This Summer Adam James will create a new moving image work, entitled The Mudhead Dance. This exciting new piece will be shot over 2 days in front of a live audience at V22 studios as part of Summer Club 2012, this summer.
The Mudhead Dance will be a 30-minute film and is a continuation of my interest in the notions of the ‘outsider’ and the ‘modern day witch’. The project explores past and present themes of shamanism, sacred ritual, and ‘the fool’. Exposing the making processes of film, the work questions how ‘the real’ relates to ‘the fictional’, as well as addressing the role of ‘scapegoats’ within society.
The work focuses on the role of sacred clowns, known as Mudheads, in Pueblo Indian culture, in which a high value is placed on the role of ‘the fool’. This piece of work will question the parallels between the clownish stereotypes and lewd behavior of the sacred Mudheads, and the ostensible outsider of contemporary society.
The new project has two outcomes: a live filming event, to which a public audience can come along and see the film being created; and the finished film itself, which will be screened both at V22 and in various venues accross London and the UK.
Accompanying the film there will also be a series of screenings and guerilla-style performances in public spaces exploring the idea of the modern day witch through appropriated gesture and clowning.
This project builds on the success of Adam's last short film 'The Booger Dance' (2011) - http://www.mradamjames.com/1434982/THE-BOOGER-DANCE
We are applying for Arts Council funding for this project, but we need to raise some match-funding ourselves. As you will no doubt be aware, it is increasingly difficult to fundraise for arts projects. As such, every single penny we can gather through crowdfunding is a huge help. We are hugely grateful for anything you can spare to make this piece of work happen. We really believe that it is valuable and will reach not only arts audiences but unsuspecting passers by in public spaces, widening access and participation in the arts.
The owner of this project has not made any updates yet.
