Homage: A Personal History 1979-2010

Marty St James (Other)

Research output: Non-textual formPerformance

Abstract

Having been invited to participate in the 30th Anniversary of the National Review of Live Art in Britain. Marty St James will present his rendition of Homage, a performance art, video vocal sculpture in time and space..a sense and senseless exploration into language, meaninglessness and the meaningful.
Homage is a homage to:
.all fedora hats, including my own
.my hat maker in the East End of London whom I have been visiting for twenty five years
.my step-grandfather, who stepped out of his First World War helmet into his Fedora
.Rembrandt and his hat in his self-portraits, which I visit as often as I can in North London
.Beuys, whose hat met mine on a number of occasions
.existing, ‘somewhere between the moving and the static’.
.in this context this performance is a Homage to friend, former
manager and part founder of the NRLA, Steve Rogers.

Homage is a video portrait and live performance taking its cues from ‘other’ less popular, often forgotten cultural communities. Based on the notion of connectivity, it is a transmission from one time and space to another with no limitations. The work uses the simple object of a hat to engage the person, the hat representing community. It attempts to address the viewer in a direct but purposeful manner, locating values of being via image, movement and sound, reaching for a sense of consciousness.
People have a high intelligence that is often discredited by systems, institutions and mainstream politics – creativity can release this via technology, tapping into individuality within a sense of place and global community. ‘Communitas’ means 'the same' but at the centre of the same must exist the individual. In a world where global connection can potentially come to demonstrate a sense of ‘flesh isolation’ Homage relates to a sense of personal history (Grandfather), creativity (Beuys) and community in place and time.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 19 Mar 2010
EventNational Review of Live Art - Glasgow, United Kingdom
Duration: 19 Mar 2010 → …

Keywords

  • Performance Art
  • Video Art
  • Video Portrait
  • Live Art

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