Secret Art Powers with Jo Randerson

I was fortunate to read an advance copy of Secret Art Powers, so I have my own thoughts about it, but I started our interview by asking Jo what readers can expect.

“The creatives and artists who’ve read it have experienced validation,” Jo said.  “When I was writing it, I thought creatives and artists don’t need to read this.  It’s stuff they already know, but the artists who have read it say it makes them feel seen and heard.  And those who aren’t artists or called toward a creative practice have said they feel inspired.”

Jo explained that they were trying to mark out a place on the map that doesn’t get talked about enough, especially since COVID.

“People are always talking about stability and security and there’s this kind of risk aversion that comes around times of crisis.  This book is trying to place us in a more brave, courageous risk-taking place, where we honour our instincts.  It’s quite philosophical.  I’m not trying to offer a book that tells you how to be an artist – other books do that, like The Artist’s Way...,this is more broad principles.  

“I don’t think I’m saying anything new, in the book or putting anything out there that isn’t already there. I feel like I’m articulating deep, human principles that have been pushed under the surface and forgotten about because we’ve absorbed this western, patriarchal, consumer culture model.

“Principles like toughness and strength get valued so much, whereas vulnerability is so important.  Openness and flexibility.  The business world talks so much about being agile, but artists really know how to do that.  It’s a funny mix at the moment because I know New Zealanders really value the arts, but there’s such resistance to funding it.  Artists were so celebrated and loved during COVID but are still so under-resourced.  They’re like this pool that society leans on so much, but it’s exoticised and mystified.  I guess I’ve just dug into the core principles I’ve found in my arts practice so far and am trying to articulate them in a way that other people can see and value .”

Secret Art Powers began its life as a series of live performances, I asked what the process was to get their ideas from that iteration into a book.

“I always knew I wanted to write a book.  In a clown process, you make something up and show it to people really quickly and get feedback, then adapt.  You always have audiences that you respond to.   This is different to a lot of theatre processes where you make the thing in secret and then reveal it to the world.  I felt like in writing, I wanted to do the same.  So, I decided to do these live events to test the philosophical ideas I had in front of an audience.  The original goal was to talk about one power at a time, and pair me up with someone who is an exemplar of that power. They might totally disagree with me, and it could end up as a debate.”

Unfortunately, COVID cut this performance series short and rather than have one event per value, several were rolled into one and others had to be cancelled.

“We also made short animations.  There’s this awesome artist from Greytown, Stephen Crest, and he made the animations with me. In the same way that speaking my thoughts on stage helped me test out my ideas, making the animations was another.  We had to condense each chapter into about 30 seconds which meant I had to make it poem.  It was a great challenge.  The whole process has felt spiky, like an octopus – it has all these arms to it, and they’ve all been growing at different times.  Sometimes writing the poem helped me figure out exactly what a chapter was about because things kind of naturally grouped together. It took a while for all the strands to emerge, but all the iterations helped it grow and become clearer.  The book itself is another iteration because it has illustrations in it and that added another layer“We crowdsourced the illustrations.”  Jo explains the vision of her designer; Sarah Maxey whose input shaped the finished product.  “We had six sessions with kids, adults, anyone who wanted to come along and we’d ask them to, say, draw a moth eating through clothes, and we’d give them three minutes to come up with something.  It was so much fun, and I feel like that was another arm in a way.”

I asked Jo what their aspirations are for the book.

“My first ambition is to get it launched and read by some people, get some feedback.  Quite a few people have said they think it could go further, so I’m interested in that too.  I feel like there’s stuff in there that could resonate outside the New Zealand context.  The world is a bit lost at the moment, yet there are some beautiful pieces of solidarity happening, especially in America.  I guess my greatest hope is that it could help people hold onto the things that are important to them.  That’s why the last chapter is about imagination and hope.  I almost call it faith, this power we need right now to say ‘things could be different’. We’re closing in on it.

“I know what I’m saying has a political edge to it.  People often say there should be no politics in art, but that’s not right.  Art might not be overtly political, but for me, it exists in a warmer layer underneath the surface.”

Almost every chapter in the book has a section about clowns or fools, and I asked Jo if this was a reference to the way in classical literature it’s always the fool character who can see and articulate the truth in the way wiser characters can’t.

“Yes,” she said.  “There’s that character and archetype that I deeply love.  And it’s about comedy which is never seen as high art, yet some comedians are the most incredible crafters of story.  People like James Nokise and the way he manages to weave his storytelling with politics and emotion and make it accessible.” ”

Finally, I asked what’s next for them.

“Our show, Speed is Emotional, begins touring next week, so that’s really important to me.  It’s weird that both these projects have birthed at the same time. It’s partly intentional, because we wanted the book to be available at the show.  People have asked if they’re related, and at first, I said no.  But when I thought more about it, they kind of are in a way.  Speed is Emotional is an even more personal exploration of some of that stuff. In a way, writing the book helped the show come out.  So that’s what’s next.  And like I said, I think there’s more to do with the book.  Like a radio presentation or something.  Maybe a return to the stage with all six powers?”

Whatever comes next, I have no doubt it will interesting, exciting and above all, creative.

Secret Art Powers can be purchased through Barbarian Productions.