First performed at Nortons (Birmingham, UK) as part of FIST MASS on 12 December 2024.
FIST MASS was an irreverent Christmas extravaganza curated by artists Foka Wolf and Tat Vision. Reinventing the variety show format in its own special way, the event featured comedians, drag acts, live rock, DJs, games, and unstoppable silliness from the hosts themselves. Participating artists included: Ginny Lemon, Lindsey Santoro, Barbara Nice, Burt Bacharackhams, Maxx Gentleman, SHALLWE, Unique, Gans, and Pablo Pakula.
FIST MASS (a festive divertimento) was performed twice during the event, first on a small platform to the right of the main stage, and later on in the evening on the main stage itself. Divertimento is a word that comes from the Italian 'divertire' meaning 'to amuse'. It refers to a musical genre that, whilst not having a specific form, is usually characterised by being informal or light-hearted, as it was often played during social functions, events or banquets.
Teaser videos created in the run-up to the event:
FISTMASS (a festive divertimento) was conceived as a cabaret or club performance. It belongs to a strand of my work that seeks a direct engagement with materiality. In fact, my first impulse to create the piece was a long-held desire to fist a watermelon as part of a performance. I only retrospectively found out that the watermelon emoji had become a byword for Palestine on social media during the summer of 2024. The Jesus-like outfit was initially intended to simply be a festive wink to the figure of Christ, and was constructed around a crown of thorns I acquired for P33, created in 2016 to mark my 33rd birthday. In doing so I sought to connect Christmas and Easter, as the celebration of Jesus' birth and his death respectively. The necklaces, gold and notes of red in the outfit are a deliberate nod to Catholic iconography and opulence, as well as a reference to conspicuous consumption and excess. Moreover, given to the watermelon's more recent association with Palestine, I am aware the work has gained a heightened and potential political reading. To perform the piece I had to buy several watermelons completely out of season and grown in Brazil (readily available at several main UK supermarkets). Therefore, in this first iteration, the work also had a potential reading related to the climate emergency because it enacted a kind of violent metaphorical 'environmental fisting' - given the elevated carbon footprint of procuring watermelons in the UK in December.