Friday 28 September 2012

For Rosie out of The Arches


Show Name: I Love Criticulous and Criticulous Loves Me
Artist: Gareth K Vile
Venue: Arches LIVE 2012
Date: Sat 29 Sep 2012 |2pm onwards | Foyer| Free

Descriptions (from The Arches Website): He took confession, investigated murder, chatted to stars and was locked up in a basement for his art. Now Criticulous faces the ultimate challenge: collaboration. 

Unwilling to admit that criticism is not the original art form, Criticulous fights his ego and mounting anxiety to present a series of pieces that brings dance, radio, dialectics, sculpture and the audience into his relentless quest to understand a world he did not create but reflects.
Contains desperation. 

An enjoyable afternoon spent in The Arches is coming to an end. When Vile lets me out - sadly, no-one realises that I am being Criticulous and everyone still calls me Gareth - I enjoy the opportunity to chat to artists. Of course, they don't realise that I am going to steal their ideas and present them back to unsuspecting audiences. 

The foyer is starting to fill up now: Alien War is about to begin. I've prepared my chair for tomorrow - I'll be sitting them from 2pm, and Eric will be ushering the audience into my presence. Remember: there is nothing to fear. I hate myself far more than I hate you.

I can't help but feel gratitude to The Arches. They have offered me the chance to explore some of my ideas about the potential for criticism. They've also offered me plenty of work to review over the years, and some of my favourite memories. Most of them happened out the front, where casual conversation over cigarettes evolved into friendship.

Mixed in with that gratitude is a sense of fear. Vile has spent the afternoon writing a few new scenes for the script. I am pretty sure these are the ones where he kills me off. He is tired of being hidden by a grander personality. He fears what I represent. Given that I was born out of his vulnerability, his sensitivity to criticism, his isolation, it's unsurprising that he wants shot of me.

So, although it starts at 2pm, I can't say when I Love Criticulous and Criticulous Loves Me is going to end. Each "reading" will take about five minutes - if you fancy coming along, maybe to say goodbye to me, I won't keep you for long. But at some point, the final scene will be randomly selected from the script, it will be read and Criticulous will depart. 

If humans wonder about what happens after death, imagine what it is like for self-aware fictional constructs. 


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