Philip Lee

21 May 2005
Cecil Sharp House, Camden
London

Part of May Fete With A Twist at Cecil Sharp House, Camden, London - Home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Presented by the EFDSS and
the Stacked Wonky Dance Company.
Curated by Sarah Shorten and Alison Trower

May Fete with a Twist - an afternoon event of performance art, photography, painting, sculpture and dance; along with a range of stalls and happenings in a programme that played with tradition.

During the six hours of the Fete the artist, housed in a small corridor, undertook a range of activities all using clay and his own naked body. Starting with a life drawing session Philip Lee posed for Stephanie Lamb, who drew his torso repeatedly through the afternoon. The drawings becoming an element of a joint display linking Philip's installation-performance with Stephanie's photographic display. Stephanie exhibited large-format, detailed photographs of tree trunks. The photographs emphasized the human resemblance and linked with the new life and pagan Spring theme of the Fete; suggesting a link with the Greenman motif of traditional May fetes.

As the afternoon proceeded Philip progressively covered his body in watery clay or slip coloured with mars-violet pigment, at each stage printing on paper. The paper changed from loose sheets on the floor to seven-foot long sheets; from torso prints to full-length body prints; from simple single pressings to a process involving Philip rolling against the paper covered walls. This element of the performance Philip calls Stable III.

The performance concluded with Slip IV: Stephanie covering Philip from head to toe in white slip. The white slip was applied over the coloured slip and then wiped off to reveal the coloured slip below. Philip stood atop a low plinth until the fete closed.