Sunday Arts Magazine

17 Jan 2022

Sick – presented by Temperance Hall

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SICK provides complicated critiques pervading notions and expectations of artists with disability, in an attempt to reframe the debate. Beyond a definition of physical and mental illness, ‘sick’ contains both negative and positive associations. For Ryan, a person with autism, ‘sick’ implies an impulse to act out of the ordinary with his body and thoughts; to arrange things the way he feels and sees them. Phillip and Ryan turn the negative on its head, taking inspiration in the slang connotations of the word ‘sick’ as ‘cool’ or ‘fabulous’.

Phillip and Ryan work together to meld their disparate quirks, foibles, histories and limitations into a piece filled with dark humour, radical sentiment, sharp social commentary and ever-present dysfunction. SICK speaks about the beauty and awkwardness of moving and failing, as Phillip and Ryan put their mismatched bodies on the line to create this uniquely framed, personally exposing quest for shared grace.

Choreographic quirk is accentuated by the glam-shock meets rhinestone-biker-trash aesthetics of visual artist Jake Preval’s design; a psychedelic gnome garden further sets the scene of Ryan’s indefatigable and visionary imagination.

SICK’s debut at Midsumma Festival at Temperance Hall will move audiences through an entertaining and immersive shared visceral experience, purposely designed to shift perceptions around the capabilities of artists – and everyone – with disability.