FERAL - Autumn & Winter

Aim

Circus performance, film & cross art-form project exploring rewilding and the intersection of art & activism, nature & personal wellbeing.

‘To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves our transformed. It is no accident that in the comedies of Shakespeare, people go into the greenwood to grow, learn and change. It is where you travel to find yourself, often, paradoxically, by getting lost.’ - Roger Deakin, Wildwood

About the Project:
FERAL is a year-long cross-artform project by Daisy Black and Gossamer Thread Circus. The project, combining circus performance, short film, original prose and fine art, explores a reconnection with the land, drawing on folklore and ecology around each pivotal moment of the year that has anchored us to the earth throughout history.

The release of each short film marks the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice and features circus performances and original prose by Daisy Black, filmed on location at Norfolk's 1500 acre rewilding project Wild Ken Hill. Original fine art prints are released alongside each film, with live outdoor performances to come. The project is supported by Ockham’s Razor,  Faultlines Dance Network, along with Out There Arts, Norfolk County Council and Arts Council England.

We’re raising money needed for the next two phases of the project - AUTUMN and WINTER.

Throughout this phase we're also working to develop our connection with Norfolk's Wild Ken Hill, and to build new connections with rewilding and conservation organisations throughout the UK to help raise awareness of the importance of rewilding, and to motivate audiences to make positive changes that support their wellbeing and the wellbeing of the planet. 

You can watch the first two parts of the project here:

SPRING

MIDSUMMER

‘Language & imagination, far from alienating us from nature, are our most powerful & natural tools for re-engaging with it. Culture isn’t the opposite of nature, it’s the interface between us and the non-human world, our species’ semi-permeable membrane.’ - Richard Mabey

Audience feedback for 'Spring' --

"It's a powerful language that is needed now."

“An exquisite blend of spoken word, performance art, music and nature. An expression of how humanity reaches for, retreats from, and becomes a part of nature. [Afterwards I felt] incredibly inspired and moved. Eager to return to my own creative projects. Eager to go out and walk in nature. I felt very tired and depleted but now feel invigorated.”

"I wanted to be there, in the woods. It makes me feel that nature and the changing seasons is all we've got, it's everything, it's what we have to feel alive and stay sane." 

Project Aims:

F E R A L seeks to explore the connection between our wellbeing and the wellbeing of the land, and how we might heal both, looking at the intersection of art and activism. We want to use our platform to explore tangible ways we can make positive changes as individuals and communities. 

During 2020 and 2021 many of us have experienced the myriad benefits of re-engaging with nature, which has in turn highlighted the natural catastrophes we are now facing. The insidious disengaging from our place in the eco-system is linked inextricably to our disengagement from each other, with the impact of our actions on the planet and each other. 

Through the F E R A L project, we want to offer ways to reconnect, to incite positive change & speak to the commonality we all share, highlighting the importance and impact of grassroots, community-based action and care, for both ourselves and our environment.

The project also tracks a personal journey of re-habilitation and recovery after injury and management of a chronic illness, marking at each point in the year what's happening in the body - an offering that is unfiltered, raw and honest, and, we hope, might resonate with others navigating similar paths.

“Humans are creatures of habit, and we have seen how ready societies have been to go back to business as usual as soon as the pandemic has given signs of easing off. But the recurrent peaks and the recalcitrance of this crisis are making it clear that the way we live and work needs to change permanently and substantially.” - Lisbet Rausing

How the funds will be used:
The project has received support from The Arts Council England and Norfolk County Council, however the grant doesn’t cover all of the costs associated with the project.
The funds we’re raising here will be used to pay for the costs associated with
- Rehearsal and Development
- Videography & video editing
- Event overheads (EG: hire costs, insurance, stewards etc)
- Marketing & promotion
- Carbon offsetting to ensure where travel etc is unavoidable we are able to offset it.

If we exceed our fundraising goals the extra money raised will be used towards the next stage of development, including a public exhibition in 2022 and the development of a site-responsive touring production suitable for a wide range of locations from metropolitan city centres to remote rural villages and everything in between. The production will be suitable for adults and children and will directly encourage greater personal engagement with environmental and conservation issues and rewilding, encouraging people to connect more with nature locally, we will also work to build links between our audience and conservation groups in each touring location to ensure the show has a lasting, positive impact.

About Daisy Black & Gossamer Thread Circus:
Daisy Black is a circus artist, producer and writer, and has performed aerial silks, rope, hoop, chains and hula hoop all over the world.

She is a member of the international dance network Sanctuary on the Faultlines, where women dance in the wild, and is on the steering group for the Dancer’s Forest, a new initiative by dancer Adam Benjamin with the aim of creating tracts of community-owned rewilded land throughout the UK that also function as cultural spaces.

Daisy is the founder of Gossamer Thread Circus and has produced cabarets and shows since 2012, as well as teaching circus arts to adults and children. In 2018 she created the contemporary circus ensemble production 250 Years of Circus In 60 Minutes, opening the Circus 250 celebrations in Norwich to a sold-out audience at Norwich Arts Centre. Her 2017 duo show, Folie à Deux featuring Daisy Black and Alex McAleer appeared at Jacksons Lane in 2018 for the Postcards Festival. Daisy also has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she was mentored by Ali Smith, and has a background in theatre.

For more information visit :

www.thedaisyblack.com

www.gossamerthread.co.uk

This project successfully funded on 13th October 2021