Performing The Tragic Ballad of Charlotte Charke at The Bethnal Green Working Mens’ Club.
“…there is no one in the World MORE FIT THAN MYSELF TO BE LAUGHED AT.”
I am Margaret (she/her they/them), a performer and maker living and working in London. I like the awkward language and expressions we use to signal to others the myth of what we are. I enjoy the childish performances, both comic and absurd, of identities trying to stay coherent despite being in constant flux. Acts of silliness, futility and disruption appeal to me as ways of experiencing the constantly failing sense of self. Through drag and clowning, puppetry and caricature, language games and improvisation, I want to experience the ego’s fragility and failure.
Using absurdity to create characters, situations or stories is my way of making abstract challenges to any expectation of success. We are taught to function properly by finding patterns and structures, but I want to avoid becoming a slave to my limbic system. Silliness helps to access pointlessness, a higher purpose for life.
Selected experience
The Weight of Air | Exhibiting artist | 2024 | Hosted by ONG Sciaena on behalf of the European-wide project, Faro, Portugal
Bear with Us | Performer | 2024 | Ugly Duck, London
A Healing Opera | Performer | 2023 | Bordeaux, France
Robyn & Margaret present… | Creator and performer | 2019 - 2024 | The Bethnal Green Working Mens’ Club, London
Beta Society: Digital Maker Collective | Exhibiting artist | 2019 | Tate Modern, London
Queer Art(ists) Now | Exhibiting artist | 2018 | Rose Lipman Building, London
The Invisible Salon | Creator and performer | 2017 - 2018 | Various venues, London
NoNothing Salons in the Dark (with Oreet Ashery) | Collaborative storytelling | 2017 | Publication presented at The Whitechapel Gallery, London
Apparitions: The Appearance and Disappearance of London Art in the Marble Cave of Gadime | Exhibiting artist, publicity and catalogue designer | 2015 | Gadime, Kosovo
Koekje | Exhibiting artist, publicity and curator | 2014 | Broadway studios, London
Education
MA with Distinction | Fine Art | Chelsea College of Art & Design
MA with Distinction | Creative & Critical Writing | Sussex University
BA 1st Class | Music and Visual Art | Brighton University