Playfulness can help us to detach from the painful, ordinary and mundane situations aspects of life without denying they exist. Through the eyes of the clown, life is full of alternative possibilities. Clowns, Fools & Jesters are adept at using ordinary situations as the fuel to create new possibilities and comic situations.
In 1999, I was despairing about the grip that materialism has on our lives. My critical awareness of this issue led to a cycle of frustration and despair. The belief that I am powerless to change my environment, my beliefs and feelings continued to reinforce a depressed outlook. This raised a really important question. How could I maintain hope in a situation that appears to be getting worse without succumbing to despair and resignation?
My growing disillusionment was spurred on by the Brisbane City Council’s crack down on people using the City Mall space. The Mall had attracted street preachers, political activists, artists and other non conformists. Some individuals led by the Socialist and Christian activists had spear headed a free speech in the Mall campaign. However, Council and the City Business Association decided the Mall space should be restricted to activities that would not impede shopping.
The Brisbane City Council Mall began to resemble a temple of consumerism rather than a public place where people can also exchange ideas and meet. Increasingly, this is part of a trend in the western world where freedom is redefined as the freedom to consume. The new citizen as consumer identity is going hand in glove with growing restrictions on political or social activity that would challenge the current way our society is organised. Consumption is not intrinsically wrong. However, we have managed to create a cult religion of consumption that very few people now question.
I remembered the story of Jesus clearing out the exploiters from the Temple. What would it be like to turn the Mall into a play space that didn’t involve consuming and spending money? I hired a Gorilla suit and decided to go into the Mall and disrupt shopping activities by playing with people. My aim was to create spaces where I could invite people to come and play. I did not want to be unnecessarily provocative or annoying. This was an invitation to play and to wake up from the consumer trance. Putting on a gorilla suit was a great way of waking myself up from the consumer trance and inviting other people to play.
A group of young Japanese tourists were amazed. One of them wanted to take a photo with me in the middle of his friends. He smiled and waved goodbye as I walked with my knuckles dragging on the ground looking to make eye contact with other people. Carefully avoiding the Mall police, I walked over into Adelaide St. A young couple gave me their toddler to hold while they took a photo of me. They waved goodbye while I walked off and made gorilla noises. Some people smiled and laughed. Many other people continued to walk through the Mall avoiding eye contact.
This experiment confirmed the value of Foolishness. Clowns, Fools and jesters experiment with life and break social conventions and rules that inhibit life. Wise Fools know when to observe conventions and when to break them. I experienced an important truth. There is an existence beyond the known reality of the religion of consumerism. I began to understand what Jesus meant when he talked about the `Kingdom.’ He used various stories to describe a New Age that was breaking into the old order. The New Age as realm of existence with radically different values and perceptions of life. I had a taste of this possibility through play.