ARCHES LIVE!
Clockwise from left: Demises; Nic Green in Trilogy Part Three; Chronicles of lrania; Quantum Physical; I Samba
As Arches Live! returns to Glasgow for its sixth year, David Pollock talks to new artistic director Jackie Wylie about her vision for the annual celebration of experimental theatre and performance art
ollowing Andy Arnold‘s departure for the Tron Theatre. the Arches‘ new artistic director Jackie Wylie has had a very busy life. ‘lt‘s been crazy timing. because I started my new job right before Edinburgh Fringe mania kicked in. so it‘s been a whirlwind.‘ she says. ‘l‘ve been trying to do a bit of restructuring here. and trying to see every single Fringe show I possibly can. But it‘s exciting too. just getting on with it and looking forward to what we‘re going to do next with the Arches.’ As the Glasgow venue‘s
former arts
programmer. Wylie has plenty of experience of
working on the Arches Live! festival. Indeed. as her previous responsibility was for the Arches‘ visiting arts schedule. Wylie has helmed the autumn celebration of experimental theatre and performance art for four out of its six years.
‘Arches Live! has been my baby for a long time.‘ she agrees. ‘but this one is also a statement of what I want to do with the Arcth in future. The main purpose of Arches Live! is to provide emerging artists. or more established artists who want to take a new direction in their work. with a structured platform on which they can show these works. By showing all these new pieces together within the context of a busy festival. it allows the artists to be bolder. more risk—taking — they know that the audience will be seeing live or six performances in an evening.’
As Wylie makes clear. the festival aims to inspire its participants as much as the audience.
18 THE LIST 4—18 Sep 2008
Artist (ireg (irant. who is unveiling a new multimedia performance of (‘octeau‘s experimental play The Human Voice and a collaborative musical work entitled [(IUIUH this year. agrees that the artists involved become emboldened by a certain strength in unity. ‘Working on my projects at the Arches has presented an opportunity to explore different artforms.‘ he says. "l‘here are no taboos within Arches Live! about crossing over and engaging with different media. and there‘s such an eclectic bunch of people there that it‘s easy to find collaborators from outside your own bank of knowledge and experience.‘
The idea of breaking down boundaries between artforrns is one Wylie is particularly interested in championing at this year's festival. ‘lt‘s about multi-disciplinary ways of working. which are all geared towards pushing the boundaries of what we think of when we consider theatrc.‘ she says. “Under the banner of a theatre festival we‘ll be showing pieces which have their bases in visual art. dance and multimedia. text-based pieces. interactive pieces and much more.~
She continues: ‘As Arches Live! gains momentum. I feel confident in pushing at the edges of what we can do. It's now established as a place where audiences can go to see new work. so we don't need to push the festival as a concept. We can concentrate on encouraging the artists involved to really go for it within their own work. to take courageous decisions.‘