Rebecca Leivers 3rd year Fine Art

 Halloween aka Samhain, the Irish word. the tradition of trick or treating comes from the tradition of children making and selling soul cakes door to door. the idea to appease souls of unrest and help them to cross over. Lots of Irish settled in America and the roots of these tradition's grew and changed. Its still an important date in the pagan calendar. I carved a pumpkin based on my devil doll / Obby Oss character

I took the bird costume on holiday to Dorset with me in October half term. My friend lives in Poole and she drove us out to the beautiful shell bay which is a national trust protected beach access via the chain ferry. I thought the colours of the bird matched so well with the sea sky and beach colours it was a really good location, I especially like the shots in the sand dunes as it looks like a desert like. the image are really just to show the movement in the costume and seeing how the environment effects the narrative of the costume at this stage. As pigeons are found in all locations in the uk this costume while out of place in its strangeness is never out of place in context.   see links below Link to short videos of costume Link 2 Costume   Tide marker on the beach. Perfect blue colour so used for some photos. Beheaded bird.  sand dune beach scape.

, Is the bird an offering? Has a folk feel to it in the way it feels part of a story.   I love the set up , her dress blends into the sky.  what was happening in the image? natural setting and feminine character. https://rfotofolio.org/2023/02/18/ray-bidegain/  interview on rfotofolio website about his work and found it an interesting read. Images are very cinematic,  strong narrative undercurrent and sense of mystery.   film stills.

  I follow both these fanzines on Instagram so I was delighted to see them in physical stock in the Nottingham contemporary gift shop.  I brought the "Samhain" edition of hellebore as its contains lots of articles about devil folk lore.  I chose the " Ritual" (Summer aisle) edition of weird walk magazine as that's its about the Wicker man film which I found so visually inspiring for my folk project. I really like the illustration, photography and print styles of these magazines. They are low fi, B movie, feel that suits the cultish vibe of the zines Front cover, I like the concept of film fanzine. The subject of this magazine is "weird walks"- each edition based in a different English rural location. This edition is based around summer isle the fictional  Scottish island that was the location for  wicker man film. Gives me the idea to make one around my songs as fanzines are so often related to music and bands too. This image of one of the film charact...

  Video link Straw boys , Derrylin Co. Ireland From the BBC archives this documentary from the early 70's looks into ancient customs and folk traditions of the UK. I was familiar with most but this one was new to me, The straw wedding is a rural Irish custom dating back to the crusades.  My interest being in the common use of disguise to bring forth merriment,   Like over sized party hats! The use of straw was in someway to showcase the craft skills and also about availability, using what  what materials were to hand I think the strangeness of the masks worn over black clothes along with the loss of identity in the group setting looks really sinister. I took some stills from the film, below, and made a sketch of them carrying the bride. I love the image of them knocking the door with a stick. It's like a horror movie, though the actual event is a celebrations,  part of the custom does involves threat as its considered bad luck not welcome the straw boys to ...

Straw boys - Ireland   

 " Our festivals are for everyone, They’re a celebration of what it means to be alive, to be human, and that’s all of us. If we start excluding people, then they’re for none of us.” Tanya Moodie ( The change, Channel 4)  The current folk revival in the mainstream continues in my last project I spoke about Shane Meadows' psychedelic folk dram "The gallows pole" The next folk TV drama offering is "The Change" written by and staring comedian Bridget Christie. It's about a woman experiencing menopause in a  midlife coming of age story, using rural, folk culture to explore many contemporary themes from climate change to gender and race equality...and its really funny.   Female story telling, reframing  narratives and not buying into the over the hill, invisible middle aged woman inevitably that has been sold to us in the past. It's good to see this narrative in the mainstream and told via the weird and wonderful world of folk feminism. In regards to my p...

The dried corn soaking to make it pliable for weaving. Tutorial in my technical file. First attempt. wheat crown is a staple folk / rural image. Thinking about harvest. Sustainability. Abundance. Working with natural, avaliable material's.  "Corn mother" My mum modeling my  attempt at a wheat crown  The finished crown. Used a tutorial from YouTube. It's quite a simple technique once you get into the rhythm. Needs to be tighter and more even.but played for a first attempt. Its really more about engaging in the activity at this stage. Trying the traditional crafts and see where it leads and how I can adapt yo my work. A costume/ accessory for a video or simple sculpture maybe Inspired by this song that I wrote recently  " my god is the sun" Thinking about the old gods the sun fire energy summer harvest  

      Thinking about my last project and how I wanted to move it forward in way that would work with creating visuals to accompany my own music. I've been wanting to create some mask sculptures since visiting the making mischief exhibition and my following research on folk beasts and costume continues. Looking again at the  Boss Morris , a popular, contemporary , all female Morris side from Stroud who have animal masked musicians and mascots who accompany them . Im also thinking about the Minehead Obby Oss that I found so visually striking in my last project. Looking back at  the ritualistic use of animal  masks in the wicker Man film and The personification of animals generally in most folk culture and mythology, to mask or enhance aspects of our own nature, An aspect that was sanitised by the Church like so many pagan practices in the UK .Perhaps in an effort to control the wayward celebration of the old gods and introduce a faith that puts man above...