George Murray - MA Performance
The World-Woven
My standing in the world as a queer English northerner has a strong bearing on the motive and stylisation of every work I create. Sci-fi and fantasy raised me like additional parents. My optimism is born from the notions of exploration and kindness instilled in me by Doctor Who and Star Wars. I weave together text, video, sound, music, and finger/hand tutting to build new universes with their own lore and history; kinds of pocket universes adjacent to our own. I offer my audience an exclusive path to escapism without them knowing that the real world will permeate through. I play with dark and self-deprecating humour, embodying the darkest potential of humanity, to explore matters of social justice including but not limited to queer rights, homelessness, mental health struggles and the climate crisis. More specifically, I lend visibility to queer minorities and encourage men in particular to be open about their emotions; the consequences for repressing one's emotions can be dire.
A hope of mine is that my work appeals to other members of a minority and that they feel empowered by my unashamed self-expression. It would also be satisfying for curious conservatives to see my work and open their minds to other ways of life and the mutability of tradition.
Feminism and queer theory are constant lenses through which my work is composed. I avoid preaching to my audiences that they need to change as people; rather, I serve as a caricature of the people who create or facilitate issues in society to expose their ridiculousness from an outside perspective in a controlled environment. The best way to win someone’s allyship is not to yell at them; it is to show them how joyful and ultimately harmless our community is when the world lets us live in peace.
