La Petite Veste Militaire
Heidi Lefebvre, Urchin costume for The Miserables, 2018. Fabric hand sewn by the artist, dimensions variable. Photographer: Nicholas Aloisio-Shearer.
Heidi Lefebrve and Katy B. Plummer
Perhaps we like to imagine the author, Monsieur Victor Hugo, would have approved of the rollicking heartbreak of the musical that is Les Misérables. It is second only to Agatha Christies The Mousetrap as the longest running musical in the West End. Are we tired of it yet? No flippin way. Just as Joseph Ignace Guillotin proposed a more humane method of execution, these artists propose to execute some high kicks for revolution. They prepare; the sewing of a banner while listening to extracts of the Victor Hugo text read in the style of "reading theatre" , a form of expressive, exploratory recital. Sketching portraits whose expressions are mid orgasm or death dive. Heidi Lefebvre and Katy B Plummer propose to host a rebellion at Tributary Projects. A meeting where demands will be formulated; sung hard. Hearts broken, Skulls cracked and at the end of the day, a comprehensive manifesto for an alternative form of governance will be drafted.
The condensed iteration of Les Mis '18 (shown at Kudos Gallery and curated by Luc Letourneau), La petite veste militaire brings together these two artists rebel songs.
Katy B Plummer makes video, sculpture and installations. She looks for the moment that fervent conviction and striving either ascends to glory, or tips into bathos.Basically, she likes high drama with its pants around its ankles. She tells complicated stories about love and revolution and she can often be found pretending to be some kind of animal.
Heidi Lefebvre makes drawings, costumes, props and writes short plays. Exploring themes of performance and arts place in history, she cross references literary imagery with popular cultural. The results are installations that look olde worlde and drawings that simmer with narrative. Heidi can often be found spinning straw into gold.
