Zara Worth
YORKSHIRE-BORN Zara Worth is one of the county’s ground-breaking young artists and writers. She has had residencies and her highly individual pieces and installations shown in places as diverse as Linz in Austria and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Zara’s Think of a Door is currently part of the critically acclaimed Sin exhibition at York Art Gallery.
I’m currently reading: There are quite a few on the go, and every time I acquire one my husband Will raises an eyebrow and murmurs “Yet another book?”, and I always have to tell him that it’s not (particularly) for pleasure, but for my research. So, at the moment, there’s Jacques Derrida’s classic On Grammatology, which is the major work on the development of contemporary criticism and philosophy and there’s also Daily Rituals, by Mason Currey. This is a wonderful collection of observations and information about how the great artists, and great minds structured their daily routines and working habits.
I’ve been listening to: Musically, it is Harry’s House, the latest release from Harry Styles, and, trust me, it really is quite good. I love a podcast, and David Mitchell’s Behaving Ourselves, which is all about manners, and etiquette, and how they originated and were sustained, is constantly fascinating. I’ve found out that both were actually “invented” to keep the lower and middle classes in their place – the “upper” class kept at the top of the pile because they knew, for example, which cutlery to use, and when. At the court of Louis XIV, more and more little pieces of etiquette were added to a huge pile of “must do’s” and “definitely must not do’s”, just so that the plebs remained well down the pecking order. My own taboo in bad manners? I hate people burping in public. It’s just abhorrent.
On TV, I’ve been watching: All the slightly dysfunctional shows, and the classic for me is RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s multi-disciplinary, comedy, dance, lots of music. Whoever it is at centre stage, and giving their all, I’m truly rooting for them.
The live performance I’d recommend is:
A few years ago, I went to see Alice Underground, which was presented by Les Enfants Terrible, and the venue was The Arches at Waterloo – I hope that the place has survived the pandemic, because it truly was somewhere pretty special. It was an account of Alice’s journey through Wonderland, and I was – as the entire audience were – completely absorbed. An immersive event that has lived with me ever since, and a childhood fantasy that, in some bizarre but beautifully skilled way, became a reality. It was a shock to come out into the “real” world, because we were all so completely absorbed. I do wish that they’d revive it, it was so special.
My next box set will be (or my last boxed set was….): We were on holiday
in Dubrovnik a few years back and, quite to our surprise, there was a crew there, filming scenes for Game of Thrones. Everyone in the city was so excited about it, so I was intrigued to see what caused all the fuss and, when I checked it out… I got rather hooked on the whole thing. More recently, I’ve watched Am I Being Unreasonable, written by Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli, which – if you missed it – is a comedy-thriller about obsessive friendship and maternal paranoia. Cooper is a brilliant comedy performer, and there just must be a second series.
The App I couldn’t be without is: I am of the generation that can (just about) remember dial-up phones, but only just. Will just installed a big (really big) new TV screen into our home but I still – believe me or not – watch so much stuff on my little phone screen. Not things like The Bridge (which I adore) of course, because they are sub-titled, and the print is so small that you can’t read it. But so much else. I caught one drag-act performer on my screen, had to Google them, and their designer, and then had it re-made for a dress that would fit me – and I wore it on my hen night. Frivolity aside, I also have apps that we love to use when we go out visiting various locations, the ones which can identify flowers, trees, butterflies, things like that.
What is right at the top of your “to do” bucket list?:
I want to see the William Kentridge exhibition at the Royal Academy, which has had some rave reviews, and also the new installation in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, but one thing that really needs resolving in the list of priorities is to have our honeymoon. Like so many couples, Covid totally disrupted our plans, and we still have to get to Hawaii and visit the many islands around it. It will happen – but in the meantime, the ambition is to finish renovating and redecorating our new home.
Sin, is at York Art Galley (in conjunction with the National Gallery, London) until January 22