Live Art Development Agency DIY Workshop for artists, devised and delivered by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello, London, August 2016

This workshop, supported by LADA’s DIY scheme and partner Artsadmin was an opportunity for participants to ‘Play the Victim’ and indulge in their own weaknesses, led by two artists who revel in being overlooked and pitied for artistic profit. Through a series of exercises and performance activities, participants spent two days exploring and exploiting their vulnerabilities, enacting the most wretched aspects of themselves, culminating in action-based performances in public spaces and a series of mentored film collaborations. Pondering on and wallowing in the ‘pathetic’, participants were encouraged to become underdogs from the moment they introduced themselves, and were invited to play up, act out and under achieve as they found new ways to represent their low-status in order to reclaim it and use it to their own ends.

Playing The Victim was part of DIY 13, the Live Art Development Agency’s professional development programme by artists for artists, supported by Artsadmin.

Images: Playing the Victim (2016), a workshop by Katherine Araniello & Laura Dee Milnes. Photos by Laura Dee Milnes.

Playing the Victim, a workshop by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello (2016)

Playing the Victim, a workshop by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello (2016)

Playing the Victim, a workshop by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello (2016)

Playing the Victim, a workshop by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello (2016)

Playing the Victim, a workshop by Laura Dee Milnes and Katherine Araniello (2016)