Multiple Os

Performance artist Selina Thompson’s work exemplifies how working on oneself can be harnessed to change the world. Thompson began making autobiographical solo performances about stereotypically feminine concerns before moving on to political topics with a capital ‘P’, e.g., racism and democracy, topics that “men write books about”, as she puts it. The first solo performance work of her still flourishing career was called Chewing the fat (2013) and addressed eating disorders; her next two, both made in 2015, were companion pieces, with Dark and Lovely focusing on the tribulations, joys and solidarity of Black hair styling, while Race Cards compiles thousands of questions on the topic of race. Subsequently, her most widely acclaimed and internationally toured piece, Salt (2016), reckons with her identity as a British post-colonial subject by recounting her endeavour to retrace the transatlantic slave trade route on a cargo ship. Her current work, Twine, arguably her most personal piece to date, is the show she previously vowed not to make because the subject matter, her own adoption, was too emotionally fraught to tackle. We discuss the continuities across these works: the defiance of shame, the channeling of anger, her commitment to durational research and development, and how all of the above have impacted her life, for better or worse. 

Selina Thompson (b. 1990, Birmingham) is an artist and writer whose work has been shown and praised nationally and internationally. Her practice is chiefly concerned with grief, love, and the world to come, and she seeks to make work that is visually striking, and lyrical, even while grounded in politics. She won the ISPA Distinguished artist award in 2023, and her credits, both with and outside of her company, Selina Thompson Ltd, include  BBC4, BBC Radio 3, The Royal Court Theatre, The Public Theater and BAM as well as theatres across the UK, Europe, South and North America and Australia.

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Lara Perry, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

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Veteran performance artist and Artistic Director of SPILL Festival, Robin Deacon makes self-disclosing work that deflects easy assumptions about who he is and what makes him tick. This discussion nevertheless locates two consistencies within his life/work: he has a penchant for avoiding rehearsal and a tendency to exemplify his perspective by talking about musicians and music rather than visual artists and art. In this roving conversation, Robin addresses the appeal of varied approaches to autobiographical practice, from the ironically humorous to the earnestly authentic; his feelings about success and mid-career status; the label, 'submerging artist'; and many wise anecdotes from his long and storied teaching career.

Robin Deacon (born 1973 Eastbourne, England) is an artist, writer, filmmaker and curator based in Ipswich. His work, which has toured venues in the UK, US, Europe and Asia, is acclaimed for its innovative approach to the lecture as an art form. In his current role as Artistic Director of SPILL Festival, he emphasises unusual perspectives and untold histories. 

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Photo of Robin Deacon by David Loney
Special Thanks to Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

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This episode features an interview from Oriana's archive - a 2016 discussion with feminist art foremother Martha Wilson whose audacious work explores appearance and subjectivity through self-representation, both live and to camera. Wilson's important work provocatively teases out the relationship between the personal, the institutional and the political to question gendered double standards. Making art in the context of the 1970s when Wilson first started, entailed acting as if she had the confidence to take on the identity of artist, despite creativity being misunderstood to be a male-only pursuit. Galvanised by her detractors instead of discouraged, Wilson's method of faking it to make it, as Oriana points out, is similar to a therapeutic tactic called 'shame attacking'. Therefore, the two discuss the potential for critical, feminist performance art to breed confidence, that is, if artists commit, as Wilson has done, to being anything but pleasant. 

Martha Wilson is a pioneering feminist artist and gallery director, who over the past five decades created innovative photographic and video works that explore her female subjectivity through role-playing, costume transformations, and “invasions” of other people’s personae. As Founding Director Emerita of Franklin Furnace in New York, she continues to help run the artist-run organization whose stated mission is to make the world a safe place for avant-garde art. 

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel
Photo of Martha Wilson by Sara Kaplan

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Visit www.theoshow.live for regular updates or follow us on Instagram. 

Oriana interviews artist Charlotte Warne Thomas about the insights gleaned from the research report she was commissioned to write on the precarious and often unpaid nature of artists' labour. Charlotte shares the impact that research has had on her art practice, which explores the relationships between labour, care and value. She delves into the ideologies behind the notions of meritocracy, 'labours of love' and talent. Matters of uncomfortable self-disclosure, specifically around privilege checking are also discussed. Lastly, the conversation turns to Charlotte's self-presentation online and the admirable frankness with which she discusses her challenges juggling the demands of being an artist, parent, researcher and teacher, as well as her recent bout with breast cancer.

Charlotte Warne Thomas is a London-based artist and Fine Art PhD candidate at Kingston University’s Contemporary Art Research Group (CARG), funded by AHRC doctoral training partner Techne. She is also the co-founder of Peer Sessions, a nomadic crit group for postgraduate artists. She is the author of the think tank Autonomy Institute's Artists As Workers report and the editor of A-N's report "Structurally F*cked". @charlottewarnethomas

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

****Please show your solidarity by joining Artists' Union England!***

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Special Thanks to Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

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Visit www.theoshow.live for regular updates or follow us on Instagram. 

Oriana speaks with artist Nando Messias about the hypervisibility of their trans-feminine identity, the risks this entails and how it informs their work in the medium of performance. Importantly, Messias's work also allows them to live out their fantasies, including performing Pina Bausch's choreography, wearing the gown and going to the ball. 

Nando Messias is a Brazilian-born, London-based performance artist, actor, and academic working between art, dance, theater, and queer theory. Their performances combine beauty with a fierce critique of gender, visibility, and violence. Messias has performed in the UK and internationally, at venues such as The Royal Court, Hayward Gallery, V&A, Tate Britain, Roundhouse, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and ICA. 

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Artworks mentioned:
The O Show: Without sacrificing her femininity (2018) by Oriana Fox, featuring Nando Messias
Sissy's Progress (2014-15) by Nando Messias
The Pink Supper (2019) by Nando Messias and Biño Sauitzvy
Sissy! (2009-2011) by Nando Messias
The Powers That Be (2015) by Cassils

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Photo of Nando Messias by Sofia Natoli
Special Thanks to Gavin Butt, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

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Oriana Fox interviews artist Chinasa Vivian Ezugha about her recent projects and the role her early work and upbringing in Nigeria have played in encouraging her political voice. Fittingly, she is currently developing an ambitious, multidisciplinary project speaking out against the use of food scarcity as a weapon of war; and is culminating her practical and doctoral research on glossolalia. Importantly, she also discusses her tenure as co-director of the Live Art Development Agency in London and the lessons she gleaned about creating safe spaces and the personal boundaries required to enable them. 

Chinasa Vivian Ezugha is a Nigerian-born, British performance artist, scholar and PhD candidate at University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Currently, she is the Assistant Professor of Live Art/Art as Social Practice at New York University, Abu Dhabi. Her current research focuses on the voice of glossolalia and aims to expand this vocal practice beyond the walls of a church. 

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Special Thanks to Gavin Butt, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

Send us Fan Mail

Visit www.theoshow.live for regular updates or follow us on Instagram. 

Artist Chinasa Vivian Ezugha discusses the performance piece Because of Hair, which was a springboard to her career as a performance artist and an activist. The piece entailed covering her face with a hair mask she had constructed as a sculptural object that, when worn, functioned as a catalyst for interpersonal and affective exchange, prompting myriad and often disturbingly violent reactions. Because of Hair reflects Ezugha's understanding of the politics of hair from her perspective as an Igbo woman living in Britain and also prompted her to make new work about the Biafran war, which deeply impacted her family. In other words, the interview explores how self-exposing performance art not only overlaps the personal with the political but also fosters the artist's confidence to have a political voice.

This interview was carried out in 2017 as part of Oriana's research for her Phd on risky self-disclosure in performance art. Recently, Oriana has done a follow-up interview with Ezugha which will drop in two weeks. 

Chinasa Vivian Ezugha is a Nigerian-born, British performance artist, scholar and PhD candidate at University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Currently, she is the Assistant Professor of Live Art/Art as Social Practice at New York University, Abu Dhabi. Her current research focuses on the voice of glossolalia and aims to expand this vocal practice beyond the walls of a church. 

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Gavin Butt, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

Send us Fan Mail

Visit www.theoshow.live for regular updates or follow us on Instagram. 

The tables have turned and our host Oriana Fox is in the hot seat while artist Felicity Allen doles out the questions. The two discuss the medium of the interview; those pesky feelings of shame, rivalry and envy; and the role of humour, seriousness and aesthetics in art. If you're struggling with a mid-career slump or suffering due to the upward comparison that social media breeds, this episode is for you!

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Felicity Allen produces work often collaboratively and over time, in various forms, from painting, writing, print, film and pedagogy as media. She works in the studio, in the social and the institutional. Her career is a manifestation of The Disoeuvre. Instagram: @docflick

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to the Read-Write group, Hilary Robinson, Catherine Grant, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

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Oriana interviews artist Felicity Allen who explains the neologism disoeuvre which she coined to describe her own artistic practice as distinct from a progressive, linear oeuvre associated with so-called 'real artists'. A disoeuvre stretches to encompass what is traditionally excluded from an artist's body of work, i.e. work carried out in institutions and the home, reflecting the adaptability of the practitioner as she responds to the demands of life. The sought-after 'real' artist's oeuvre commands increasing acclaim, while those artists impacted by precarity and contingency experience recognition only sporadically. Thus the discussion turns to these tender and sensitive topics. 

Felicity Allen produces work often collaboratively and over time, in various forms, from painting, writing, print, film and pedagogy as media. She works in the studio, in the social and the institutional. Her career is a manifestation of The Disoeuvre. Instagram: @docflick

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

Please rate and review this podcast to help others to find it!
How to Rate and Review a Podcast on iTunes:

1. First, Search for the Podcast in the Podcasts App. Note: You'll need to look the show up in the app.
2. From Here, Select the 'Reviews' Tab, Then 'Write a Review'
3. You'll Then Be Asked to Log in to iTunes.
4. Then Tap the Stars to Rate the Podcast and Write Your Headline and Review.

How to Rate and Review a Podcast on Spotify:
First of all, you have to log in to your Spotify account, then...

1. Search Podcast pre-installed App on your phone.
2. Hit the “Search” button. 
3. Here you will see “Write a Review” in the top right corner.
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In this long-awaited final episode of Multiple O's Season 2, Oriana shares an old recording from one of the first performances of The O Show. It felt like a good way to celebrate the life of the late O Show staff psychologist, Angela Fox, Oriana's mum. It also works to bookend the past year in which our host devoted herself full-time to being an academic. It features Scottee, our national treasure of live art, podcasting and yoga instruction, confessing to his deep-seated and debilitating academia-phobia. [Spoiler alert: It's not actually a phobia!] Angela shares some sage advice with Scottee and anyone else who suffers from self-doubt, especially in the arena of the intellect. 

Scottee is a self-taught, multi-award-winning actor who has received critical acclaim for his work in theatre and audio. A multi-hyphenate, with a career spanning over 15 years, Scottee has demonstrated an ability to work successfully across art forms. https://www.instagram.com/scotteeisfat

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Introductory Voiceover by John Kilduff, aka Mr. Let's Paint
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Tom Estes, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

***Would you like to see your name in the above credits list? In a couple of short steps, you can make that happen by supporting this podcast via Patreon.***

Please rate and review this podcast to help others to find it!
How to Rate and Review a Podcast on iTunes:

1. First, Search for the Podcast in the Podcasts App. Note: You'll need to look the show up in the app.
2. From Here, Select the 'Reviews' Tab, Then 'Write a Review'
3. You'll Then Be Asked to Log in to iTunes.
4. Then Tap the Stars to Rate the Podcast and Write Your Headline and Review.

How to Rate and Review a Podcast on Spotify
First of all, you have to log in to your Spotify account, then follow these steps:

1. Search Podcast pre-installed App on your phone.
2. Hit the “Search” button. 
3. Here you will see “Write a Review” in the top right corner.
4. You can also give ratings in the form of stars 1-5 (One star for lowest rating and five stars for highest ratings.)
5. Submit your review.

Send us Fan Mail

Visit www.theoshow.live for regular updates or follow us on Instagram.