Human flea circus
Originally commissioned as part of the Live Art Development Agency's DIY scheme 2017 and held at The Arc in Stockton.
The film 'The Stockteon fleas' is part of LADA screens.
Catherine worked with five artists on an intensive residency to explore themes of survival and parasitism within the arts and capitalism.
The residency started with a Bread and Roses feast with discussions and exploration about our own and shared histories in relation to economy and resilience and ended with us doing our human flea circus in Stockton town centre.
The human flea circus exhibits our human existence of struggle, hope and endurance as artists and as an action which explores the exhaustion, strength and repetitive cycle of life for those living in precarity; The millions of people on the planet who are trying to get by in order to survive. We are precariously dangling as individuals, in danger of bring swept away or distinguished by political, economic and environmental forces that we don’t have control over. Pulling together we are stronger.
This project will continue with pop up human flea circuses throughout the UK.
Each flea circus will be unique to each family of participants intertwining the sharing of ourselves as people and the struggles we face in a safe and nurturing environment, as well as making our flea circus as an act of resistance and empowerment.