (13 October – 1 day) will share the work Louise Fritha and the participants have developed together, and prepare for performance at Laurels.
5. Performance at Laurels (13 October evening)

Practical

Participants will need to bring props/materials to the 1st workshop (see above)

ArtHouses has a small budget available for support with travel costs, please get in touch at arthouseswb@gmail.net if you are coming to the workshop and need this support.

About the Artists

Louise Ashcroft is an artist who tells funny stories through video, performance, radio, bad watercolours and sculpture. Often, her work involves analysing sociological content (like the Argos catalogue, call centres, tech culture, the reproductive industry or breakfast), contextualised by her own personal experiences. Her TEDx talk Shopping and Subversion is available online, and she has made several ‘Boring Talks’ for BBC Sounds. Louise has exhibited at Frans Hals Museum (NL), Museum of London Lates, Tate Learning, Wellcome Lates, BQ Berlin, Arebyte, Bobinska Brownlee, Open Space Contemporary, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Artsadmin, Turf Projects, Duckie, Coastal Currents Festival, Supernormal Festival and Latitude Festival. She teaches Fine Art at Goldsmiths, London and cofounded the free peer-led art school AltMFA in 2010.

Fritha Jenkins is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, film and video, music, digital platforms, sound, sculpture, gesture, text, and installation. They’ve performed and exhibited work widely, including at Fringe Film Festival, Frans Hals Museum, ArtHouses, Blenheim Gallery Leeds, Toynbee Studios, Pumphouse Gallery, Art Night London, Chisenhale Dance Space, Modern Art Oxford, Guest Projects, Supernormal Festival. Collaboration in one way or another is integral to their practice. Fritha has facilitated goings ons – alone and with others; in parks, along rivers, in universities, community centres, hospitals, care homes, kitchens, schools and theatres. In 2020 they received an AN bursary and in 2018/19 were a recipient of the Pete Lloyd Lewis Award, Chisenhale Studios. Fritha has an MFA (Distinction) from Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, a BA(Hons) in Fine Art (Goldsmiths College, University of London) and co-founded AltMFA (DIY artist led alternative MA).

This event is part of Practice makes Practice, an artist development programme run by artists for artists and the wider arts community.