Slip and Faint

This participatory work was performed under the guise of a workshop for Rising Festival 2024, based on the format of a “Sip and Paint” session.

Participants entered expecting a wholesome night of painterly fun in which they were guided step by step towards painting a canvass which could take pride of place on their living room wall. What they were met by were two screaming neurotics who were too obsessed with the purity of the creative act to ever attempt it themselves, instead cajoling their participants to show them the way towards a solution through destruction, sabotage and fierce debate.

In the words of one participant: “Its like I finally got the abusive art therapy that I always wanted but was too scared to ask for”. Slip and Faint flows from the attempt of the performers- Geoffrey Watson and Sammaneh Pourshafighi- to understand the transformative role that art can take in ones life so long as we try hard enough, believe diligently enough, and scream loud enough.