Portfolio

PoppyBailey DidYouMissMe Drawing.jpg
All work presented on this page is copyright of Poppy Bailey

Poppy Bailey

Experiencing two years of the covid pandemic, with all the restrictions and closures that this entailed meant that many felt an intense nostalgia for the culture of ‘before’. The rave culture of the nineties embodied all that is missed - collective dance, loss of control and worry, and the freedom to socialise without restriction or judgement. My practice uses this nostalgia as its catalyst. It shows that nostalgia is both limiting and yet crucial, creating a space where we can reflect on these feelings of grief and impossible desire, and yet experience also a fierce joy for our present moment and future.

Our club culture is returning and progressing. There is nothing to mourn.
School:
Courses:
Works - Video / SketchFab

DID YOU MISS ME? (2022)

By using VHS to film an experimental electronic music event, this film constructs a mirage of 90s rave culture through modern material, drawing on themes of nostalgia, euphoria, technology and melancholia, and demonstrating the presence of the 90s in modern dance culture. The footage is recorded at the EEL Disc night at Cornish Bank in February, featuring the artists Contxt, Terry Bliss, Medici Daughter, Hockeysmith and Lxury, with 'Didgeridoo' by Aphex Twin used as the audio.
Works - Photos
PoppyBailey DidYouMissMe Drawing.jpg

DID YOU MISS ME? (series)

As part of a series of three, this screenprint presents a nostalgic snapshot of what lies at the centre of a modern rave event - the DJ or musician, and their interaction with technology. Often overlooked in favour of seductive dance stills, this VHS image creates a slower and more intimate nostalgic re-experience of 90s rave culture and highlights how it is very much still here in our contemporary dance scene.