In this blog, Kate writes:
- Kate grew up as a punk. They wore lots of eyeliner and had green hair. Kate was angry and spent time with others shouting about what they cared about.
- Spectra is punk and also joyful.
- Spectra wants people to be true to themselves. We make decisions and art together. We don’t know what a performance or project will look like when we start.
- Spectra does things differently. Spectra believes everyone can make art. People in power should not decide who can make art.
- Spectra makes spaces together. We make spaces that work for everyone. We share power at Spectra.
- Kate and Spectra are angry because the world is unfair. Spectra will use that anger to keep making art and trying to change things for the better.
When I was 16, I had bright green hair and a whole lot of black eyeliner; I wore ripped fishnet tights and big black boots from the army and navy surplus store. I was angry and liked shouting about it with other people, usually loudly and wildly along to songs about fighting against the powers that be. If you’ve ever been to a Spectra show, our quirky, gentle joy might seem worlds away from spiked collars, abrasive drums and sweaty mosh pits. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Spectra is punk to its core. Let me lay it out for you.
The three pillars of punk are authenticity, non-conformity, and being anti-establishment.
Authenticity
One of our guiding principles is meeting people where they are at. Not where we expect them to be, not building on a story based on our bias, but on where we are today. Right now, together. We do this in lots of ways, from starting our sessions and meetings with grounding breaths to tune into what is real in the moment, to setting a creative task and holding space open for answers, whatever shape they take. We don’t decide the outcome of what we’re making together before we are together because that’s not honest.
Non-conformity
If you’ve been to a Spectra show or helped us build a garden, this one is not such a hard sell. Do we do theatre shows in theatres? No. Do you come into our shows, sit down, shut up, and watch? Definitely not! Do we build gardens in lush, verdant spaces? My screaming muscles after digging through concrete would suggest otherwise. What is expected is that artists are only those who have been trained and given permission by some higher up to make art. We’ll have none of that at Spectra: who gets to make art? People who want to. People who have something to say. People who have something to say and whose voices have been muted by a system that seeks to silence them in order to protect itself. To keep power only for those already in power (the rich, white, straight, cis, non-disabled). We will not comply.
Anti-establishment
We describe our work as radically inclusive. This means not knocking on the door politely and asking if it’s okay if everybody is included, but burning the locked door down* and building something brand new together that is inclusive and equitable from its foundations up because we all built it together. It’s even in our funding applications, as written here by our Development Lead, Josie, when pitching our Geeking Out on Governance project: ‘We are redesigning governance: the very systems that decide who holds power and how decisions are made. By creating learning disabled and neurodivergent led governance models, we challenge structures that replicate exclusion.’
In a world in which contracts protect the employer, the power and wealth holder, rather than the employee, our staff have unlimited annual leave. No one is counting days when someone’s kid is sick, or their mental health is low, or their brain needs an extra day to process. And do you know what? They all work their butts off. What a bunch of punks.
30 years on, I am still angry. I am angry every day. As a punk, I can’t abide injustice, and these days there is never-ending fuel for that fire. Maya Angelou said, “If you’re not angry, you’re either a stone, or you’re too sick to be angry. You should be angry…. So use that anger, yes. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.”
My anger makes me tenacious, makes me ferociously determined, makes me keep fighting for what’s fair, whatever resources I’ve got to hand. Three chords and a bad attitude, it’s the punk rock way.
So the next time someone asks, as I’m sure they are likely to do, ‘Would you say Spectra is more whimsical warmth or punk as fu*k?’ you can simply answer, ‘Yes.’ Better yet, raise your fist in the air and shout it as loud as you can.
*This is a metaphor and I am not suggesting anyone goes out and burns anything down. Yet.