Notes:

“MauMau Blood Dreams” explores the origins of story…and why the fairytale? A deceptively fluffy subject. America has fables and folklore but the European fairytale-fable dominates media narrative, theatre, film, literature, politics, visual art.

In Spain, archaeologists recently found rocks covered in neolithic designs. They describe hunts, conflicts and tribe (gossip) story. After studying the symbols and researching, I realised the designs morphed into the local word-of-mouth folklore in the Bronze Age. Unusually bloody, savage, brutal stories, they are surreal, scary, and like dreams they make no sense. In the 17th century the tales were re-written for sophisticated audiences and transformed into stylish, dream-like, magic fairytales with happy endings.

“The folktale is the primer of the picture-language of the soul,” in the words of Joseph Campbell. The folktale, myth, song is rooted in our collective identity in the largest meaning of the word. I wonder why we keep telling ourselves these stories? And I wanted to see how far I could push it - and decided to cut-up and make new stories, reversing roles, outcomes. Hoping to explore new narratives through which we can visualise a different world future.