JACOB ANDERSON
interview with a vaulter
April 2020
Tuesday comes around again with an Interview with a Vaulter with Jacob Anderson.
How's it going?
Good! Surprisingly. Between weeks 2 and 4 of lockdown was a head melt but now I'm through the other side. I have a big sign on my wall saying ‘Don’t go mad’ which has been working up till now. Let’s see how the remainder of this stuff goes!
Exercise is also helping me through. Social distancing cycles and running with the support of the Vault Running group have been invaluable to my general mental health. The Isolationathon was incredible, and I find it amazing how much of a sense of community there is despite not being able to go near anyone.
I’m also cooking a lot, which is fun. And I was baking before bread flour turned into gold dust. But these are all ways just to get in the days before I can do the stuff I really miss; the people I love, training in groups, spikeball, generally having no idea what the day is going to bring. And football. Christ I miss football. Right now I’d crawl over broken glass to watch live football. Even if Mark Lawrenson is commentating.
What is your living situation? Do you have outside space or are you living in an underground bunker?
My living situation is very lucky. I’m living in a friend's house off the Lisburn Road at the minute. It’s a big old family house, with a great kitchen, lots of space and a back garden that gets the sun all day. Great to utilise the great weather we have been having.
How has the pandemic affected your arts practice?
My arts practice, circus, is very collaborative. Which means I have only been able to work on my skill levels through training in isolation. This is of course grand when the motivation is there but at the minute I'm finding it harder and harder to motivate myself. So much easier when you have people to play with and bounce ideas off each other.
Also I have seen all my work disappear until well after the summer. This has been particularly hard to take, seeing as the bulk of my money for the year would have been earned between April and September. Oh well…
How are you coping with the temporary closing of the Vault?
I miss the Vault to an annoying degree. I miss randomly bumping into people. I miss someone’s head popping into the members room with a ‘Anyone free to help with this?’
I miss the people, the bar openings, the absurd amounts of work that happen, the pool table for peak procrastination.
I miss being able to try all the stupid shit that works its way into my brain, facilitated by the ethos of just try it and see what happens. The Vault is fucking class, and although I was well aware of that before lock down, I’m painfully aware of it now.
What do you appreciate during lockdown?
I appreciate having time. I’m normally someone who has to be doing something at all times. I would leave my house early, work or fart around with friends all day, come home, sleep, rinse and repeat. This lockdown has forced me to slow down, read the books I’ve been putting off for ages, and reconnect with people I speak to all too infrequently. In that respect it's been nice.
I'm also loving the little things. I find myself constantly speaking to people online, whether they are people I would speak to on a daily basis or people I've lost connection with. And I have weekly events; Skype breakfast with my girlfriend most days. A quiz with people I worked with in Palestine on a Tuesday. Watching old football matches with my mates on a Friday. Playing online games with my friends every other day. A big cycle to some part of Northern Ireland I’ve neglected to go before once a week. These are the things that get me through.
How do you imagine the future after lockdown? For yourself and the wider art world in general.
Its all going to be a bit fucked for a while isn’t it? My work primarily involves events with crowds. It's hard to imagine these coming back before a vaccine. And if so, playing to an audience that is all spaced out 2m from each other is just plain weird.
A lot of circus work is working its way online, cabarets behind closed doors etc, and the magic is just a bit thin on the ground with these events. Great that they happen, but I can't wait to have people in front of me when I perform! On the plus side I have had a good chance to think about what I want to do moving forward, and if all the madcap schemes come off, it could be an incredible 2021!
Where can people find you online?