26 Scene Since launch the two issues of the zine have had more than 6,000 views in 58 countries, and Harry is particularly enamoured of the fact that he can reach people in their own homes. “I wanted it to be free so, regardless of finance, people could have a slice of queer art to enjoy at home,” he says, adding: “I wanted it to be fun, honest, tender, entertaining, and not restricted to a type of genre.” To that end, among the aforementioned content is Harry’s own account of being fiveyears sober, reflecting his philosophy that “sobriety has been such a helpful thing for me and could be helpful for others – it felt like that was a nice way of offering all of that.” And clearly he isn’t alone in those thoughts – the third and fourth issues of You Otter Know are being put together with some support from the Arts Council, so 2021 will see a continuation of the project, although there is no release date as yet. “I’m being flexible in working with my collaborators. I like the idea of just dropping it when it feels finished – I find it quite exciting to just be, like, ‘Tadaah!’”
Otterly thoughtful
Making good on his promise to deliver a free slice of queer art to people’s homes, Harry Clayton-Wright looks back on his lockdown-born zine project and ahead to its continuation as well as a different world of performance. By Jaq Bayles Wright’s 2020 looked like it was going to be a whirlwind of touring around the UK and Australia with his theatre show Sex Education, which won both a Brighton Fringe Award (2017) and the Melbourne Fringe Award in Edinburgh (2019). Instead, he found himself moving from the Brighton base he had set up to make touring the south of England more accessible back to his mum’s house in Blackpool as the country was plunged into its first lockdown of 2020. “I didn’t think at the start of the year that I’d be making digital zines,” muses Harry from his northern home on a cold late-November morning, alluding to his lockdown-conceived project, You Otter Know. “I was on tour, they shut down theatres and cancelled all of the work for the rest of the year. I was meant to be in Australia in the autumn.” But rather than dwell on what should have been, he started asking: “What could I deliver safely, how can I work as an artist?” The answer? “Knowing that the safest way to create and present work would be to operate digitally, I’ve moved my practice from hallowed theatre stages to crafting zines and releasing
them online (all from my childhood bedroom). Reaching thousands of people in over 50 countries. Working with artists across Zooms and Google Docs in three continents. Assembling a digital variety show between the pages...“ Harry has “always loved zines, vintage erotica”, so this collaboration with Polari Press was the perfect foil for that, taking inspiration from the graphic design of retro erotica from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
“I was planning to look at a new show this summer, but how do you get around some of the new challenges, artistically and practically? I’ve been taking a look over the stories of how people are doing so far – it’s a different world to make work in and it’s important to talk to others. “I’ve been very lucky to have the support of pals around me as well as a project. We’ve all been going through the same thing as to what the future looks like. It’s important to talk and share thoughts and feelings and not keep them bottled up. Even if you might not be able to
“It’s meant to look like those magazines you might find in a bush or a call box, but also it looks really beautiful,” says Harry of the adultsonly delve into art, humour, glossy photo spreads, illustrations, poetry, new writing and important life lessons. And it all comes with a big helping of input from some of Harry’s artistic friends, among them queer Australian songwriter Brendan Maclean, writer, comedian, performance artist and theatre maker Krishna Istha and cabaret artist Symoné. “It was me just asking my friends, all people I have worked with and whose work I love. I sent a message to a few friends saying ‘hey I’ve got this idea, would you be up for it?’ A lot of them said yes and it’s been a really lovely process.”
MARIE CORELLI - ILLUS: TRACY GILCHRIST
) Before the pandemic struck, Harry Clayton-
To continue with a magical metaphor, the zine work has conjured out of the hat something of a springboard for Harry’s creative processes. “With the new work I started to ponder in my head what would I make next. Not what do I want to do but what do I need? What would be a tonic? So I have started asking those questions.
