'Feral’ is a satirical and critical examination of attitudes towards the positioning of youth post The Riots; presented as a humorous and engaging performance installation taking place on the public square and accompanied by a short film, by London-based artist Jordan McKenzie.
The performance comments upon the demonization of youth in the current political and social climate of the ‘credit crunch’ and examines our attitudes towards gangs, outsiders and those who are seen as attempting to exist ‘beyond the law’. Employing the iconic signifiers of the ‘hoodie’ and bandanna, four girls, sat astride home made white hobby-horses, writhe, canter and trot their way through the city, mixing street dance with ritual and performance art.
Alongside this performance is a ‘late night’ screening of the artist's film, also entitled ‘Feral’. Set against self-conscious images of inner city housing and decay, the horse-gang are seen riding the city to a soundtrack composed by Ain Bailey. The composition was created by employing the Futurist methodologies of Russolo’s Art of Noises (1916) re-engaging with the city as a site of speed and infinite velocity, reframing the territories of inner city estates as sites of adventure and excitement.
Curator: Alys Williams.
Supported by the Bermondsey Square Community Fund.
Jordan McKenzie is a performance artist who also works with drawing, sculpture and installation. He has exhibited extensively both in the UK and internationally including TATE Britain, London; The National Review of Live Art, Glasgow; The Courtauld Institute, London; Museu Serralves, Portugal; and DOLL Exhibition Space, Switzerland. He has received research bursaries from both Artsadmin and The Live Art Development Agency and has had residencies in Oxford, Nepal and the USA. Currently he is a senior lecturer in Drawing at Camberwell College of Art and in Fine Art Practice at Kingston University. He co-curates a performance space LUPA (Lock Up Performance Art) located in Bethnal Green, London.