look at it this way: ExtInked in Salford (2009)

Thursday 30 September 2010

ExtInked in Salford (2009)

Solitary Bee (2009) extInked. The Ultimate Holding Company

My friend Chris had decided to have a tattoo. His first. On that same day I heard about a gallery in Salford that was looking for volunteers to be tattooed. They had commissioned designs of the different British flora and fauna that have become endangered species. Chris drove over to meet the people responsible, check the tattooist and choose an animal, bird insect, plant etc. One hundred people, one hundred species, one hundred designs. Everyone who was tattooed became an ‘ambassador’ for that particular rare breed as well as going home with a simple and unique design on their body. A fantastically succinct and pertinent idea, just wish I wasn’t so squeamish about needles.

One year later, whilst washing up, I had a sudden flash of memory and got Chris to show the result. A beautiful Solitary Bee.

Details, follow the extInked link (!) at the Ultimate Holding Company

No comments:

Post a Comment

NIGHTWORKER

September through to December 2010 I was ‘animateur in residence’ at Fabrica in Brighton. This was during the House of Vernacular, an exhibition curated by photographer Martin Parr. It consisted of seven different collections of photographs presented in a series of theatrically styled rooms built into the gallery. Animateur (or artist in residence) is a loose term which Fabrica are still trying to define. Each resident offers up a new perspective. I took it as an opportunity to advance certain topics that are becoming apparent in my own work. How to integrate photography into action + what happened to the idea that work can be exhibited beyond white walled galleries and their more recent pop-up derivatives. I wasn’t expected to produce new work, but to use the vernacular exhibition as a spring board for discussion. In the end I returned to a project I was already working on, stories and portraits of people who work at night. What does the 24hr economy feel like for those who are involved in making it happen? This became two blogs, a series of useful debates and a portable Nightworker exhibition carried around the city centre at night. This blog looks at differing ways of presenting work. The second blog, www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/679476 follows the progress of the Nightworker portraits.

ARTIST ANIMATEUR?

I am often described as an visual artist but why? My practice has always been outside the conventional gallery space and I could be more easily categorised as an instigator of massive happenings, mobile automissions, gatherings, and disturbances. The only time I have used galleries is when my work is commenting specifically on 'art' itself. So, what are exhibitions for? I am using this role of 'animateur' for the House of Vernacular as an opportunity to share my dilemma with a wider audience.

Dial Emma

Thursday 30 September 2010

ExtInked in Salford (2009)

No comments:

Post a Comment