Pulling Strings

Two Speakers, Two Worlds & One Unexpected Conversation

with

Jane Hoodless (artist)

&

Rachel Warr (theatre director & puppeteer)

After a whirlwind mini-tour of Europe, we'll be back upstairs at The Devereux in London on June 3rd bringing you another evening of great ideas and unexpected conversation with two fantastic speakers.

We’ll be joined by Jane Hoodless, a multi-media artist drawn to surreal marriages of objects and ideas, storytelling, and the more uncommon aspects of social history. Seeking new or unexpected narratives, Jane aims for her work to exist in a timeless space where centuries of hopes and fears are probed, plundered and repackaged to challenge and comfort, provoke and enrich. At the core of her practice, Jane is interested in why people do what they do – though more usually, why they did what they did. She’ll be talking with us about the role of fabrication, authenticity and research in her practice, and how topics such as Victorian criminology, the social significance of hair, the history and hysteria surrounding menopause, and the (un)natural world have fed into her work.

From there, Rachel Warr will lead us into the world of puppetry. A writer, director and puppeteer, Rachel will explore puppetry’s range, the techniques it requires and the artistic paradoxes at its heart - illustrating through live demonstration, what she believes is taking place both conceptually and psychologically when watching puppetry in action. Rachel will then show us what happens when puppetry reaches out into the world off-stage, sharing examples of her cross-disciplinary work in fields such as medicine and product design. She’ll draw out the surprising parallels between puppetry and these areas, showing us how the sharing of knowledge and expertise across such wildly different disciplines can provide benefits for both, provoking questions about entrenched practices, inspiring new work and offering a fresh perspective for resolving problems.

We never know where the evening is going to go until the conversation begins so come along and join in, it’s bound to offer some fantastic, thought-provoking fun!

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Rachel Warr is a theatre director and dramaturg who specialises in puppetry. Her work has been presented at venues across the UK as well as internationally in France, Germany, Bosnia, Romania, Czech Republic, Turkey, Singapore and Canada. Her work has been awarded a Royal Television Craft and Design award and nominated for an Ivors Classical music award. She has worked on a range of interdisciplinary projects, in particular collaborations with clinicians, scientists and product designers. She is a member of the Art Workers’ Guild, a Performer in Residence at The Centre for Performance Science, and Artistic Director of Dotted Line Theatre.

instagram: dottedlinetheatre

web: centre for performance science

web: art workers guild

Jane Hoodless is inspired by the criminal, the cultural and the curious. She has combined words and images all her working life; as magazine art director (Tatler, Opera Now, Esquire), scriptwriter, and visual artist, the latter for almost three decades.

A member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and heritage properties such as The Freud Museum, The Horniman Museum, Somerset House, The British Library, Arter Istanbul, and is in several public and private collections both internationally and in the UK.

web: janehoodless.com

instagram: janehoodless

above image - Rachel Warr

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