Wall of Death
When artist Stephen Skrynka first approached motorcycle daredevil Ken Fox with the view to turn Fox’s Wall of Death show into his latest piece of living public art, Fox thought Skrynka bit of an oddball. Skrynka’s proposal of training himself so that he could ride the last surviving Wall of Death seemed even stranger to Fox, whose family have been racing bikes around a circular wall for the best part of 80 years. Then the National Theatre of Scotland came along, and everything made sense.
“At first,” says Fox, “I couldn’t understand what Stephen wanted. I think the wall of death is a strange thing for an artist to want to participate in, but you always imagine artists are slightly oddball, cutting their ears off or whatever. Then when I talked to the National Theatre of Scotland, I recognised we’d be doing what we’ve always done for 80 years, but with an extra finesse.
“Most of the time the wall of death is regarded as a fairground oddity, but I’ve always seen it as motorcycle theatre. So with this, it’s the same basic show, but it’s being done in a different setting for audiences who maybe wouldn’t normally think of going to see something like this. It’s a bit like having bangers and mash, but at a fancy restaurant instead.”
Wall of Death, subtitled A Way of Life, is Skrynka’s latest reimagining of public pursuits that puts himself at the centre of the frame. Previous works have seen him learn The Knowledge, a test for would-be taxi drivers whereby an encyclopedic knowledge of London is absorbed in order for them to navigate its roads. Skrynka also transformed the interior of the Clyde Walkway, and produced a series of pavement installations designed to rehabilitate basement level skylights in Glasgow city centre.
Such an ongoing fascination with everyday pursuits made remarkable may be seen by some as a form of fantasy wish fulfilment.
Skrynka sees it differently. “I think it’s important to set yourself challenges,” he explains, “and as an artist, my challenges seem to be finding out what people do and making art projects of it. I get involved at the deep end, and the work is all the better for it. I see each project as a sort of apprenticeship, and as an artist I’ve got the right to reinvent myself every time I’m working on a new project.
“That does make life difficult, because I’m starting from scratch every time, but I have to embrace that. It’s a case of getting obsessed about something, and that’s certainly been the case with Wall of Death, which has something mythological about it.”
With this in mind, as well as the spectacle of The Ken Fox Troupe’s performance itself, which, if he’s up to speed, Skrynka will take part in, Wall of Death will focus on the Fox family.
As hosts of the world’s last surviving wall of death, the family are a piece of living history. For the NTS to enable Skrynka’s vision to be realised and to broaden it in this way taps into a form of popular culture normally sidelined as some end of the pier anachronism. Skrynka, though, sees the Fox family as heroic.
“It’s a double-edged thing”, Skrynka says. “Doing the wall of death is incredible enough, but what I feel is equally amazing is the family’s everyday, itinerant life, which to you or I is remarkable, but to them is just what they do together as a family. All of them have HGV licences, and they all put that wall up for the show, then take everything down again and load it back into these two juggernauts. Taking your whole world around you like that is stunning. While Ken’s been teaching me, I’ve started to realise what it’s like to be part of the Fox family, with several generations all living and working together like that. It’s a skill and a craft, and not something to be taken lightly.
“With motorbikes, people expect it to be macho, but what I love is that this is the complete opposite. There’s a family appeal there, and the bike riding is almost balletic. When Ken teaches me, it’s like a Zen thing. I want to do this to prove something to myself, but it’s a journey and a process as well.”
As head of the clan, Fox is more matter-of-fact. “Nothing you enjoy is hard,” he says. “If you talked to people who’ve climbed Everest, you and I would find them unbelievable, but that’s just what they do. The only time it’s been hard was three years ago when it rained all summer and we couldn’t keep anything dry. Other than that, it’s what we do, and I can’t see it ever stopping. The family will carry on doing the wall of death until we become interested in something else. If you’ve not seen it before, it will be like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll talk about it forever.”
pic by Peter Dibdin