“The early hours of the morning can be the loneliest for an insomniac”
For my FMP, I was looking into long term insomnia and the ways in which it can decay one’s body and mind. I was particularly interested in the manic, delusional and hallucinogenic side of extreme insomnia. Having suffered from insomnia for many years I have developed coping mechanisms such as knitting and crocheting mini webs/ squares every night. I looked into Knit and crochet as a self-soothing mechanism for insomnia, and how the repetitive movements of the needles in your hands can introduce a trance like state. I then went to look at this on the more extreme side; looking into obsessional art as a nightly ritual.
I became interested in nocturnal animals and found out spiders are in fact nocturnal and spin a new web every night….much like me. From this I developed a character who spins a new crochet web nightly which takes them on a new adventure every night as they follow the patterns of their web. Another aspect of my work was looking into the strong anger and frustration one can feel when suffering from insomnia, and how pent up energy and anger can inhibit rest. I wanted to create a ritual character whom would embrace being awake and express their anger through dance.
I decided to make a ‘wake dance suit’ that embraced insomnia in a way that it gets rid of the pent up anger and energy in your limbs. My character dances at different points on their adventures throughout the night and I have named my work the adventures of the manic insomniac!
