Who is Lee Wilson?
I am a performance maker and co-creator of Branch Nebula. I am an independent artist also working in choreography and performing in other peoples work, including contemporary dance pieces and films. I like eating, cycling, fighting and fucking.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
The possibilities are endless, but I ain’t no dreamer, though I use my imagination plenty. I never liked that be your dreams bullshit. I am doing what I want to do now as best as I can with the circumstances that I live in; the times, and my own levels of ability to push things, but also trying to enjoy life without being too ambitious.
Who inspires you and why?
I tend to be inspired by the things people do, and that inspiration is always shifting to different things. I am not attached to particular people. I like certain films that push the boundaries like Bela Tarr’s work, or Pablo Larrain. I like the work of Belgian Choreographer Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker. Artist Santiago Sierra.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Try to break convention as much as possible. It takes imagination and guts and will effect real change from within.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
I don’t have holidays, only unemployment. When I am unemployed I like to go camping to anywhere that has water – fresh or salt, lots of wildlife and a minimum of humans around.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take then to, and why?
Bunker hunting is cool, they go underground and are pitch black. I also like bush walks that are right in the city, there are a few, see if you can find them.
What are you currently reading?
Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
What are you currently listening to?
Quassimodo, Bambounou, Thundercat, Freiland, Vladislav Delay, A Made Up Sound, Shigeto, Fuck Buttons, Lakker, and Deadbeat.
Happiness is?
Being in a good mood. Mood is important. Do things that improve your mood, work on it and enjoy it. Exercise, humour, sex, food, and music. Stretching and conditioning helps my mood a lot.
What does the future hold for you?
Years of struggle, that will probably become worse as I get older, being an artist.
Lee graduated from University Of Western Sydney, Theatre Nepean in 1991 and has been a major contributor to the independent performance and dance scene for twenty years as a highly regarded performer/actor and director. He has been a board member for Critical Path for two years.
He directed The Football Diaries, which toured to South Africa (2010), and is choreographer on Roslyn Oades’ I’m Your Man, premiering at Sydney Festival in 2012. He was movement director on Urban Theatre Projects’ Last Highway and Back Home, both Sydney Festival productions.
He has devised in the works of Shaun Parker, Kate Champion, Stalker Theatre Company, Acrobat, Legs on the Wall, Opera Australia and Sydney Theatre Company.
Lee is Co-creator and performer in Whelping Box presented by Branch Nebula at Arts House Meat Market 4 – 8 September. For more information, visit: www.artshouse.com.au for details.
Image: Lee Wilson
