Blind Scouse, 2021

Publication, Audio, Performance

Liverpool Biennial 2021

Blind Scouse is an interactive performance by Abbie Bradshaw, featured in the collaborative publication Enzyme #2: Life Systems with artists Jorge Menna Barreto and Joélson Buggilla at Liverpool Biennial 2021.

Blind Scouse explores the act of cooking through a performative lens, framing this everyday activity as a form of playful performance that can be engaged with by the viewer. The step-by-step guide uses instruction as an artistic strategy, challenging conventional movements and the routines of daily life. Through her time-based works, the artist employs her body and selected props to provoke questions about human and non-human interactions, and the rituals that emerge from repeated encounters and mutual positioning.

The performance publication was taken into the community, where residents, community groups, and participants of diverse backgrounds were encouraged to come together and use the publication as a framework for creating their own interpretations of the performance. This community engagement emphasized the collective experience of making, eating, and sharing, transforming the everyday act of cooking into a space for dialogue and connection. As people gathered around the act of cooking, they exchanged personal stories and memories, deepening the shared sense of place and identity, and highlighting the ways in which food can serve as a medium for storytelling and cultural exchange. Through these interactions, Blind Scouse became not just a performance, but a living, evolving conversation within the community.