Making headlines and moving on

28.042020
Bunny antics

Being inside the costume is a different experience to seeing someone else wear the costume, because it is a commercial product anyone can go and buy one and wear it. 

I did a little campaign for a while where I was trying to get people to dress up as white rabbit with the slogan. "Anyone can be white rabbit" even using the tag "I am white rabbit".

There was one local acquaintance who took up the challenge, but he was actually six foot and looked very different to me, but interestingly, regardless of his own individuality, people still thought it was me, of course not everyone did, but it certainly swung some heads, especially when we both sat upon the famous wall by Barnes bridge waving at traffic.

It was quite nice having another person around, as it can be quite lonely and isolating, just me in a costume doing my own thing. The other rabbit was called David who was also quite an eccentric local, which worked really well, so for a while he joined in with some of the antics, dressing as a bull on a couple of occasions, also supporting me in documenting the performance.  Anyway the partnership fell apart, as it does, and I carried on as the lone white rabbit, as the David rabbit disappeared back into his burrow.

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It was fun just wandering around the streets, appearing randomly, doing random things as the rabbit, it certainly had something.  Though I have tried to give it up, but was encouraged by many locals not to.   

Of course as the artist, I often ask myself how can I capitalise on the performance of white rabbit?  Actually its quite difficult to capitalise on the character, I have tried various things, but it doesn't work, I soon realized what works, is the randomness of it, don't try to control the performance, everything that has happened, publicity etc has all happened randomly, if I try to seek publicity, doors are closed, if I tried to sell out financially, it also doesn't work.  

I cannot control the bugger, hes is an entity within itself, the rabbit is not for putting in a box, it flows with existentialism a nomadic trait, he's not an entertainer, he's just a bloke in a costume wandering around the streets of London. Paris, Philippines,Japan,Islamabad,Malta and various other places.

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What does seem to work is letting people have a selfie, its a must have.  

There is something about a selfie, its a moment, its an encounter.  Wherever I have travelled, whatever country I am in, people love a good selfie. I have many but here is just a chosen few. A film maker, an artist, BCA team and bar man.  

I often find wandering back home after a morning on the wall, someone comes running up to me desperate for a selfie as they have often told their friends that they had seen me, but no one believes them, so happy to comply. 

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On next blog I will talk about White Rabbits A1 tour!  Yes you heard that right, I actually took the rabbit on tour of the A1 from London to Scotland driving on the A1 and stopping off at various towns, villages and iconic spots along the way, there is even a T-Shirt!  Will do this over the next couple of days as have to hunt down all the images as there's quite a few, and it was fun, even taking part of mobile rave on Dunbar high street in Scotland.