In association with Touretteshero eight small-scale works by disabled artists will be premiered as part of the Burnt Out in Biscuit Land national tour. Ruby Addy is the first of the artists commissioned by Collaborative Touring Network and Unlimited and will be performing/exhibiting at Bridlington Spa on the 26th & 27th of April.
Ruby talked to Emily, ARCADE's Trainee Producer. Tell us a bit more about your performance practice?
I am a musician and a visual artist and I like to sort of mix of elements of the stuff I do as a musician and the stuff I do as a visual artist. I think it makes things more interesting for me personally.
Tell us a bit about your work as a textile artist.
I crochet obsessively and I recently discovered a love hot gluing. I'm not very good at drawing so it makes it a lot easier when I can stick a lot of things to a lot of different things and see what it makes at the end.
I make all of my 'single' art, like collage and crochet and then stick it all together and then that is the 'single' art and they complement each other.
In my brain I always accidentally assign a specific colour to a specific song and that is where the 'single' comes from. And also I crochet things and then take pictures of them and then print out the pictures and then stick it on like a collage. I like making things and then looking at them and then taking more pictures and then sticking things together.
What can people expect for you on the night of Burnt Out in Biscuit Land?
I'm planning on doing a small music set and also some visual art around Brid Spa. I’ve got a very large crochet piece and some other collage. I think it’ll be really cool!
Could you tell us something about your identity as a disabled artist and how that informs your practice?
I was semi-recently diagnosed with autism and it sort of makes sense of how I have always approached my art and music. When you get a label, it sort of puts things together a bit better. And since that, I think it's been easier for me to say this is what I do and this is why I do it.
Why should people come and see the show?
I think it's going to be cool. I think the stuff that Touretteshero does is cool. When I was diagnosed, there wasn't anyone that showed it in a positive light except for Jess and I think that’s really cool to be doing this now being 22 and 14 when I was diagnosed. I followed the stuff that she’s done with Touretteshero for a while and it's just really cool.
And of course, in Bridlington, the one and only Ruby Addy will be here, which is why you should definitely come and see the show.
Yes. Thank you very much to you. And we'll see you at Burnt out in Biscuit Land.