Can't believe it’s been 8 months since Liverpool Biennial, but lots been happening in my life, went on a lovely 2 week cruise around the Mediterranean with Martin, which included first visits to Rome (fantastic, shame about the hassle from people trying to sell you crap); Ajaccio on Corsica (very beautiful) and Gibraltar (bit of a dive, can't think why Spain wants it..). Came back to find my contract at Dept for Business wasn't being renewed after 9 years (thanks Vince) but I was overdue for a move, had just got lazy there, so took a month off which included a week on the Isle of Man with my sister for TT Race Week which was amazing, so much so that I've already booked for next year and will be signing up to do some marshalling too. Came back and started a new contract at Dept for Education. My flatmate has decided to retire and will be selling up and moving to Somerset, so come next spring I'll be homeless (well in London anyway), I'm looking to buy a house in Liverpool as I feel after 21 years down here my time in exile is drawing to a close and it’s time to head home for good. I've been spending more and more time up there over the last year or so, so feel the time is right to move.
Anyway back to the subject in the title. Back in May I was surfing around t'interweb looking for art projects to get involved in and saw a call for participation for JocJonJosch - it’s the first time I'd heard of them, but after a bit of research, their work looked interesting, and as luck would have it they were having an open meeting about their House (later Existere) project the following evening. So off I went to Battersea and my first visit to Testbed1, an old industrial site full of character, surrounding by the trappings of (borrowed?) wealth in new apartments.
Meeting the team of Joc, Jon and Joschi (ah, that’s were the name came from) I got a good feel for what they were trying to achieve and immediately wanted to be part of the project (and yes OK, I fancied Joc too...) (I can't help having a thing for posh boys) (unrequited I'm afraid and I've since met his wife Tessa who is equally lovely) (Ed: can we get back to the plot please..)
Anyway a few weeks later and it was time for the first rehearsal which seemed odd at first as we worked in small groups but when it came to bringing everyone together it all seemed to fit into place with ease - JocJonJoshch and the choreographer had obviously put a lot of thought and work in beforehand, because it’s always difficult to make something look easy. We had another rehearsal, this time in the performance venue last week and (ok I'm really condensing a lot of hard work into a paragraph here) after a few tweaks we had an almost finished product to show to the public.
The basic premise is to form a human shelter which we hold together against the elements, thus protecting those within. Testbed1 is a very effective venue, being an old derelict and dark space, but with one corner lit from above by a skylight under which we would build our structure. So on Saturday I arrived in the rain and met some of the people I'd met at rehearsal, and some new faces and we split into teams (or columns), which in turn would combine to form the structure. We did 5 performances to different sizes of audience, with the middle performance the most memorable. As we entered the space the rain was falling on the skylight, but as the structure came together, it seemed like the monsoon season had arrived, the sound of the torrential rain and the darkness which descended over the room, meant that all you wanted to do was hold everyone closer together, you became so aware that 60 people, all naked, were at their most vulnerable and the group needed to protect each other, it only lasted for a few minutes, but the emotion of that moment, and the elation when we got back to changing rooms of having performed at just the right moment was a profoundly moving experience.
We performed again on Sunday, a few of the faces were different and we had another mixture of sunshine and rain during the 5 performances. The only problem with being the structure is you can't see the structure as the audience sees it. Existere is only being performed over 3 dates, so just 1 left, next Saturday (23rd July), it’s not being filmed or photographed so the only way to experience it is to get yourself along to Testbed1 to, not just see it, but be part of it. It’s free, just go to
www.jocjonjosch.com and print yourself a ticket. This is a once (literally now) in a lifetime experience which you shouldn't miss.
As with all the projects I've been involved in, I've met some amazing people, from all walks of life. And hopefully will be working with some of them again after Existere becomes just a memory (but what a memory!) for all those involved.
