SCOTTEE: I MADE IT
Image by James Unsworth
This year I am celebrating 10 years of making a mess, causing a fuss and getting ideas above my station with two new publications in collaboration with LADA!
The Outsiders’ Handbook, a free survival guide for queer and trans* young people, and Scottee: I Made It, a swanky archive book documenting a decade of making, failing and trying hard to keep afloat.In my decade of giving it a go I've been an artist, performer, event maker, activist, host, broadcaster, self-proclaimed weirdo, troublemaker, and firestarter, and more. I am many things to many people and I work across a lot of different social agendas – especially queer, fat and working class activisms - and makes lots of different things with all kinds of people, from doing pop-up performance in queer clubs, to staging shows in proper theatres, to gathering folk to talk, to drink tea, and make stuff in community centres.
Image by Holly RevellScottee: I Made It celebrates me as a maker, and marks both the achievement and the influence of my work, but the fact I not only survived the violence and traumas so much of his work depicts, but thrived.Scottee: I Made It gathers commentary and interviews from a huge range of people I have worked with and knows and who have influenced me and been influenced by me (apparently). Contributors include Bryony Kimmings, Travis Alabanza, Kelly Green, Patrick Fox, Charlotte Cooper, Selina Thompson, Ashleigh Owen, Munroe Bergdorf, Michael Segalov, Lois Weaver, Ben Walters, Chris Goode, and Sarah Gallagher, aka Scottee’s mum!
Image by Tim Bret Day
Often the work I make, the type of stuff I do goes under documented, unseen or ignored - it's not the sexy sellout three weeks at the Soho theatre that the sector seems to favour. It's not a flashy, upbeat tour to the major cities followed by the summer season in Australia.
This book is offering a space that acknowledges how I got here, how other working class queers might get here, the legacy of DIY activism and how survival is continual.
Order Scottee: I Made It here
If you would like to attend the London launch of the book with a Q&A, film screenings and readings from the book please sign up here - tickets are extremely limited!
If you would like to attend our Manchester launch of the book with a Q&A between David Hoyle and me please sign up here - there are only 10 tickets left!
I want to give a major shout out to the many people who have helped make this happen - who have created a space to legitimise me! First and foremost Live Art Development Agency for commissioning it, my friend and editor Professor Jen Harvie who I owe much more than a thank you to, designer and long term collaborator Alexander Innes, Scottee team Molly and Roxanne and, of course Holly Revell and James Unsworth for handing over their archives!
