The Insect Circus
Detailed lies and illusions. Founded by Mark Copeland, a former commercial model-maker who won a BAFTA for his work on the BBC adaptation of Gormenghast, and his partner Sarah Munro, The Insect Circus is an assemblage of tiny, painstakingly crafted fictions that together tell the incredible story of Britain's insect circuses. There's a travelling Museum, contained in an old wooden wagon, that shows off some of the playbills and models and old props, and then a small show where the stories and characters are brought to life. And, like all good satire, it works because it believes in itself and has a heart beyond its cleverness and gaming.
Magazine
‘I say to lighting people I want it to look kind of like it might have looked in the late Victorian times and they say ‘well you know those lights they were horrible, they were green’. But I don’t want the reality of it, I want what you imagine the reality of it was. Sort of golden, twingling.’
Sideshow interviews Mark Copeland, fine artist, model-maker and owner and ringmaster of the Insect Circus.
'From a fine art point of view, if there was any point to it, it was to suggest not to believe everything that you read.'
The great pleasure of this circus is the microscopic detail that has gone into the production of everything from its old letterpress-style posters to the £1 souvenir programmes that are hawked pre-show by Nurse Nursey.
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