Adam James: Lecture

I turned to larp as an art practitioner because it seemed to solve - or at least offer a forum for the possible solution of - certain problems within my collaborative practice; the authorship of collectively derived works, and a desire to capture meaningful losses of intentionality.

Whilst I don’t claim to have found concrete answers to the above, Larp has at least, brought about a significant shift in my practice. What I consider to be a move away from performative virtuosity, towards immersive functionality, and a widening of what I’d consider to be cinematic.

Larp is a new way to bring artist, subject and object into the same space. It provides a new set of tools, and a dynamic methodology which actively uses fictional otherness to talk about real world connectedness.

For me, larping is about losing yourself. It’s about stepping outside of the ordinary; experiencing moments of strangeness, forging beautiful, painful, upsetting, hilarious and challenging moments with often, but not always, complete strangers.

Bio

Adam James (b. 1978) is a British artist. His works use larp, performance, film, sculpture and installation to play with the concept of the outsider. Through the immersive structure of larp, James invites audiences to characterise and unite opposed groups, forces or objects. James works use enforced physical hindrance to evoke a state of otherness, leading to divergent reconsideration of social and cultural difference. James is interested in the attainment of new empathetic states achieved through playful interrogation of the cinematic space.

James received his BA in Fine Art at the University of Brighton in 2003. In 2007 he completed his MA in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art. In 2017 he worked with the Serpentine gallery to produce a larp based resource to help children deal with transitioning to secondary school. During his time in London he helped to establish the now thriving Nordic larp scene, cross pollinating artists, directors, larpers, dancers and gamers. He is currently researching Larp as participatory practice at the University of Kent. He most recently exhibited as part of SMACH, an international arts biennial set in the Italian Dolomites.