Psychosis at Scenepool - November 2009

"Two sides to my self, you make me betray myself."

Putting his body at the centre of his work, Thomas uses a minimalistic structure, Butoh based based methods of movement & focus, and a respect for the symbiosis between body and space to explore the self.

Psychosis was first shown as part of ScenePool in February '09. At this point it initially began as investigation into the muted self, taking Sarah Kane's "4:48 Psychosis" as a springboard before becoming a far more personal experience through use of automatic writing and beats from the original playwork. Today the connection to 4:48 seems a long way away and has become a personal journey into self destruction and depression.

"In the company of the self - what does one have left when that starts to erode."

Continuing to use a mix of Butoh, shadow, and live art - the work now crosses between the internalised action and the external action. Therefore the sense of 'destruction' by the end of the work seems colder and lacks a sense of 'performance' in comparison to the journey to it. Now, as the body rises from the floor, the act of cutting has become disengaged and somewhat methodical. The action here is the slow bleed; the engagement (or potential disengagement) between artist & audience during this is open to investigation.