Mr Clevver
2010-11

Tasmania, Australia

Commissioned by Contemporary Art Spaces Tasmania (CAST), Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Mr Clevver, a traveling sculptural artwork in the form of a puppet theatre, is on an unhurried tour of the less-traveled side roads and small rural settlements in western and north-western Tasmania. Moving slowly through the landscape, Mr Clevver uses only the spectacle of an un-fashioned 1960s truck drawing a hand-built humpy and the 'bush telegraph' to attract locals to their shows. Word of mouth signals the company's arrival at rural settlements, where they make camp and spread the word that a performance shall take place the next day. A troupe of puppeteers (Tasmanian artists, Andrew Harper and Pip Stafford) represent 'the outsider' visiting town unannounced. They also give entertainment, provide insight through myths and stories and find new stories to become a part of the show. Working with the Morisons, the artists perform puppet shows that blend factual recall with fiction, merging information into a narrative that builds on the mythology of their own lives and also the lives of people they encounter.
Out of its time, part medieval part futuristic, Mr Clevver is an evolving work about the coming together of different people in differing places.

* Mr Clevver is based on a character from the post-apocalyptic novel, Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, first published in 1980.