PROJECTS | Ant Lightfoot Artist

A piece of torn cardboard, showing it's tears and edges. It has text on top of it as if it's on the cardboard itself.

I am developing projects, performances, shows, writing, digital work, workshops, and events about queerness, neurodiversity, death, access, care, religion, and community using live and visual art, comedy, video and film, and performance.

I am running workshops on care, wellbeing and access as well as working with organisations and individuals as an Access Consultant to help make their practice more accessible.

I am currently working behind the scenes with poetry, writing, and music in the hopes of developing a new strand of my creative practice.

If you're interested in any of those, have any questions, or have some access needs of your own, feel free to drop me a line (DETAILS HERE)

handwritten text in black marker pen, it reads: "Currently:"

The back of an envelope that says at the top, in black handwritten text: "ACCESS"

ANT'S ACCESS DOCUMENT

This is a live, ever-changing document detailing my Access needs in relation to my neurodiversity and queerness.

I am passionate about creating truly accessible spaces for making, networking, collaborating, and removing barriers.

I am currently navigating what my own access needs are alongside my collaborators.

A piece of receipt paper with various black and red pen scribbles on it, it's mostly being obscured by images of Ant

A photo of Ant performing. He is in the front room of a house with stairs behind him. He's wearing black jeans, a black shirt with colourful patterns on and a cardboard box on his head with cross eyes and a big, open, sad expression. We can see people gathered and smiling at him.

AM I A TERRIBLE PERSON?

AIATP is an uncompromising, autobiographical, and darkly comic look into the mind of someone living with OCD and Depression. It’s about failure, fucking things up, and how it feels to be a 20-something artist with increasingly intrusive and overbearing mental impairments. The piece aims to celebrate the discussion of mental health and our wonky brains in a light-hearted, touching, and always candid manner.

I have been using the impact from the pandemic to re-imagine AIATP for online video and am currently hoping to extend the piece to an hour-long show to be streamed online.

A piece of masking tape that appears to paste the image of Ant to the page.

MUM(ME)

Originally born as a cabaret-inspired performance unpacking childhood trauma and the intersection of wanting to be a mother and be mothered yourself, mum(me) explores our ever-evolving relationship with our queerness, the limitations of self-care & capitalism, and a desperate want to be listened to and understood by someone; anyone.

Combining elements of Live Art, drag, the electric energy of a metal gig and a Zoom call, mum(me) issues is a funny, intense and messy performance shining a light on the effects of complex PTSD, neurodivergence, and how to cope when you're feeling isolated and helpless.

This piece has been supported by RAZE Collective's: "Let Us Raze You" commission, resulting in a 7-minute film and is building towards an hour-long solo show. Work-in-Progress showed at Camden People's Theatre 2021 and Tobacco Factory Theatres 2022.

LINK TO FILM

A photo of Ant leading a workshop. He has a short dark fringe, dark beard, blue jeans and a black hoody with a bit of white tee beneath exposed. He's holding a sign that says neurodivergent, and a small cartoon brain prop. He is smiling.

WORKSHOPS

Ant is on a mission to empower people to be radically kind to themselves. He is invested in providing artists with a safe, supportive environment to play, be funny, silly and remove preconceived ideas of achieving perfection in their work.

Ant has run several workshops on filmmaking & vlogging, devising autobiographical performance, and more recently, has been running sessions on access, care and wellbeing; geared specifically for anxious and neurodivergent artists. Ant aims to give people the tools needed to enter the arts sector while always placing their wellbeing as the priority, as well as learning how to advocate for themselves.

Ant has run sessions for University of Worcester, FlatPack Festival, Summer in the City and Tobacco Factory Theatres.

A piece of brown paper with a red cross (or plus) on it. It reads (positive) thoughts in black handwriting

A piece of masking tape that appears to paste the image of Ant to the page..png

A photo of a poster Ant made and displayed in the streets of Bristol. In large, bold black text it reads: "STOP GIVING UP", but Ant has covered this in masking tape and handwritten on top, saying: "LET IT GO IF IT NO LONGER SERVES YOU."

VISUAL ART

Ant is constantly scribbling and doodling. You can expect naïve drawings, text-based works, lots of masking tape and full immersion into failure, crossing things out and making work for enjoyment- perfection is the enemy.

Pictured: A piece of Ant's shown in Bristol as part of #WhoseFuture Campaign with Rising Arts Agency

A still from Ant's film: "AM I A TERRIBLE PERSON?" he is topless and lying on a colourful bed. he is looking up at the camera. He has a dark fringe, a dark beard and a necklace.

VIDEO

Ant has many years of filmmaking experience including making content for his personal YouTube channel (and collaborative works), promotional video and short/experimental film work.

Proficient in Adobe Suite ie: Premiere Pro, Photoshop, InDesign.

Pictured: AM I A TERRIBLE PERSON? 2020

LINK TO YOUTUBE

DON'T KILL THE SPIDER

During the COVID crisis, we've been constantly surrounded by death. Unable to travel to see my 96-year-old grandmother, I took to phone calls to start to talk with her about death. How we can accept it, embrace it, learn to cope with it. Can we ever be ready for our loved ones' deaths? Our own? I plan to talk to as many people as possible and get friendly with death.

A piece of masking tape that appears to paste the image of a piece of cardboard to the page.

A piece of black duct tape that appears to be sticking the image of Ant below to the page

A piece of black duct tape that appears to be sticking the image of a visual piece of Ant's below to the page. The piece reads: "Let it go if it no longer serves you"

A green post it note saying: "special skills include: turning any situation into a depressive episode, worrying and sweating in my sleep."

black pen handwriting reading: "i'm sorry"

A tiny crudely hand drawn portait of Ant

I have had support from:

A scribble in black pen and just beneath hand writing saying: "i like this pen"

a stick man with a giant structure made of squiggles and scribbles coming out of the top of its head.

An underline signifying the bottom of the page made with hand drawn black pen.

HAREM PANTS

“I realised I had depression when I found myself bartering for a pair of Harem Pants on eBay.” A performance exploring candidly open and dark discussion of mental impairments and suicide through comedy. Experimenting with a blend of live and pre-recorded audio to find objectively funny and relatable content surrounding mental health presentations.