Research after initial thoughts (Clare Williams)

Of the ideas that I'd brainstormed the following struck a note with me:

who wants to be average?
flash of delight/wonder/excitement
Halfway between the real and the unreal is the surreal. 
Neither one thing nor another

So I did some research on eccentric people as that covers the first 3 of these ideas. 

Grayson Perry

whose exhibition at the British Museum I saw last year.  Here is an interview with him.

Vivienne Westwood

who I've always admired for her fantastic clothes.  Here is some information about her.

Salvador Dali

Who springs readily to my mind on mention of Surreal.  Here is a biography.

Neither one thing nor another

Motorhome – halfway between a vehicle and a home; actually not so much neither one thing nor another as both things.
Gypsy Caravan
Travelling theatre.

I did some research on Travelling Theatre and found “The Triumph of the Archduchess Isabella in the Brussels Ommeganck of Sunday 31st May, 1615” which is in the Victoria and Albert museum (my favourite museum).
Annual processions similar to this took place all over Europe, and had done since at least the 14th century.  In earlier processions, all the wagons were based around religious themes.  In England, Bible stories were presented as short plays, numerous wagons taking a section each, until religious drama was suppressed during the Commonwealth.  The Brussels procession was a series of tableaux with the performers all holding a pose.  By the time this painting was made in the Renaissance period, the procession also included secular scenes of famous people from life and literature well as the religious elements.

I also found some information on Spiegeltents (mirror tents).

Travelling theatre, surreal/imaginative, delight/wonder, and eccentric people put me in mind of the film “The imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” 

I like this film because it is a fantasy opus set in London.  The theatre wagon and the performers are out of time with modern London.  The wagon is fantastically decorated and the costumes are rich and draw on all sorts of countries and times.

I like the familiarity of London and the allusion to travel conferred by the exotic clothing and the symbols on the wagon.  I like the fact that it is a vehicle, a home and also a stage. 

Here are some of the original drawings for the wagon. 

I'm really taken with the idea of an Imaginarium.

“An imaginarium is a place to go for your imagination – to let it flower, let it grow, let it take you places”

I'm off to let my imagination flower, grow and take me places!