FERAL DUNOON OUTDOOR ARTS RESIDENCY

Suzi Cunnigham

BACKGROUND 

Feral and Dunoon Burgh Hall are collaborating on a new outdoor arts residency aimed at Scotland based artists interested in developing outdoor or site-specific projects responding to the landscape.  

Both Feral and Dunoon Burgh Hall have a track record of programming and producing dynamic artistic work for outdoor contexts.  This collaboration stems from an interest in stimulating resources for artists to cultivate and present artistic work that happens out-with the limits of physical buildings and offers a lens to re-imagine public space.   

2022 RECIPIENT: SUZI CUNNINGHAM AND NOMOSS COLLECTIVE 

Suzi Cunnigham is the first artist to take up residency with Feral and will be working to develop ‘Ophios Puppet’, inspired by Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis, more commonly known as zombie-ant fungus. This fungus infects ants and changes their brain functions, causing it to leave its colony and affix itself to the underside of a leaf where it is paralysed, until its eventual death. The final act then begins with a mushroom (the spore-bearing fruiting body of the fungus) fruiting from the ant's head, culminating in an exploding of spores onto the unsuspecting colony below.  

Enthralled by this story Suzi has been exploring how to recreate this and other incredible stories of the underground, examining the creatures and fungi that live within it. Suzi will work with her long-term collaborator Nomoss to investigate the sound, movement, true textures, tastes, struggles, adversities, triumphs and journeys of the minute life embedded and threaded all around us in the landscape of Dunoon. 

Nomoss collective comprises of:  

Suzi Cunningham, a performance/dance artist and influenced by Butoh, uses the body as a transformative tool to connect.   

Ruairidh Morrison, a musician and sound artist, uses bass guitar and effects pedals to produce a transient backdrop of sound.  

Lucie Yavruturk, a writer, singer and voice artist, uses words and sound to merge the experience.   

“We wish to research and amplify the importance of fungus and insects, and symbiotic relationships for biodiversity and the natural landscape to thrive, including us in it. We feel the best way of doing this is to tell tales that could make the audience feel and see that our bodies are only one step away from being a fungus or an ant ourselves.”   

CREDITS

Producers: Feral 

Image: Suzi Cunningham. Photographer: James Duncan.

Feral’s inaugural  Outdoor Arts Residency is held in collaboration with Dunoon Burgh Hall and is funded by Creative Scotland.