‘Professor’ Bruce Lacey is perhaps undoubtedly the star in the crown of British eccentrics. Many Supersonic attendees will be too young to remember the era when Lacey’s avant-garde performances that created an on-stage fantasy which juxtaposed a particular British zeitgeist between the 50’s and 70’s. However, let me tell you that Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller has teamed up once again with Nick Abrahams, and created a cinematic extravaganza that draws consistently on the satirical nature of the nation’s customs.
Lacey’s mechanical constructions have oscillated between robotic sex symbols to tool kits for aspiring shamans to a Flea Circus. However, what remains the same is that he is one of the most exciting performers of the last Century, despite his status as a relative ‘unknown’. Many have attributed this back to his incredible foresight. Much like Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 who predicted that one day we would all be watching televisions the size of walls, Lacey was unbelievably ahead of his time. He is inter-disciplinary, a collector of talents. His foresight is difficult to comprehend, now that we exist within a sea of celebrities who seem to be a jack of all trades, but a master of none. It is this, amongst other things that Deller and Abrahams have chosen to explore.
The Bruce Lacey Experience celebrates both Lacey’s work and his life, tracing back to how he used his initial training as an electrical mechanic to further his interest in the eccentric world of television. He has worked both backstage and on the stage itself, and it is this hybrid of talents which make him such a riveting object of fascination. There is no doubt that the film will be an addition to the festival line up that will inspire, engage and hopefully encourage a ‘make and do it yourself’ attitude amongst revelers.
If film is your thing, why not have a look at the rest of Supersonic’s amazing cinematic line-up. With ‘Bullshit Detector‘ and ‘The Luxury of Empire’ running alongside the Bruce Lacey Experience, festival goers will experience a selection of sentiments and ideas that differ between each recording. From the DIY ethos of Bullshit Detector, in its understanding of the cultural significance and the legacy of CRASS records, to the intimate portrait of Oxbow on the French leg of their 2009 European tour, each film offers an exploration of the relationship between art and music in ways that will undoutedly stimulate your senses.