OTHER

We are very grateful to have been part of such a powerful day at "Gathering" held by @performance_platform_london alongside @tactilebosch @sgor_score @bbeyondlive temptingfailure @siteforperformance . It was a necessary day of discussion, networking, workshops and food, ending with a collective jam. A big thank you to everyone who showed up and got involved. ❤️🔥🙏

In April 2023 OTHER came together in Wakefield for the first time to explore, collaborate, and discuss the issues that concern them around access, inclusion, diversity and to perform, whilst allowing space and time for each other’s needs and preferences. A series of psychogeographic tours and dérives around town, along the canal, and into the woods, allowed for the gathering of found objects, which then formed a shared locus for the groups improvisations and solo actions. A rusty broken trolley fished out of the canal and carried back to the gallery as a hard won trophy provided the necessary initiation. The figure of the trolley became an altar, or totem pole around which actions evolved, and a psychopomp for a set of aesthetics and relationships to; family, sustenance, survival, neglect, compulsion, consumption, belonging and alienation to emerge. Thank you to @thearthouseuk for having us, and @weareunltd for the micro-commission that made it all possible.

BBeyond - Glocal Intermissions, celebrating 50 years of performance art in Northern Ireland. 11/25 A month on and the depth of our experience in Belfast is still landing. Standout moments included a group unity walk/performance jam, sharp presentations, generous conversations and an abundance of care. It was the kind of gathering that leaves you changed. Deep gratitude to every soul at @bbeyondlive [and beyond] who held space so generously and allowed such a poignant, meaningful occasion to unfold.

‘Spoons’ - Pierce Starre (@piercestarreartist ) Pierce methodically washes and dries silver spoons, placing each one down with deliberate care. Between each cycle, they pause to wash their own face, symbolising and speaking to the internal masking, struggle, and self-soothing routines often experienced by neurodivergent individuals. The repetitive actions consider the exertion of mental and physical energy, reflecting the relentless nature of coping mechanisms. The work was first explored in August 2023 at the Centre for Live Art Yorkshire in Leeds (@clayleeds ) as part of OTHER, supported by Unlimited Micro Commissions (@weareunltd ). This further exploration seen here took place at ASC Canalside Gallery, London (@ascgallery ), in the summer of 2024. Documentation: Ian Whitford (@weeks_and_whitford )

‘Kicking The Can’ - Weeks & Whitford (@weeks_and_whitford ) Rubbish collected from the area over days formed the basis of the dystopian installation that this apocalyptic scene played out over. Ian moved around listening in the wreckage for signs of life, putting on found clothes, and wearing post cards full of memories of places and people, as they were before the end times. At points fragments of bodies were visible poking out of the piled cardboard boxes and plastic bound breathing was laboured. An end times Adam and Eve sat together stirring rotten apples in a pot. The clock was broken and is unfixable. Precious soil was held over Rebecca’s face, belly and breasts, and her lap was sewn with dead flowers and little bulbs that fell away. The morse code for SOS was written invisibly on the wall and wiped away with tears. Veiled actions of grief, mourning and animalistic nurture unfolded by the water. The last child was laid to rest in the water of the canal. Documentation: @piercestarreartist and @samm.shackleton

‘Portal’ - Samm Shackleton & Pierce Starre (@samm.shackleton @piercestarreartist ) Born from a weekend of shared exploration at The Field, Derbyshire, ‘Portal’ traces a connection between two artists through contrasting experiences of addiction and survival. The door became their motif. Both barrier and passage, separation and meeting point. Two mirrored images marked their exchange: two bodies, two truths, held in reciprocity. Since the first iteration, Samm and Pierce have continued to revisit the work. When Samm later relapsed and relocated, the original door was lost. A new one now stands in its place. A living threshold through which the collaboration continues. In July 2024, it featured in this performance for camera at ASC Gallery, London, as part of an OTHER residency. Photography: @weeks_and_whitford

‘Feeder’ - Samm Shackleton and Ian Whitford (@samm.shackleton @weeks_and_whitford ) Drawing on the shadow logic of ‘Hansel and Gretel’, Ian and Samm moved through cycles of feeding and being fed upon, tracing compulsions, care, control, hunger, and insatiable appetites. Bread and butter. Offered, devoured, returned. Becomes both sustenance and sacrament, consumed and transformed, then stitched back together; a ritual of taking and giving, loss and restoration. (A sound score built from a stuck record player and the ‘BBC Classified Football Results’, produced by the duo, looped in the air. Droning, measuring. Familiar voices collapsing into trance.) Big thanks again to @weareunltd and @clayleeds for their support and help to realise this work. 
Documentation: @piercestarreartist

Group performance - ‘Foot Of Our Stairs’. (@weeks_and_whitford and @samm.shackleton ) Gestures gathered and dissolved; slipping, spilling, folding into one another. The improvisation held us in states of becoming. Not yet finished, not quite undone. In morphic, non-binary relations we traced intimacy as both fragile and fierce, a rhythm of catching and letting fall. What emerged was less about choreography than about surrender- immersion in the immediacy of one another, the small peace that is glimpsed in the ungraspable present. Formed in a ‘non-productive’ residency at @clayleeds , following on from the residency at @thearthouseuk . Taking the pressure off as it’s own method- absence of product becomes presence of practice.

@piercestarreartist - ‘Dress’ Dress is an exploration of non-binary gender and the challenges that members of the LGBTQ+ community face in a society that often discriminates against them. The artist, who hails from a city where hate crimes against the LGBTQA+ community have increased by an alarming 900% in recent years, bravely confronts the deeply ingrained societal norms and expectations that can make it difficult for individuals to express their identities. The artist alternates between a masculine and feminine garment every minute for an hour in public space, creating an artwork that explores the audience’s perceptions of gender and identity. Through this performance, the artist invites the audience to question their own perceptions of gender and to contemplate the experience of those that fall outside of the traditional binary construct. With wellbeing and invigilation support generously provided by @samm.shackleton , Nicholas Ball and @weeks_and_whitford , the performance took place over 6 days in 3 cities; Wakefield, Liverpool and Athens. 

This work was developed through the ‘Inhabiting Time’ Workshop led by Marilyn Arsem () organised by @ecc_performanceart , and then further developed during the @other.performance residency at the @thearthouseuk , made possible with the support of a micro-commission from @weareunltd .
 “Does he want to wear women’s clothes?” “Is he alright?” “You look pretty, lad *wolf whistles*.” “You need to shave your legs, lad.” “You should go! Not here! Go to a park or something! This is Liverpool City Centre!”
“This is disgusting! He is wearing a dress and there are kids around here!” “He has got bigger balls than me, I wouldn’t do it. Fair play to him. Maybe I would do it after a few skins.”

In 2023 OTHER received funding from @weareunltd to embark upon a non-productive residency. Our first residency, which took place at the @thearthouseuk in Wakefield, was an opportunity for us to come together and discuss the challenges and barriers we face as a collective of marginalised artists. Our aim was to create a safe and supportive environment that prioritized empathy, care, and best practices. Through collaboration, we explored ways to overcome these challenges and create a space that is inclusive and transformative.