The best of both worlds : a busker's opera : Research and Development

Matthews, AE; Burtin, L

Abstract

This research and development project, funded by Arts Council England and supported by University of Salford, East Street Arts (Leeds), ARC Stockton and Emergency Festival (Z Arts and Word of Warning, Manchester), explores value and social mobility in the UK from the perspectives of two expatriates.

The output is both a performance - part cabaret, part lecture, and part participatory experiment - and an artist's talk/workshop around articulating value and alternative economic models.


Informed by our backgrounds as expatriates, the piece takes as its starting point the perceived and real differences between the socioeconomic models in France and the USA, and how the UK seemingly meets in the middle. We are currently in the R&D phase of the project thanks to funding from ACE. We’re investigating the performativity of street market trading (including busking), barter, ‘pay what you decide’ approaches, time banking, and out-sourcing.


Using the archetypes of the 1930s French street singer and the 1950s American door-to-door salesman, this work-in-progress blends poetic text, data, song, and recorded interviews. In addition, the piece conducts live experiments with its audience, inviting them to pay for extras, become professionally-paid performers for 5 minutes, and participate as shareholders in our show.

• Exhibition Performance Type: Performance
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 9, 2015
• Related Public URLs: http://leoburtin.co.uk/portfolio/bobw/
• Additional Information: Projects : The Best of Both Worlds Research and Development