The Telling – another shiny, post-apocalyptic reason I never want a ‘proper’ job

I could tell you all about this, “The Telling”, but to be honest I’m not entirely sure myself yet. It sounds fun though. The main thing is that I’ve volunteered for another exciting project, because grabbing exciting projects that may or may not pay the bills is much like being one of those bat-eating kestrel things (Kestrel? Hawk?) that have to snatch their survival as it flies past, as opposed to how having a steady 9-5 with a desk and a phone is like being a domestic guinea fowl in a pen. Living, not always in comfort, but never in boredom. Sometimes trying to find the right analogy is like, like…. oh never mind.

Artwork for Basaglio Centre, Italy, by Run

I’ve thrown my lot in with writer and artist Warren Draper, storyteller and occasional steampunk-evil-circus-ringmaster Tim Ralphs, Dark Mountaineer Iona Hine, Rachel Horne from Doncaster Fringe and, kind of (they’ll be painting the venue up, but it’s unlikely anyone other than Warren and Rachel will actually work *with* them), the amazing artists Run and Phlegm. Guess what? Phlegm isn’t the name on his birth certificate, and he’s also a sculptor. Now you know (although you may have suspected the first bit).

So, what on God’s Green Earth is this thing? Well, The Telling is the brainchild of the aforementioned Warren Draper, a writer, artist and photographer based in Doncaster, who wanted to pull together a series of self created/directed events linking with, and drawing from, the ideas and themes of the Dark Mountain movement. Fairytales for a modern age. The title is I suppose similar to the saying ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’. The truth of the story, is in the telling…

The first event will be held in November, in the wonderfully post-apocalyptic setting of the former Church View art college in Doncaster. Phlegm and Run will be painting up the space this month, and then I guess we’ll have a working party to clear out all the rubble so we don’t end up supplying Doncaster A&E with their broken ankle quota for the whole of 2012.

Imagine this at night, with bonfires and huge murals… Discussing Church View’s post-apocalyptic potential

Tim Ralphs has agreed to perform his “urban fairytale” The Queen of Claywood Flats at the launch event on 10th November. This will involve fire (hurrah!). A larger event in February 2013 will pull in more storytellers from both within and without the Dark Mountain ouvre, musicians, artists, poets, and maybe even a performance chef. Yes, we questioned it too, but it’s true. Performance Patisserie – I bet *your* event doesn’t have that, huh?

More (in a fairly loose sense of the word) details can be found on the Phrase Arts website, and finished publicity for the event will be up there as soon as we’ve, er, finished it.