Documenting Failure - Episode 5 - Key References
Key references:
In order of hearing the reference in the podcast.
Bobby Baker- Bobby Baker's acclaimed intersectional feminist practice includes performance, drawing, and installation, and persistently exposes the undervalued and stigmatised aspects of women’s daily lives, exemplified by pioneering works such as Drawing on a Mother’s Experience (1988) and Kitchen Show (1991), which was recently acquired by the Arts Council Collection.
Selina Thompson Ltd- Internationally-acclaimed, Brummie, Black & disabled-led performance company.
Selina Thompson- Selina Thompson is a performance artist based in the United Kingdom. Her work is focused on the way that identity shapes our lives and intersects with politics.
Surgery- Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass), to reconstruct or alter aesthetics and appearance (cosmetic surgery), or to remove unwanted tissues, neoplasms and foreign bodies.
Pronouns- Often, when speaking of a singular human in the third person, these pronouns have a gender implied -- such as “he” to refer to a man/boy or “she” to refer to a woman/girl. These associations are not always accurate or helpful.
Crocs- Crocs is a world leader in innovative casual footwear for men, women and children.
Autobiography- An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights.
Evolutionary Biology- Evolutionary biology explains diversity between species by analyzing changes in a few individuals within a population over multiple generations.
Expert- one with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject .
Live Art- is a cultural strategy to make space for experimental processes, practices, and the bodies and identities that might otherwise be excluded.
SPILL- SPILL is an artist-led international festival of experimental theatre, live art and performance, presenting the work of exceptional artists from around the globe.
Mentor- a person who gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person especially in a professional or academic context.
Pat It and Prick It and Mark It with a B- Pat It and Prick It and Mark It with a B was a durational performance, originally conceived for Spill Festival of Performance, performed at the National Theatre Studio and developed in collaboration with Bobby Baker. A special revival of the piece took place in November 2014 as part of Compass Live Art Festival in Leeds Corn Exchange.
Arthritis- Arthritis isn't a single disease; the term refers to joint pain or joint disease, and there are more than 100 types of arthritis and related conditions.
Exploitation- the use of something in order to get an advantage from it
Bookers- Booker is a market leading wholesale provider in the UK.
Pret- Pret a Manger is a British multinational sandwich shop chain founded in London, England in 1983. It is popularly referred to simply as Pret.
Ovalhouse- Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW.
Dark & Lovely- Dark & Lovely was originally developed with the residents of Chapeltown Road, Leeds. In the six months leading to the final performances, Selina rooted herself in salons and beauty shops in Chapeltown. Collecting the stories and opinions of those she spoke to, Selina explored afro hair: it’s politics, it’s connotations and what it tells us about being Black, British and Young in the UK today.
Hidden Disability- What are hidden disabilities? Some disabilities don't have physical signs so we cannot always tell if someone has one. Hidden disabilities include autism, mental health, acquired/traumatic brain injury, sensory processing, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, partial sight and hearing loss.
Fine Art- Fine art encompassed painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and poetry.
Drawing On A Mother’s Experience- Originally intended as a one-off performance work to make sense of the first eight years of motherhood, Bobby Baker’s Drawing on a Mother’s Experience gained widespread critical acclaim and went on to be shown multiple times over the next 12 years. Having learned caution as a mother and the ability to think ahead, the performance sites Baker as a meticulously prepared action painter, who has substituted oil paint and canvas for a double bed sheet and various foodstuffs. Poking fun at her male predecessors (artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and others) Baker’s revelatory commentary interrogates domesticity, motherhood and the role of the artist, using each ingredient to represent a specific event or episode in her recent personal history.
Arts Admin- Artsadmin is a company of creative people working with artists to develop and make performance projects for local, national and international audiences.
Kitchen Show- Bobby Baker live production made in collaboration with Polona Boloh Brown. Kitchen Show took place exclusively in working kitchens, beginning with Bobby Baker’s own. Baker decided to open her kitchen to the public to display and perform one dozen routine kitchen actions.
Grant- Grants are non-repayable funds made up of donations from people and/or organisations that are managed and distributed by community foundations.
Arts Council England- They are the national development agency for creativity and culture. We help people in every corner of the country to experience and benefit from creativity.
Daily Life Ltd- Established in 1995, and led by founder and artist, Bobby Baker, Daily Life Ltd. makes art that explores and celebrates everyday life and human behaviour.
Perimenopause- The first sign of the perimenopause is usually, but not always, a change in the normal pattern of your periods, for example they become irregular.
Mark Storor- Mark Storor is an award winning artist who works in the space between live art and theatre.
Robert Lepage- The multidisciplinary artist Robert Lepage is all at once an actor, a director, a playwright and a stage director. Hailed by international critics, his original, contemporary and unusual works, inspired by recent history, transcend borders and challenge the standards of scenic writing, particularly through the use of new technologies.
Jane Austen- Jane Austen was an English writer known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.
Virginia Woolf- Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device.
Ageism- Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age.
Madonna- Madonna Louise Ciccone[a] (/tʃɪˈkoʊni/ chih-KOH-nee; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Queen of Pop", she is known for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. Through works that explored social, political, sexual, and religious themes, she broke gender barriers in popular music while generating both controversy and critical acclaim. Madonna has had a significant socio-cultural impact across both the 20th and 21st centuries and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Queen Mary- Queen Mary University of London is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London.
Creative Fellowship- short term explorative placements that bring creative practitioners into research settings and encourage new conversations across disciplines.
Storm Darragh- Storm Darragh was an extratropical cyclone which severely impacted Ireland and the United Kingdom in December 2024.
Salt- Salt is a deeply moving account of a young woman grappling with the afterlife of slavery and colonialism. The artist in Thompson creates a performance that somehow makes the overwhelming and unsurmountable bearable for her.
Christmas- Christmas is a Christian holy day that marks the birth of Jesus, who Christians believe to be the Son of God.
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice- Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer disabled femme writer, organiser, performance artist and educator of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma ascent. This the fifth book of six, a collection of personal and political essays that examines disability justice and interdependence from a queer POC (person of colour) perspective.
GP- General practitioners (GPs) treat all common medical conditions and refer patients to hospitals and other medical services for urgent and specialist treatment.
Box Story- Remembering Pandora (from Greek mythology), Bobby Baker opened one giant box to reveal ten others – containing foodstuffs and household products. She presented these one at a time, telling true stories from her life which connected to the contents of each box. The stories were all about misfortunes – some insignificant, some catastrophic. They were recalled in chronological order and accompanied by commentaries sung by a choir of nine singers, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook.
Epic Domestic- EPIC DOMESTIC is Bobby Baker’s artistic mission to fight gender injustice, connect communities, and challenge the unequal division of domestic labour in the home. Inspired by activism, propaganda, and the untold stories of women all over the world, EPIC DOMESTIC is a quest to create a Domestic Revolutionary Party fit for the 21st Century.
Alchemy- Alchemy was a form of speculative thought that, among other aims, tried to transform base metals such as lead or copper into silver or gold.
NPO -National Portfolio Organisation- The National Portfolio is our regular funding programme for arts organisations, museums and libraries across England.
James Leadbitter- the vacuum cleaner is the name of a UK based artist and activist who makes candid, provocative and playful work.
Socialist- a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
Communist- Communism believes that wealth in society should be commonly owned by all individuals. A communist economic system has a planned economy and public ownership of industries. In a planned economy, the state owns and controls all means of production such as land, capital and labour.
Democracy- Democracy is a framework of governance built on the principle that power resides with the people.
Patriarchal/Patriarchy - ruled or controlled by men; giving power and importance only to men.
Hierarchies -Hierarchy describes a system that organizes or ranks things, often according to power or importance.
Manifesto- A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government.
Ableism- Ableism is a word for unfairly favouring non-disabled people. Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against physically or mentally disabled people.
PA- Personal Assistant
Access to Work- Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start or stay in work.
Carer- A carer is a person of any age who provides unpaid care and support to a family member, friend or neighbour who is disabled, has an illness or long-term condition, or who needs extra help as they grow older.
Freelancer- someone who is not employed by any one organisation but does particular pieces of work for different organisations.
Alice Wong- Alice Wong (March 27, 1974 – November 14, 2025) was an American disability rights activist and writer based in San Francisco, California. Dedicated to amplifying the voices and experiences of the disabled community, her career focused on challenging systemic ableism through storytelling, advocacy, and community organizing.
Disabled Oracles- A "disabled oracle" refers primarily to a metaphorical concept used by activists, notably Alice Wong, to describe disabled people as prescient, insightful figures who foresee the future of society, particularly regarding crises, technology, and health.
Capitalism- Capitalism is an economic system where productive goods are owned by individuals or companies and used to earn a profit, while workers earn only wages.
Chronic- is continuing or occurring again and again for a long time. Chronic condition, a condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects.
Accessible- able to be used by everyone, including people who have a disability.
Burnout- Burnout is the physical or emotional exhaustion resulting from chronic workplace stress. It can have symptoms from generalised fatigue to depression and insomnia.
Government- an organisation that officially manages and controls a country or region, creating laws, collecting taxes, providing public services, etc.
Politicised- to make something or someone political, or more involved in or conscious of political matters.
Feminist- a person who believes in feminism, and tries to achieve change that helps women to get equal opportunities and treatment.
Culture Central- A collective voice for arts & culture in the West Midlands.
Radical Listening Week- Radical Listening Week brings together cultural workers, freelancers, organisations, and communities across the West Midlands to explore what equity looks like in practice.
National Lottery- The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom.National Lottery players raise more than £30 million a week for good causes across the UK.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha- (born April 21, 1975) is a Canadian-American poet, writer, educator, and social activist. Their writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans. A central concern of their work is the interconnection of systems of colonialism, abuse and violence. They are also a writer and organizer within the disability justice movement.
Piepzna-Samarasinha is queer, non-binary, and disabled.
Solidarity- Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes.