James Andrews

In September this year I'll be presenting my first full length solo venture " I can disappear." in partnership with Melbourne Fringe Festival at Arts House Warehouse, North Melbourne Town Hall.
In creating this work I'll be working alongside Shian Law as Dramaturge and Tyler Hawkins as Set Consultant. 

This new work continues my fascination with the ways we invent, reinvent, maintain and destroy identities, both in their physical and virtual manifestations. In a way I'm examining my own sense of self worth as both an individual and as a creator. I often view my solo performance practice as a kind of self-portraiture and my body of work so far amounts to a collection of "dance selfies" documenting different facets of my personality, my interests and my experiences. "I can disappear." is another piece in this series of selfies.

The main undercurrent of the work is an open dialogue between our western obsession with “the self”, individuality and the curated visual identity that is projected to the world, and the contrasting Buddhist doctrine of anattā - the notion of "not-self" or the illusion of “self”. With this project I'm investigating the importance we place on our physical body, as well as our spirit, and how these obsessions can effect our interactions with, and points of view of, the people around us.

I'm currently devising an extremely ambitious design for the costume, set and lighting (involving a large amount of reflective elements). This is a continuation of my effort to diversify my practice beyond my choreographic and performance work to sound, costume and set design.

The repetition of an image, in a Warholian sense, can reveal something entirely new while simultaneously numbing our perception to detail and, in a way, dulling the images potency while the continued practice of self portraiture by artists such as Frida Kahlo can become transformative mirrors of the body in the makers vision. I currently see this work sitting in a space between excess, solitude, presence, absence, construction and disintegration. (Oh so many contradictions...) 

I don't know if I've said too much or too little.....

Below is a little visual "mood board" featuring just a selection of the creative references that are feeding into this work. (Plus a cute cameo from my nephew at the end!) This provides just a snapshot of the images that flood my mind on a regular basis when I'm creating.


Website: jnadance.tumblr.com
Twitter @jnadance
Instagram @giacomo212

Here are the big ticket items...
SET - materials, construction and transport
COSTUME - materials, fabric and construction
(Both set and costume designs are ambitions but I want to get them JUST right!)
SPACE - for rehearsal
PUBLICITY - printing for posters, postcards, etc.

Remaining funds raised will go towards covering Fringe registration fees, extra publicity and a small contingency.

The main challenge for me with this project is the design elements. Finding the funds to get everything made with the right finish will be a challenge but I believe I have some good people around me who can help me through.