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'Mountain Flame', Ayling & Conroy |
'ilog' , The Owl Project |
Collaboration is like a love affair; it segues from admiration to anxiety, reflection to rage, desire to envy, powerlessness to misunderstanding, from not getting what you want but may be coming nearer to knowing what you thought it might be.
Katherine Clark, Two Minds: Artists and Architects in Collaboration, Jes Fernie (ed)
The exhibition will feature work and new commissions by
Ayling and Conroy download Interview
Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry
The Library of Unwritten Books download Interview
The Owl Project download interview
Jonathan Gilhooly and Stig Evans download Interview
Semiconductor download Interview
Interviews: To accompany the Double Acts exhibition a number of writers, curators and artists have been commissioned to interview the duos. Through the interview process they shed further light on the artists’ work and ways of working, as well as highlighting the notion of working together which the exhibition raises.
Pairing artists based outside of Brighton with local interviewers and those in Brighton with interviewers from elsewhere we hope that this has made connections and expanded the Phoenix network.
Collaborations have acted as a means of examining the shape and limits of the self, redefining artistic labour. They have been ways of deliberately altering artistic identity from individual to composite subjectivity. The complexities of double authorship deny the economics of representation.
From 1960s collaboration has often taken the form of close-knit relationships such as that of Gilbert and George (whose retrospective is taking place at Tate Modern), Ulay and Marina Abramovic, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, but how do they look today?
In a collaboration who does what? How did this collaboration begin and why does it continue? Do they practice individually and if so how does the collaboration inform their individual practice? Does the collaboration allow for other people to become involved? What are the expectations of loyalty and mutuality?
Double Acts, is a celebration and mini-survey of collaborative practice in the UK today. It seeks not to answer the behind the scenes questions but to provide a context for pondering these questions.
Double Acts is the first of two exhibitions curated by Sally Lai for Phoenix Arts Association. Sally Lai is a curator and Clore Fellow currently based in Manchester. Her most recent project is a major co-curated exhibition Arrivals and Departures: New Art Perspectives of Hong Kong which is at Urbis, Manchester until July.
Sally was previously curator at Chinese Arts Centre where she worked with international and UK based Chinese artists. She frequently writes for art journals, which have included Art Monthly, Untitled, Art Asia Pacific, Yishu; Journal of Contemporary Art. Sally was a nominator for the 2003 Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists, Specialist Advisor to Visual Arts Department of the Scottish Arts Council (2003- 2007), curatorial advisor for AXIS website’s Open Frequency programme.
Linked Event: OPENING CELEBRATION
Sat April 28, 1 - 3pm FREE
2:00pm onwards
Stig Evans & Jonathan Gilhooly:
Colour Conundrum
The Library of Unwritten Books:
Story Collection
The Owl Project:
Demonstration/performative talk
2:30 pm
Karin and Reuben: talk on collaborative curation
Linked Event: Library of Unwritten Books - drop in & contribute
Sat 12 May, 2 – 4 pm
Visitors are invited to drop in and contribute their stories, which will be transcribed, edited, printed and displayed during the last two weeks of the exhibition.
Linked Event: THE CRITICAL INCIDENT: Workshop 2
Tue 22 May, 10:30 - 4:30
Part of a series of challenging, practical conversations about artistry, innovation, insight and imagination. Artists and curator Greg Daville invites you to discover and explore new creative terrain through undertaking a 'City Run'. This involves gathering information, ideas and objects from around Brighton, then returning to Phoenix to make a piece of work based on the material collected. A viewing and discussion will follow, in which the process and experience of creating the work will be addressed in a supportive and non-judgemental setting. Suitable for adults; no arts background necessary.
£50 / £35 concessions.
For further details and registration visit www.thecriticalincident.com
Linked Event: STATE OF THE ARTS: Double Acts
Tue 5 June, 7 - 9pm FREE
We grapple with some of the questions raised by the exhibition, through a dialogue around the nature of collaboration. The evening will begin with a panel discussion with curator Sally Lai, plus artists including collaborative duos Semiconductor and other artists to be confirmed. This will be followed by a general discussion and an opportunity to make contact with other artists who wish to collaborate on skills.
FREE: but please ring Phoenix on 01273 603700 to reserve a place |