Here at Perth Arts Live, we know festival season in Perth/Boorloo (and beyond!) is hectic. There’s a lot to do, see, and plan when arts festivals overlap in such spectacular ways. To help readers make informed decisions about where to spend every moment of their free time during Fringemas just like us, we’re asking FRINGE WORLD artists to ‘take five’ from their busy schedules to answer five questions about their shows. No rest for the weary, eh?
TV mogul, cult leader, and arts grant applicant Rose KB of Mummy’s Plastic takes five with us to give us a snapshot of what goes on BTS of their ‘TV Festival’ inside a festival: Mummy’s Plastic TV World. TV World is comprised of 4 different shows across 2 different venues over 3 weeks of FRINGE WORLD including an unhinged & uncut talk show (ROSE [LIVE] UNCUT, 17 Jan), entrepreneurs pitching (ART SHANK, 24 Jan), take-home wellness treatments (CHANWELL, 31 Jan) or even find your “Perthect Match” (DATE NIGHT, 1 Feb). Rose fills us in on the next instalment of TV World – ART SHANK.
Q1 What inspired the show, and what motivated you to bring it to FRINGE WORLD?
Art Shank was conceived in the lead up to EOFY 2023-24. I wanted to find a way that artists and arts managers could increase their tax spending by investing in my crypto-currency that is based on social capital, Mummycoin (initially developed at PICA in 2020).
Investors of Mummycoin could vote on projects pitched by other artists “as an arts experience/form of research” and therefore claim it as a tax offset*. Also the arts funding cycle ticks over at EOFY so it was a good time for artists to chuck out projects that didn’t get funded, and pitch them to our industry Art Sharks instead.
I ran the show in June 2024 as part of a tax themed comedy night “Tax Night” and it was wild and generative, with 2 winners, a tiny sports car, VIP Mummycoin gift packs, my actual accountant on his birthday. I thought it was a fitting TV show to bring into the Fringe orbit at a booming time of year when the arts/business landscape is full of fresh ideas, networking and potential business opportunities.
*Please know I am not licensed to give tax advice and do not take accountability for any outcomes of any institutional audits
Q2 What’s the most unexpected, funny, or interesting thing that has happened during the show’s development?
I went on a wild goose chase with my collaborator and show designer Jack Caddy to find a the perfect mini sports car before EOFY so I could claim it on tax and drive it onstage for the Tax Night show.
One person on Facebook marketplace even asked me how old the person meant to be driving the car was and when I told her 33 she refused to sell me it. We finally found the perfect pink car at the shop Gem Stop. The owner thought I was buying it for a child and when I came clean and said it was for me, he laughed so much he offered to sponsor the Tax Night show. He ended up sitting on so much Mummycoin that he outbid the Art Sharks in the show, and we had to have two winners (one voted by our sponsors Gem Stop and one by the Art Sharks) – they got to take turns smashing the Mummycoin pig-nata with a baseball bat (and won $100 each once we converted it back into AUD).
Q3 What does the audience absolutely need to know before they come to see the show? (without spoilers, of course!)
After 9 months, I have just graduated the SEA (Self Employment Assistance) program and so know a thing or two about business. I have put together the most entertaining sharks in the (show) biz and they are thirsty for the chosen art entrepreneurs to pitch them.
Q4 If you could invite any famous person (living or dead) to the show, who would it be and why?
The lovechild of Marina Abramović and Schapelle Corby – both great artists and business women.
Q5 What other show(s) would pair well with yours for a delicious FRINGE WORLD feast?
The Ceremony and I Watched Someone Die on TikTok (as well as the rest of the Mummy’s Plastic TV World series – wellness TV show Chan-well on 31 Jan and live dating show Date Night on 1 Feb)
BONUS ROUND: In 10 words or less, give us your last ditch pitch to get folks in to see the show!
Art is like business, you just make it up
