CCQ12

9 772053 688016 12 culturecolony.com £5.95 €8

crazinisT artisT | Egill Sæbjörnsson | Tess Jaray | Cinzia Mutigli Erkka Nissinen & Nathaniel Mellors | Mahmoud Bakhshi | The Royal Standard

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23 June — 31 July 2017

Accra, Ghana

@gallery1957

gallery1957.com

Yaw Owusu, Untitled, 2016, courtesy the artist and Gallery 1957, Accra

Yaw Owusu All That Glitters

LONDON tyburngallery.com

57th Venice Biennale 13 May . 26 November 2017

Mohau Modisakeng Passage

South African Pavilion Sale D’Armi, Arsenale

Victor Ehikhamenor A Biography of the Forgotten Nigerian Pavilion, Scoletta dei Tiraoro e Battiori, Campo San Stae, Santa Croce

ESPY PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2017

Sponsored by Swansea College of Art and elysiumgallery

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: 1st JULY 2017

2 Awards totalling £2000 & solo exhibition with elysium gallery

www.espyphotoaward.com

TOM BANKS CUL-DE-SAC PREVIEW: FRI JUNE 30TH ARTIST TALK: SAT JULY 1ST

EXHIBITION CONTINUES UNTIL: SAT JULY 29TH

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– The Covers– Editors: Emma Geliot & Ric Bower Deputy Editor, Design &Sales: Rhiannon Lowe Editorial Assistance: Emily Hartless, Alice Salter, Amber Bower Sub Editor: David Sinden Distribution Assistance: Richard Higlett, Joeleen Lynch, Uliana Apatina

Rituals of Becoming, crazinisT artisT (Va-Bene Elikem K. Fiatsi) in collaboration with Fagot Koroviev, 2017; courtesy the artists and Gallery 1957, Accra

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After a heavy night on the town Bõögâr cannot finish his breakfast, Egill Sæbjörnsson in collaboration with Avis & Koroviev for CCQ, 2017; with thanks to Chapter, The Meat Market, Canton, Cardiff and Cosy Club, Cardiff

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– The Editors– Emma Geliot In several millennia from now, little green hominids will be excavating the wreckage of the Anthropogenic catastrophe and find strange, shrivelled mummified bodies, shrink-wrapped in plastic shrouds. They will all be frozen in the final, fatal position, their heads, firmly buried between their buttocks. After aeons of being a no-go zone of toxic gases and radiation, planet Earth will finally offer up its secrets to intergalactic archaeologists, who will puzzle over the last days of the human race, during its final era of existence. Eventually that time will simply be known as Post Factum (but in Zog, rather than Latin, of course).

And, with that cheery thought, I welcome you to the CCQ PostTruth Special. As with your daily newsfeeds, much of what you read in the coming pages is true – most of it, if I’m being honest (or am I?), but not all of it. For it appears that truth is highly subjective, and our reception of it is often selective. We bring you artists who look for veracity, authenticity, perspicacity, and others who invent versions, mimic materials, adopt personas or conditions, and still more who deliberately manipulate, challenge or reject the truths that are only held because they always have been.

We sincerely (and truthfully) hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you do, please tell others. But if you don’t, please be aware that we’ll deny everything and issue vehemently convincing denials via our new(ish) web home at culturecolony.com PS Have you subscribed yet? Follow us on twitter, facebook or Instagram to keep an eye out for our other special subscription offers.

We give every subscriber a diamond and a sports car*

Ric Bower Hunter S Thompson has more to teach us about art than a gaggle of Gombrichs, or a rake of Ruskins; for where an academic might offer authoritative categorisations, and a critic might feign objectivity, Thompson seeks and values experience only. And, as any spotty art student who has had to sit through a two-hour lecture on illuminated manuscripts of the quattrocento will tell you: to analyse and engage is not enough. In his on-going quest to lay hands on the elusive American Dream, Thompson’s protagonist, Raoul Duke, knew that he would be unlikely to find it on the dusty shelves of his local lending library. And so it was that he came to mount a full-scale expedition to Las Vegas, in a red 1971 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, with a big bag of drugs.

I am not advocating a big bag of drugs as the cure for all ills, or even a means to get through boring art history lectures, (I took acid in a biology class once and have an unnatural understanding of a frog’s insides as a result). I am definitely suggesting, however, that art should be experienced before it is understood.

To this end we have sniffed around artists’ studios; spent an evening with Icelandic trolls, (Ūgh & Bõögâr), in a Berlin sex club; hung out with Iranian artist Mahmoud Bakhshi, who believes that art really can change society; and, in Ghana encountered crazinisT artisT, who is abused in public on a daily basis for the four-year performance he has committed himself to.

Last but not least, we have commissioned lots of new work and creative collaborations from John Lawrence, Cinzia Mutigli and Emily Watkins, sizzling hot, from brain to page, just for you.

*Please read the T’s and C’s for the subscription offer (below) carefully Terms and Conditions of CCQ Magazine Issue 12 subscription offer 1. To qualify for this special four-issue offer, at £1 per copy (including p&p) plus free diamond and sports car‡, subscribers must 2. commit to taking 5,000 subsequent issues at £20,000 per issue.

3. Payment for all issues, including subsequent issues, must be made in advance, in cash, in denominations of £1 or £2 coins 4. Payment will only be deemed to have been accepted if it is delivered by llama to the back door of the editor’s garden shed, on a wet Wednesday 5. CCQ Magazine Ltd will not enter into any correspondence with subscribers, nor will they brook any argy-bargy about payment 6. Should CCQ Magazine Ltd fail to deliver any or all of the pre-paid copies, subscribers will be offered compensation in the form of a full half-hour petting session with the office dog.

7. No cash alternative is available under the compensation scheme.

8. The value of your home may go up or down. We don’t really mind.

9. CCQ Magazine Ltd is not indemnified by any third party compensation scheme, nor is the subscription offer regulated by any official body ‡Sports car offered is the editor’s runabout (circa 13 years old) with the CCQ under 5’s unwashed football kit in the boot The diamond looks like this ◊ and the CCQ design team will add glitter in one of four colourways.

– Contributors– Cinzia Mutigli Cinzia is an artist based in Cardiff, who makes work using spoken and written text, setting up relationships between them and audio and digital imagery. Recent work includes: solo show Remember always to imagine you know me at Arcadecardiff; illustrated performance lectures and readings, including Apples as a psychoactive substance and Imagine Roderick Stewart 12 times and more, both 2016, and I always skip it, which was accompanied by a looping animated video, at Elysium Gallery, Swansea.

Publications include Imagine you first met me in another country, 2016, TV Dinner Sex, 2015 and Through, commissioned

by Made in Roath for Settlement, 2014.

Cinzia has made collaborative work with Freya Dooley including What Everyone Wants, commissioned by Stabbing Les, for Work at Pas Moi, Newcastle, 2017, and On Record – exhibition, events programme and publications commissioned by Cardiff Contemporary, 2014.

Cinzia has made a special print work, We act as if we will always be there and

it changes everything, for CCQ, p32. As a development of recent projects this work brings together image and text to consider how the printed page could be treated simultaneously as a surface, a performance platform and an exhibition space. cinziamutigli.com Emily Watkins Emily is a writer and curator, living and working in London. She graduated from her MA in Creative and Critical Writing at Sussex University, in 2016. Her writing and interviews have been published by various institutions, most recently the Korean Cultural Centre and Megan Piper Gallery. You can read Emily’s creative response to the work of Nathan Foley is on p66.

John Lawrence John currently lives and works in Nottingham.

Mining a contemporary archive of images, footage, formats and references. Working across a wide-range of approaches including video installation, sound, digital print, writing, live performance and

publishing, he aims to actively question how we communicate ideas through the production and dissemination of cultural objects, and how mediated experiences of the world can impact on what could be described as a 'collective psyche'.

John previously studied at the Royal Academy Schools, London, and is currently a part-time Lecturer in Fine Art at both Kingston University and the University of Lincoln. He was the second Kim Fielding Award artist (2016/17). John presents new work this man. for CCQ on p78. @johnlawrenceisanartist Bob Gelsthorpe Working out of Studio B in Riverside, Cardiff, Bob’s current practice involves applying propagation, feelings, slogans and exploratory texts to artist-led ethics, creating images, objects and texts with the collateral.

Driven by advocacy, Bob is current Chair for The Kim Fielding Award and Board Member for g39. He writes about John Lawrence’s piece The Solar Pessimist on p76. bobgelsthorpe.com

Gwobr celfyddydau GWOBR CELFYDDYDAU Gwobr celfyddydau GWOBR CELFYDDYDAU Gwobr celfyddydau bob dwy flynedd CYMREIG BOB DWY ar FLYNEDD bob dwy flynedd ar CYMREIG BOB DWY FLYNEDD BIENNIAL WELSH bob dwy flynedd ar gyfer artistiaid gweledol gyfer artistiaid gweledol BIENNIAL WELSH ARTS PRIZE gyfer artistiaid gweledol Cymreig 35 oed ac iau.

Cymreig 35 oed ac iau.

ARTS PRIZE Biennial arts35 prize Cymreig oed ac iau.

Biennial arts prize for Welsh visual artists Biennial arts prize forand Welsh visual artists 35 under.

BEIRNIAID / SELECTORS Bedwyr Williams, Hannahartists Firth, Alfredo Cramerotti, for Welsh visual GWOBR CELFYDDYDAU 35 and under.

Emily Weiner, Bruce Haines & Susan Liggett BEIRNIAID / SELECTORS CYMREIG BOB DWYFirth, FLYNEDD DYDDIADAU CAU DEADLINES 35 and under.

Bedwyr Williams, Hannah Alfredo Cramerotti, BIENNIAL Emily Weiner, WELSH Bruce Haines & Susan Liggett ARTS PRIZE CAU DYDDIADAU DEADLINES CEISIADAU CYNNAR AM DDIM - Cyn 21 Gorffennaf 2017

EARLY BIRD FREE - Before 21 July 2017

CEISIADAU HWYRACH £10 - Cyn 18 Medi 2017

LATER BIRD

£10 - Before 18 September 2017 nova.cymruCAU DYDDIADAU DEADLINES CEISIADAU CYNNAR EARLY BIRD

Gwobrau a bwrsarïau i’w hennill.

Prizes & bursaries to win.

AM DDIM - Cyn 21 Gorffennaf 2017 FREE - Before 21 July 2017 CEISIADAU CYNNAR EARLY BIRD ARDDANGOSFA EXHIBITION AM DDIM --2Cyn 21 Gorffennaf 2017 FREE - Before 18 Tachwedd Rhagfyr 2017 18 November - 2 December 2017 21 July 2017 CEISIADAU HWYRACH LATER BIRD

nova.cymru

£10 - Cyn 18 Medi 2017

£10 - Before 18 September 2017

CEISIADAU HWYRACH BEIRNIAID / SELECTORS LATER BIRD £10 Cyn 18 Medi 2017 £10 - Before 18 September 2017 Gwobrau a bwrsarïau i’w hennill.

Prizes & bursaries to win.

Bedwyr Williams, Hannah Firth, Alfredo Cramerotti, Emily Bruce & Susan Gwobrau aWeiner, bwrsarïau i’w hennill. Haines Prizes & bursariesLiggett to win. @Nova.Cymru

@NovaCymru / @RCA.Conwy

ARDDANGOSFA 18 Tachwedd - 2 Rhagfyr 2017 ARDDANGOSFA 18 Tachwedd - 2 Rhagfyr 2017

Mae NOVA yn brosiect RCA wedi ei ariannu gan Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru Nova is an RCA project funded by Arts Council of Wales

/novacymru

EXHIBITION 18 November - 2 December 2017 EXHIBITION 18 November - 2 December 2017

GWOBR CEL

@Nova.Cymru

nova.cymru

nova.cymru @Nova.Cymru

@NovaCymru / @RCA.Conwy

@NovaCymru / @RCA.Conwy

Mae NOVA yn brosiect RCA wedi ei ariannu gan Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru Nova is an RCA project funded by Arts Council of Wales Mae NOVA yn brosiect RCA wedi ei ariannu gan Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru Nova is an RCA project funded by Arts Council of Wales

/novacymru

/novacymru

—Inside—

p10 The Royal Standard has become a muchloved artist-led Liverpool institution. To mark its move to a new home across the city, eight artists have been invited to populate this issue, appearing on various pages. p12 Double Take – Photographer Hank Willis Thomas talks about the morality of artistic reappropriation and the absurdity of racial distinctions. p16 We Will Never Find the Answer – Tess Jaray’s artistic career has spanned six decades. She describes an ever-evolving practice. p26 All Trolled Out – in a possibly foolhardy move, artist Egill Sæbjörnsson has invited two trolls to occupy the Icelandic Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. p32 We act as if we will always be there and it changes everything – Cinzia Mutigli offers up performance on the printed page in the form of text and image for CCQ Commission.

p56 MEMENTOS: Artists’ Souvenirs, Artefacts and Other Curiosities – for an unusually personal exhibition at Art Brussels 2017, curators Jens Hoffman and Piper Marshall collected objects with meaning from exhibiting artists to create a modern day wunderkammer. p58 To Blow the Spirit of Engagement to the People – Iranian artist Mahmoud Bakshi describes how one film can spark a revolution, and what comes after. p66 In Respectful Memory of the Art Institution – writer Emily Watkins responds to the work of Nathan Coley. p76 Sunsets, Go Home – John Lawrence, the latest Kim Fielding Award recipient, brought a belligerent sun to a skatepark-cum-artspace in Cardiff. New work this man. follows on p78. p84 A Fine Arrangement – Anne Gibb’s fine bone china objects combine with found elements to create delicate assemblages, constructed with a formal rigour.

p42 Rituals of Becoming – Ghanaian performance artist Va Bene Elikem (aka crazinisT artist) put himself in the line of fire for four years, in an act of extreme empathy.

p90 Place: Keresht – Time: 2014-15 – An excerpt from Hedieh Ahmadi’s photobook about living and working in an artist’s studio for two years.

p48 Falling Silent – Anthony Shapland strives to find the spaces between sound and silence, darkness and light, bringing the unnoticed into focus in his films.

p92 The Aalto Natives – Artists Erkka Nissenen and Nathaniel Mellors collaborate for an irreverent look at Finnish history and identity at the Venice Biennale.

The Royal Standard is a gallery, studio complex and social workspace in Liverpool. It was established originally by four artists in response to the need for a new artist-led organisation, one operating between the city’s grass-roots DIY initiatives and the more established arts institutions. Since its inception in 2006, it has worked with over 300 exhibiting artists, and originated over 70 exhibitions, events, artist residencies and projects.

The artists, their studio contents, their ideas; the exhibition and event programme; the skills, enthusiasm and energy – all have recently upped sticks and moved across the city to South Liverpool, and are now housed within the newly developed Northern Lights building. The set-up is home to 45 artists, five project spaces and a gallery, and continues to

be run by a small team of directors – studio artists appointed on a two-year rolling basis.

The move has been a long-time coming, and is an ambitious one. It has meant a proper shift, in perspective as well as position within Liverpool. The intention however is that The Royal Standard remains at the heart of Liverpool’s artistic landscape, but with greater potential and verve.

CCQ asked members of The Royal Standard to submit artworks relating to the move and new premises. Their work is spread throughout this edition, between articles, indicated by triangles in corners of the pages. the-royal-standard.com

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Artists and works (in the order as they appear): Attract, Entertain, Scare and Powerplay, Gregory Herbert, photo: Timothy Herbert category is, Joseph Cotgrave Still Studio Life, Levi Hanes Dead.Still.Alive. #6, Pascal Bircher Physically evaporated, Marianne McGurk Missy, Hannah Tolmie still from installation Living Sculpture (Virtual) at Tate Exchange, Laurence Payot, photo: Robert Battersby Take Care, James Harper

Double Take The Double Take show at Skarstedt London draws together artists who have worked with appropriation in photography, since the 1960s, including Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince, Collier Schorr, Steven Shearer and Hank Willis Thomas. Ric Bower spoke to Willis Thomas about the morality of appropriation and the illogicality of race.

Ric Bower: What agency does the creative process have in achieving societal adjustment? In other words why did you become an artist rather than a politician?

and travel the world in an attempt to diversify and complicate simplistic readings or descriptions.

RB: Appropriation is often perceived as being a forbidden fruit, perhaps particularly in academia, with students, where the spectre of plagiarism looms large. Do you feel the need to address this problem directly as an artist?

Hank Willis Thomas: I am not sure that the creative process does have agency, and I am not sure that I am not a politician. I am also not sure politicians aren’t intimately invested in a creative process themselves.

RB: Can I ask you about Question Bridge, and the vehicle of mediated communication you have developed with your collaborator and former professor, Chris Johnson. It assembles a series of questions posed to black men, by and for other black men. How does the development of a social tool like this, within the worlds of academia and art, gain traction within a broader arena?

HWT: A healthy relationship with your own chosen mode of communication is something that every artist negotiates. The truth is we learn by appropriating though. If I start down the line of thought that I’ll just be using other people’s images, it doesn’t always feel that creative; that’s probably when the inner resistance, you are talking about, sets in. But appropriation can be both hyper-creative and hyper-informative, because you can reflect on appropriated work, in a way you can’t when you’re trying to generate an original image. We already have so many references that exist in our subconscious anyway, ones that we will draw on when we’re making something. I haven’t experienced that resistance with students, but I have experienced it myself internally, from not knowing the original author of a work. What’s important, for me, is the feeling of doing something new, not just taking from a work I really liked.

HWT: We developed the questionbridge.com website as an invitation to people outside of academia and the art world, and several people signed up, joined the conversation and enhanced it. The next step would be to commercialise it, but we aren’t as interested in that at the moment.

RB: Language is so often a reinforcer of, rather than a liberator from, hegemonic societal paradigms. How can it be used to break them? Is your use of a diverse range of media in your work part of an attempt to seek out new language patterns?

RB: You have had some dialogue with the authors of works you’ve used; have they become friends even?

HWT: I am not sure that anything in English can avoid being hegemonic. I think I do work in various media with various people,

HWT: I had one ask for a print of my work, which I had

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First spread: Why Wait Another Day to be Adorable? Tell Your Beautician "Relax Me", 1968/2007, Hank Willis Thomas, courtesy of the artist and Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Second spread: I depend on me, 2004/2015, Hank Willis Thomas; courtesy of the artist and Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

based on theirs that I thought was interesting. But, also, especially in these contexts, their works tend to find a new life within mine. For example, one work, which I think is in MoMA’s collection, the original photographer wanted their name alongside my piece. To me, the conversation about the authorship is really fascinating. Only a few I’ve borrowed from have wanted to open up a full and frank discussion about it.

HWT: Indeed, race is not real. And if it isn’t real, the question is who created it then? The interesting thing about being in London is that race is aural. The accent you have, it classifies you in a racial way. I wasn’t that sensitive to this mode of class differentiation when I first came to England; I have become hyper-aware of it now though. In America, there are maybe five different accents; they are regional though and are not influenced by class. Maybe there is a class effect, but class tends to affect the form of the language rather than the accent. Here in London, you can even tell which part of this city you are in, based on an accent. That’s because it’s been policed in the same way that race has been policed.

RB: It’s interesting as well, because for the most part, these people have been paid a shitload of money for their commercial output the first time around…

HWT: … and when I pick up on them, the images are usually way past their expiry date.

RB: How are the recent developments in Washington having an impact on your practice; and how has Trump been affecting the US, in terms of race specifically?

RB: Sam Abel, who did a lot of the cowboy photographs that featured in the Marlboro Man cigarette advertisements, which Richard Prince went on to so successfully appropriate, has said, in interview, that, ‘his parents told him it was a sin to steal’. But then the morality of the situation is perhaps not that straightforward; after all, there were those thousands of people who started smoking because of Abel’s photographs, and photographs like it, over the 53 years the Marlboro Man advertising campaign ran. Many of the models had died from smoking-related illnesses by the time the campaign was finished. Encouraging folk to smoke by selling them a lie about the American dream would seem to be a greater crime than appropriating an artist’s image.

HWT: The problem with race is it’s a pathology. I struggle to give it any credit as a concept. I do speak about it in shorthand, but mostly in relation to how problematic it is. The craziest thing about blackness, going forward, is how ‘black people being creative’ is being used by Europeans as a brand. But if you go to Africa, where there are hundreds of millions of people with thousands of different religions, cultures and worldviews, you will struggle to find a common thread that links them.

I think the visibility of whiteness is a really fascinating thing, that’s why I’m interested in advertising; it reveals the hypocrisy of images that sell things. Because the images that sold cigarettes to white men were about a rugged harsh life; but to black women it was about haute couture and high fashion. It’s the same product, but advertising allocates for you, makes you interested in, and then invites you to aspire to, this particular kind of thing.

Our President, in the US, he has been trying to create a consensus of people who are like, and who like, him. And that is dangerous, because they’re a small group of people; so what will he do with the rest of us?—CCQ

HWT: I hadn’t thought about the smoking thing.

RB: You appropriate from skin creams ads though; I guess there are similarities..?

HWT: For me, the moral question lies in asking who gave the corporations the right to decide what I should be thinking about myself in the first place. When I take the images, I am reclaiming an identity, taking the people portrayed out of a corporate context. Perhaps this has the effect of disempowering the original message.

The show Double Take is at Skarstedt, London, 7 March – 27 May 2017

RB: So you see differentiation between races as something constructed too, something that is imposed on a passive population with, amongst other things, advertising.

hankwillisthomas.com skarstedt.com

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We Never Find the Answer In her eighth decade and with a fifty-year painting career under her belt, Tess Jaray is about to have her first solo show in New York and an exhibition of new and early works in London.

She talks to Emma Geliot about making sense of pattern and process, and looking for answers.

Tess Jaray’s form of abstraction, use of pattern and recurring motifs is instantly recognisable. The painting process isn’t overt, allowing the colour and shape to exert a powerful presence, without the distraction of textural brush markings. Her work is seen in galleries as paintings or prints – she has been exhibiting regularly since the 1960s – and in an impressive number of public realm commissions, particularly in the ’80s, ’90s and the first decade of the 21st Century. She was a pioneer at the Slade, where she was the first female member of the teaching staff, and taught there for over three decades, having been a student there in the early 1960s.

I visited her North London home and studio, where she was feeling anxious about where she might be allowed to smoke in New York City.

In her work space, I was immediately hit by the subtle power of her work, so much of it in one room, each exerting a kind of force field that extends out in front of each painting.

And this in itself can succeed or fail: a mystery in painting may be rich and evocative, or it may be muddling and confusing, and leave the viewer unsatisfied.

Why does all this matter? Perhaps because painting acts as a metaphor, and so, possibly, at some distant and obscure level, helps us understand our relationship to the world.

EG: How has your work evolved over the decades? Would you say that there have been pivotal moments, or has that evolution been more organic?

TJ: Both, really. Looking back, it’s astonishing to me to realise in what an organic, or even apparently logical way, the work has developed over the last 50 years. Like a ball of string unraveling very slowly, almost every work has developed out of the previous one. But of course you can’t always see that, as so many have been rejected or discarded along the way. And sometimes I lose the end of the string, a bit like Ariadne’s thread, and it takes a lot of finding again. There is also the ‘leap in the dark’ that most people have experienced, where solutions assert themselves seemingly out of nothing. Interestingly, many scientists have spoken about this, and they are very careful to use reason and logic in their work, so it’s not just the ‘creative imagination’ running riot. There have also been, on rather rare occasions, times when some way of dealing with what might be called formal devices haves suddenly appeared. I can clearly remember, for instance, somewhere in my early twenties, dividing a canvas with a line across the centre, horizontally, and then painting diagonals either side of that line, and suddenly the canvas became space. And doing something very similar when I first looked at the plans for rebuilding Centenary Square. I just took a pencil and divided the space in two, I don’t think anyone realised that I’d never confronted a plan ever before in my life…

Emma Geliot: Despite the physical flatness of your paintings, they often generate a kind of optical depth, or the colours disturb and disrupt the visual recognition of a flat plane. How would you describe that illusory space?

Tess Jaray: This is the most difficult question to answer. In fact it can’t really be answered, because you’re asking, what makes a painting?

I’m not sure that many artists have made successful paintings that are completely flat. When they do, it brings up that old question, is a painting an object? Can it simultaneously be an object and an illusion?

Although painting hasn’t been viewed as a ‘window’ for some time, something to be looked into and through, perhaps since American Abstract Expressionism, a rectangular format of almost any shape or size is a convention whereby we separate the surface away from the world, simultaneously suggesting a glimpse into another one. It still seems rather miraculous to me that we are capable of creating new worlds within just a simple rectangle. And also, the fact that there are still people who are interested in this must show a need of some sort.

Perhaps it’s because our own world is not enough for us.

It’s very difficult to say what the illusory space is for that very reason: it’s illusory. Creating new space within a rectangle is a very exciting thing to do. Even though it’s not really possible to paint on a flat surface in any way without creating space of some sort, to find a way of giving it believable presence and meaning is something else. To see an indefinable space emerge from the process of painting is a thrilling and promising moment, but it has to be shaped, organised, controlled in such a way that it’s given meaning. And, of course, it’s not ‘meaning’ in the sense that it means a particular thing.

EG: What do you need around you when you are starting a new work?

TJ: As little as possible apart from the materials that are needed for the work. And this depends on what stage the work is at, so it’s paper and pencils – B to 6B – and coloured pencils, drawing mat, rulers, rubber, compass, drawing board, scrap paper, good paper, acrylic paint, oil paint, mixing oils, cleaning oils, turps, various kinds of brushes, containers, rags, water-spray, a clean surface for mixing, a large surface for painting, overalls (very hard to find the right ones), music, coffee and cigarettes within reach. The most important thing of all is comfortable working shoes. When they wear out, roughly every ten years, it’s a disaster.

You did ask…

16

EG: Do you resist classification with and/or comparison to other artists within identifiable movements, or are you happy to align yourself within those movements?

other artists, and yet the results can be completely different, if the spirit of the artist comes through.

EG: How’d your public realm commissions relate to your studio painting practice? Do the inevitable constraints of working to the commissioner’s agenda cause frustration or provide a useful framework for finding creative solutions?

TJ: If only that were possible! Probably most artists feel, at least at certain times in their lives, that they are the only artist in the world. But we are all utterly linked to each other and to the time we’re working in.

Quite often it’s possible to look at someone’s work and date it to within a year or two. There really does seem to be a zeitgeist. After all, no one works in a vacuum, and we are all profoundly affected by the time we live in, and what’s happening around us. Quite often, an artist with a long career can be seen to appear similar to other artists, and then later on that disappears. That doesn’t mean to say that one is not affected, often at a really deep level, with art that goes back millennia. Art is a river; it constantly changes and yet remains the same. I’ve forgotten which ancient Greek philosopher said life is in constant flux and, as artists are condemned to reflect life, their work will also always be in flux. We tend to condemn those who repeat themselves, and accuse them of never moving.

So, personally, I must accept that I am part of identifiable movements, and even though I long to make something that would hold its value into eternity, I also know that this is more or less impossible, except for a handful of great geniuses – and perhaps eternity seems to be getting shorter by the moment – at the same time, it’s always interesting to see that you can be attempting something very similar to

TJ: It’s much easier to work within constraints. The choices are inevitably limited for most public commissions, so if it is already decided that the materials you have to use are brick and stone, and that there is a precise limitation on space, and also on time, then really you are halfway there. Much of it is common sense, and if the context is taken into consideration, which it inevitably must be, then with a bit of imagination and perhaps some vision, it’s all much simpler than having to pull something out of thin air, which making a painting can sometimes feel like. With a painting you can only move forward, not back, and you can never repeat yourself. The problems with public commissions are usually the human ones: everyone involved, commissioners, architects, designers, builders, all have their own ideas as to how something should be done, and that can be quite challenging.

The answer as to how commissions actually relate to studio practice isn’t that clear to me, other than that the aesthetic is of course the same, therefore the philosophy. The advantage in the studio is that you must take complete responsibility. No one can tell you that

19

20

21

22

you are getting it wrong, at least not until a work is completed and shown and then of course many critics are waiting to do just that.

EG: And what about your writing – how does that fit into your practice?

TJ: It may be just an enjoyable extension.

What I like about writing is that, unlike painting, it doesn’t seem to matter so much, I don’t mind if I fail, if I get it wrong, or if others don’t read it. I write only about what I know or have seen or experienced, there is nothing imaginative about it at all. I have great admiration for those who write from their imagination, and I can’t understand how they do it! And I only write when I have something I want to write about, whereas painting is not a bit like that. Painting is an obsessive activity, not what you would call an ‘enjoyable’ one.

First spread, right page: Aleppo - The Light Surrounded, Tess Jaray, 2016; paint on panel, 194cm x 200cm, all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Second spread, left page: Citadel Light on Light, Tess Jaray, 2016; paint on canvas, 180cm x 125cm, all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Second spread, right hand page, left page: Thorns 15 ‘Purple on Yellow’, Tess Jaray, 2014; acrylic on metal panel, 24cm x 26cm all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Second spread, right hand page, right page: Thorns 16, Tess Jaray, 2014; acrylic on metal panel, 29cm x 24cm; all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Third spread, left page: Study for ‘Thirty One Steps’, Tess Jaray, 1985; pencil on graph paper, 20cm x 20cm; all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Third spread, right page: Study for ‘Villandry’, Tess Jaray,1966; pencil on paper, 24cm x 25.4cm; all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Fourth spread, top left page: Aleppo 3, Tess Jaray, 2016; oil paint on panel, 5 panels, 72cm x 197.3cm (overall); all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London Fourth spread, bottom left page: Aleppo 3B, Tess Jaray, 2016; oil on panel, 4 panels, 37cm x 69cm (overall); all rights reserved; courtesy Karsten Schubert and Marlborough Fine Art, London

EG: Would you say that the motifs that recur in your work are the result of a process of distillation, of seeing how much can be said with the sparest of information?

TJ: Yes. That is more or less exactly what happens. Nothing must be there for embellishment, or for any reason other than serving a purpose.

EG: So then, can you describe your relationship with pattern? When female artists use pattern it is sometimes dismissed as a feminine device. Would you say that you are actively trying to challenge that cliché? Or is it just not important?

TJ: To some extent it is important, in that, as you say, the use of pattern in art has sometimes been used as a way to diminish women’s art. But that’s a very simplistic way of looking at it, because it’s actually a very complex subject. You could even say that we really see the world, in part, as pattern.

Because we’re always framing things, indeed we can only see things framed, as we can only see a certain amount of what’s in front of us at any one time. And any kind of repetition, any kind of rhythm or movement, infers pattern. So, it can be seen as the building blocks of the world around us, and artists and architects and builders throughout history have called upon it.

Why it has been deemed so necessary to us is a much more intriguing question than if I am trying to challenge the perception

23

of pattern as female - which really doesn’t interest me, though I am challenged to find the answer to why certain patterns seem to have been used in more meaningful ways than others. The stripe, for instance, has become so ubiquitous in contemporary art that I recently asked my friend, the artist John Stezeker, if he thought that it was the nude figure of our times. His response was what he called the nakedness of the stripe, because it reveals the undercoat of a painting, which connects strongly with the idea of the monochrome as representing a purity in that primary coating. Which I’m not certain about, but you see how complex the question of pattern can start to get.

The use of repeated stripes, zigzags, diamonds, all come immediately to mind when I think of the architecture and monuments that go back thousands of years, so such pattern seems to be archetypes, that have emerged from our unconscious mind for millennia.

And yet there are other patterns, using other motifs, for instance the rose, acanthus leaf, the fleur-de-lys etc., etc., which are often used yet don’t seem to carry the same weight as, say, the square or the circle. How much does it have to do with cultural identity? And now that cultural identity is diminishing, what meaning does the repetition of a circle or a diamond have for us?

And when you think of the role that number plays in this, there are more questions that spring to mind. Is one of something as important as two or three of the same thing? What about ten? I remember being told, when I was a student, that we can perceive numbers of objects up to seven, after which it becomes a field of objects that are not so easily counted.

So, you see that my use of pattern in my work is really just asking one question after another. And each answer brings another question. Which no doubt is partly why we keep on going: We never find the answer—CCQ

Tess Jaray is at Albertz Benda, NYC from 20 April – 27 May 2017 albertzbenda.com Tess Jaray - Into Light, Marlborough Fine Art, organised in collaboration with Karsten Schubert, 25 May – 17 June 2017 marlboroughlondon.com tessjaray.com

All Trolled Out When the Icelandic Art Center announced that artist Egill Sæbjörnsson would turn over his Venice Biennale presentation, at the Icelandic Pavilion, to two trolls, CCQ’s first thought was for the safety of Biennale visitors. Worst fears were realised somewhat earlier, when freelance British journalist Saul Ause, was mutilated by one of the trolls, during his attempt to interview them in a Berlin nightclub. After Sæbjörnsson accompanied the injured hack back to London, the artist was questioned by the authorities. CCQ has chosen to publish a section of Sæbjörnsson’s leaked witness statement; we are also publishing two images of Bõögâr’s unfinished breakfast, the morning after the attack.

First spread, left page and second spread, left page: Ūgh and Bõögâr, Egill Sæbjörnsson, courtesy and copyright the artist and i8 Gallery First spread, right page: After a heavy night on the town Bõögâr cannot finish his breakfast, Egill Sæbjörnsson in collaboration with Avis & Koroviev for CCQ, 2017; with thanks to Chapter, The Meat Market, Canton, Cardiff and Cosy Club, Cardiff Third spread, right page: Ūgh’s Trollcam images, Egill Sæbjörnsson in collaboration with Fagot Koroviev for CCQ, Berlin, 2017

26

Occurred

Day Day

Year Year Time Time(24 (24hrs) hrs)Address AddressofofOccurrence Occurrence

Sprint Sprint# # APT APT# #

How Howcan canwe wesafely safelycontact contactyou? you?(e.g. (e.g.Name, Name,Phone) Phone)

VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1) VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1)

Report Report

DATES DATES Occurred

Month Month

CITY CITYOF OFLONDON LONDON

INCIDENT INCIDENTREPORT REPORT

Name Name(Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (includealiases) aliases)

Precinct Precinct CTV CTV

Complaint Complaint# #

Aided Aided# #

{{Officer-Initiated Officer-Initiated { {Radio RadioRun Run{ {Walk-In Walk-In Phone Phone

AUSE, AUSE,SAUL SAUL

Standardised INCIDENT REPORT Injured?

Injured?{ { ✓ ✓NoNo{{YesYes {{No No ✓ {✓ {Yes Yes (IR) ARM ARMRIPPED RIPPEDOFF OFFOF OFPERSON PERSON Describe: Describe:__________________________________________ __________________________________________ (Form 90375 - 03/2017) BOOGAR BOOGAR AND AND UGH UGH APT APT# #

Street Street&&City City

Incident Incident# #

Postcode Postcode

Month Month

DOB DOB

ORI ORI

Agency Agency

Day Day

Year Year

Race Raceand andgender gender

MALE MALEHUMAN HUMAN

IfIfnon-English, non-English,language: language: {{Spanish Spanish { {Chinese Chinese { {Other: Other:____________ ____________

Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Notes Notes(e.g. (e.g.special specialneeds, needs,disability, disability,requests): requests):

If Ifyes, yes,

what whathospital? hospital?_________ _________

SUSPECT SUSPECT // PARTY2 PARTY2 (P2) (P2)

Month Month

DOB DOB

Phone Phone

Name Name(Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (includealiases) aliases)

Day Day

Year Year

Race Raceand andgender gender

MALE MALETROLL TROLL

APT APT# #questions Postcode Postcode OUT of earshot REMEMBER: Whenever possible, ask complainant the DIR and eyesight of suspect IfIfnon-English, non-English, language: language: Trollese Trollese {{Spanish Spanish { {Chinese Chinese { {Other: Other:____________ ____________

Street Street&&City City

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓

Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Injured?

Injured?{ {No No{ {Yes Yes

Prior PriorCriminal CriminalHistory?

History?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No Prior Priorpolice policereport? report? {{Yes Yes{ {No No whathospital? hospital?_________ _________ Describe: Describe:__________________________________________ __________________________________________what Victim Victimfearful? fearful? {{Yes Yes{ {No No LIVING LIVINGSITUATION SITUATION RELATIONSHIP: RELATIONSHIP:(SUSPECT (SUSPECT/ P2 / P2totoVICTIM VICTIM/ P1) / P1) SUSPECT/P2 SUSPECT/P2 Suspect: Suspect: Do Doparties partiescurrently currentlylive livetogether? together? {{Yes Yes{ {No No{ {Married Married {{Formerly FormerlyMarried Married present? present?

Accesstotoweapons? weapons? { {Yes Yes{ {No No {Intimate IntimatePartner/Dating Partner/Dating { {Former FormerIntimate/Dating Intimate/Dating Access IFIFNO, NO,have havethey theylived livedtogether togetherininthe thepast? past?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No{ Yes {{ Yes {Yes Yes{ {No No Drug/Alcoholhistory? history? { ARTIST IMPRESSION SUSPECT(S): {{Child ChildofofOF victim/party victim/party 11 { {Parent Parentofofvictim/party victim/party11 Drug/Alcohol No {{ No Do Dothe theparties partieshave havea achild-in-common? child-in-common? { {Yes Yes { {No No{ Suicidethreat threathistory? history? { {Yes Yes{ {No No AQUAINTENCE AQUAINTENCE SS Suicide {Relative Relative :___________ :___________ { {Other Other :________________ :________________ Phone Phone Relationshiptotovictim victim/ P1 / P1 Month Month Day Day Year Year Relationship 1.1.Name Name(Street (Street/ APT# / APT#/ City, / City,if ifneeded) needed) UGH, UGH, 2.2.

{{No No { {Yes YesIf Ifyes, yes,

3.3.

(Check (Checkallallthat thatapply) apply)

DOB DOB

ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATED PERSONS PERSONS

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓

✓✓ ✓✓

ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS

{{Impaired ImpairedAlcohol/Drugs Alcohol/Drugs { {Pushing Pushing {{Injury InjurytotoChild Child {{Sexual SexualAssault Assault {{Injury InjurytotoOther OtherPersons Persons { {Shooting Shooting _________) { (Estimated (Estimated$ $_________) {Injury InjurytotoPet/Animal Pet/Animal {{Slapping Slapping {{Forced ForcedEntry Entry {{Interference Interferencewith withPhone Phone { {Slamming SlammingBody Body {{Forcible ForcibleRestraint Restraint {{Intimidation/Coercion Intimidation/Coercion { {Stabbing Stabbing {{Hair HairPulling Pulling {{Kicking Kicking {{Strangulation Strangulation/―Choking /―Choking ‖‖ {{Homicide Homicide {{Punching Punching {{Suicide SuicideororAttempt Attempt {{Biting Biting {{Destroyed DestroyedProperty Property

✓✓

Arrest## Arrest ArrestMade?

Made? Arrest Yes Yes { { {No No { Offenses Offenses

OFFENSES OFFENSES & & OP OP

Custody CustodyConditions Conditions

Section(Sub) (Sub) Law Law(e.g. (e.g.PL) PL) Section

GRIEVOUS GRIEVOUSBODILY BODILYHARM HARM

OAP OAPACT ACT1861 1861 SECTION SECTION1818

2.2. INDECENT INDECENTEXPOSURE EXPOSURE(attempted (attemptedtotocopulate copulate 3.3.

(specify) (specify)

{{OTHER OTHERSuspect SuspectActions: Actions:

RIPPING RIPPINGOFF OFFARM ARM

________________________ ________________________

✓ {✓ {Threats: Threats: ✓{✓ { Injure/Kill Injure/KillPersons Persons {{Injure/Kill Injure/KillSelf Self ✓ {✓ {Injure/Kill Injure/KillPet/ Pet/ {{Take TakeChild Child

{{Threat Threatwith withweapon weapon

{{Weapons Weaponsused: used:(specify) (specify) {{Blunt BluntObject Object {{Gun Gun {{Motor MotorVehicle Vehicle {{Destroy/Take Destroy/TakeProperty Property {{Sharp SharpInstrument Instrument EAT EATFAMILY FAMILY {{Other Other : ______________ : ______________ {{Other Other : ____________ : ____________ Animal Animal

Reasons Reasonsarrest arrestnot notmade madeon-scene: on-scene:{ {No NoOffense OffenseCommitted Committed { {No NoProbable ProbableCause Cause{ {Suspect SuspectOff-Scene Off-Scene INSUFFICIENT INSUFFICIENT BACKUP UP {{Warrant/Criminal Warrant/CriminalSummons Summonstotobeberequested requested{ {Violation Violationlevel: level:not notininpolice policepresence presence(no (nocitizen’s citizen’sarrest) arrest){ {Other: Other:BACK

✓✓

1.1.

{{Threw ThrewItems Items {{Unwanted UnwantedContact Contact {{Verbal VerbalAbuse Abuse {{Violated ViolatedVisitation/ Visitation/

Charges Charges Offenses OffensesInvolved: Involved:(check (checkall allthat thatapply apply ) ) Filed Filed

{ { { {

with witha aheavy heavygoods goodsvehicle) vehicle)

{ {

ANTISOCIAL ANTISOCIALBEHAVIOUR BEHAVIOUR

{ { Felony Felony { {Misdemeanor Misdemeanor { {Violation Violation { {Other Other( Specify) ( Specify)___________________ ___________________ Registry RegistryChecked?

Checked? { {Yes Yes Order OrderofofProtection?

Protection?{ {Yes Yes Stay StayAway AwayOrder?

Order? { {Yes Yes Order OrderViolated?

Violated? {{Yes Yes Any AnyPRIOR PRIORorders? orders? { {Yes Yes

OPCourt CourtName Name : : ___________________ ___________________ {{No No OP {{No No{ {Family Family{ {Criminal Criminal{ {Supreme Supreme {{No No{ {Out OutofofState State { {Tribal Tribal {{No No Expiration Expiration Month Month Day Day Year Year Date {{No No Date

STOP! STOP! ——————> ——————> ******************************COMPLETE COMPLETESTATEMENT STATEMENTON ONPAGE PAGE22NEXT NEXT ****************************—————–—–> —————–—–> {{No No

✓✓

✓✓

Photos PhotosTaken?

Taken? IFIFYES, YES,photos photostaken takenof: of: { {Victim VictimInjuries Injuries { {Suspect SuspectInjuries Injuries Other Otherevidence evidencecollected? collected?{ {Yes Yes IFIFYES, YES,describe describe: : {{Yes Yes{ {No No { TROLL CAM CAM {Scene Scene { {Damaged DamagedProperty Property { {Other: Other:TROLL _________________ _________________

Results Resultsofofinvestigation investigationand andbasis basisofofaction actiontaken. taken.(Were (Wereexcited excitedutterances, utterances,spontaneous spontaneousadmissions admissionsororspontaneous spontaneousstatements statementsmade?) made?) {{Yes Yes

{{No No

(Complete (Complete710.30 710.30ororother otherform formwhen when

applicable). applicable)._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II N NV VE ES ST T II G GA AT T II O ON N

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Any AnyGuns GunsininHouse?

House?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No

Any AnyGuns GunsSeized?

Seized?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No

Permit Permit#(s): #(s):_____________________________ _____________________________

Household HouseholdMember MemberHas HasPistol PistolPermit?

Permit?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No

Permit PermitSeized?

Seized?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No

Issuing IssuingCounty:_____________________ County:_____________________ Name NameononPermit(s): Permit(s):____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

IsIsthere therereasonable reasonablecause causetotosuspect suspectaachild childmay maybe bethe thevictim victimofofabuse, abuse,neglect, neglect,maltreatment, maltreatment,ororendangerment? endangerment?

IF IFYES, YES,officer officermust mustcontact contactthe theNYS NYSCHILD CHILDABUSE ABUSEHOTLINE HOTLINEREGISTRY REGISTRY##1-800-635-1522 1-800-635-1522

{Yes {Yes

{No {No

ISISSUSPECT SUSPECTON ONPAROLE PAROLEOR ORPROBATION? PROBATION?

{{Probation Probation

{{Parole Parole

Officer’s Officer’sSignature Signature(& (&Rank) Rank)

Supervisor’s Supervisor’sSignature Signature(& (&Rank) Rank)

CONTACTS CONTACTSINITIATED INITIATEDBY BYPOLICE: POLICE: { {Domestic DomesticViolence ViolenceServices Services ***THE TROLL ON THE RIGHT IS THE SUSPECT*** {{Child Child Protective Protective Services Services(or (orACS) ACS) { {Other OtherAgency: Agency:_______________________ _______________________ {{Not NotSupervised Supervised {{Status StatusUnknown Unknown I.D. I.D. Month Month Day Day Year Year artist impression offered Egill Sæbjörnsson at the time of the 1. interview Page (PRINT (PRINTand and SIGN) SIGN)by 1.Was WasDIR DIRgiven giventotothe thevictim victimatatthe thescene? scene?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No Page _______ 2.2.Was WasVictim VictimRights RightsNotice Noticegiven giventotovictim? victim?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No _______ (PRINT (PRINTand andSIGN) SIGN)

POLICE POLICECOPY COPY(Please (Pleasemake makea acopy copyforforDA’s DA’soffice officeif ifappropriate) appropriate)

IFIFNO, NO,give givereason: reason:

ofof

______ ______

3221-05/2011DCJS DCJSCopyright Copyright©©2011 2011bybyNYS NYSDCJS DCJS NYS NYSDOMESTIC DOMESTICVIOLENCE VIOLENCEHOTLINE HOTLINEENGLISH: ENGLISH: 1-800-942-6906 1-800-942-6906 SPANISH: SPANISH: 1-800-942-6908 1-800-942-6908 3221-05/2011

Day

Year

3

26

2017

3

26

2017

Time (24 hrs) Address of Occurrence

04:55 05:26

Name (Last, First, M.I.) / (include aliases)

+44 7971 7809437

✓

BOOGAR Bõögâr

Day

07

Year

1968

If non-English, language: { Spanish { Chinese

CF5 1Q Z

Race and gender

MALE HUMAN

{ Other: ____________

Notes (e.g. special needs, disability, requests):

{ No { Yes If yes,

ARM RIPPED OFF OF PERSON

Describe: __________________________________________

SUSPECT / PARTY2 (P2)

Postcode

Month

10

Removed to Hospital?

Name (Last, First, M.I.) / (include aliases)

what hospital? _________

AND

Phone

UGH APT #

Ficken 2000, Berlin, Germany

NA

Postcode

✓

Month

Day

Year

If non-English, language: { Spanish { Chinese

NA

Race and gender

Once upon a time

Removed to Hospital?

Injured? { No { Yes

MALE TROLL

{ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Trollese Other: ____________

Troll/human relations?

Prior Criminal History? { Yes { No Strange smells?

Prior police report? { Yes { No Access troll juice? { Yes { No Victim to fearful?

Suspect: Tendency crush?

Access to to weapons? { Yes { No Implicated in pounding?

Drug/Alcohol history? { Yes { No Bone sucking Suicide threathabit? history? { Yes { No

{ No { Yes If yes,

Describe: __________________________________________ what hospital? _________ LIVING SITUATION RELATIONSHIP: (SUSPECT / P2 to VICTIM / P1) SUSPECT/P2 squeeze Handler Do parties currently live together? { Yes { No { Married { Troll Formerly Married present?

Troll arse wipe Trollimatrix IF NO, have they lived together in the past? { Yes { No { Intimate Partner/Dating { Former Intimate/Dating { Yes { Mini Child Gimp of victim/party 1 { Grunt Parent buddy of victim/party 1 { No Do the parties have a child-in-common? { Yes { No { Other: AQUAINTENCES Relative:___________ { Troll Otherbitch :________________ Phone Month Day Year Relationship to victim / P1 1. Name (Street / APT# / City, if needed) NA***** Unknown********** aquaintance ŨGH UGH, 2.

✓ ✓ ✓

3.

✓ ✓

ThumpingAlcohol/Drugs { Impaired Fartingto Child { Injury Mounting { Injury to Other Persons Defecating (Estimated $ _________) { Injury Gargling to Pet/Animal SnarlingEntry { Forced Ripping { Interference with Phone Violent Rubbing Abrasive Sniffing { Forcible Restraint { Intimidation/Coercion Sniffing Digging { Hair Pulling { Kicking Digging Tearing { Homicide { Punching

(Check all that apply)

Roaring { Biting Grunting and { Destroyed Property

✓

Arrest Made? Arrest # Yes { { No Offenses

✓

1.

2.

3.

{ Pushing { Sexual Assault { Shooting { Slapping { Slamming Body { Stabbing { Strangulation/―Choking‖ { Suicide or Attempt

✓

{ Threw Items { Unwanted Contact { Verbal Abuse { Violated Visitation/

Custody Conditions

{ OTHER Suspect Actions:

RIPPING OFF ARM

________________________

DOB

ASSOCIATED PERSONS

✓

OFFENSES & OP

ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS

Phone

AUSE, SAUL

Injured? { No { Yes

Complaint #

Aided #

CZ1729 NA

{ Officer-Initiated { Radio Run { Walk-In

+44 7971 7809437 APT #

✓

Precinct CTV

APT #

How can we safely contact you? (e.g. Name, Phone)

✓

Incident #

NA

Urbanstraße 69, 69969 Berlin

Street & City

Street & City

Sprint #

DOB

Occurred

VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1)

Report

DATES

Month

CITY OF LONDON

INCIDENT REPORT

DOB

ORI

Agency

✓Threat with weapon { ✓ { Threats: Threat to Rip ✓Injure/Kill { Persons ✓Weapons { used: Clammy Demeanor { Injure/Kill Self { Troll Fist ✓ Intent to Gargle ✓ { Injure/Kill Pet/ ✓ { Gun Troll Rectum Desire to Rip { Take Child { (specify)

(specify)

Animal

Tendency toProperty Sniff { Destroy/Take

followed by Snarling EAT FAMILY Threat to Grimace { Other : ______________

Blunt Object

Motor Vehicle Troll Nose

{ Sharp Troll Instrument Toe Troll :Tooth { Other ____________

Reasons arrest not made on-scene: { No Offense Committed { No Probable Cause { Suspect Off-Scene INSUFFICIENT { Warrant/Criminal Summons to be requested { Violation level: not in police presence (no citizen’s arrest) { Other: BACK UP

GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM

Law (e.g. PL)

Section (Sub)

OAP ACT 1861

SECTION 18

Charges Filed

✓

{

INDECENT EXPOSURE (attempted to copulate

{

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

{

with a heavy goods vehicle)

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓

Offenses Involved: (check all that apply) { Felony { Misdemeanor { Violation { Other ( Specify) ___________________ Exclusion Order Registry Checked? { Yes { No OP Court Name: ___________________ Excitement Order { Yes { No { Family { Criminal { Supreme Order of Protection?

Rumble Order Stay Away Order? { Yes { No { Out of State { Tribal Pheremone Order { Yes { No Expiration Month Order Violated?

Day Year Silage Orderorders? { Yes { No Date Any PRIOR

✓

✓

STOP! ——————> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * COMPLETE STATEMENT ON PAGE 2 NEXT * * * * * * * * * * * * * * —————–—–> Other evidence collected? { Yes { No

✓

✓

✓

Photos Taken? IF YES, photos taken of: { Victim Injuries { Suspect Injuries { Yes { No { Scene { Damaged Property { Other: TROLL CAM _________________

IF YES, describe:

Results of investigation and basis of action taken. (Were excited utterances, spontaneous admissions or spontaneous statements made?) { Yes

{ No

(Complete 710.30 or other form when

I, SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL am reporting the incidents that occurred in Ficken 2000, an adult nightclub in Berlin, in the early hours of applicable). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday the 26th March, 2017. AUSE, SAUL, a journalist commissioned by the notorious cultural magazine CCQ, was sent to Berlin to interview ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ two trolls, BÕÖGÂR and ŨGH (who are representing Iceland at the forthcoming 57th Venice Biennale). I warned journalist AUSE of the irritable ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INVESTIGATION

and vulgar nature of the trolls before we met up, but AUSE, who came across as increasingly arrogant the drunker he got, insisted on going to the ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ club to conduct the interview at 04:00. The trolls had drunk a considerable quantity of alcohol, which they are not used to. By the time they entered ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the nightclub, they were becoming increasingly bellicose and fractious. AUSE seemed entirely unaware that he was aggravating BÕÖGÂR with ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ pretentious questions and blatant self-aggrandisement. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Witness statement continued on separate sheet)

✓

✓

✓

ATH ***ABUSED Club Permit? {Yes {No Any Guns Seized? {YesTROLL {No HOTLINE*** Household Member Has Pistol Permit Seized? {Yes { No NA***** Issuing County:_____________________ Name on Permit(s): ____________________________________________ Is there reasonable cause to suspect a child may be the victim of abuse, neglect, maltreatment, NA***** or endangerment? {Yes {No IF YES, officer must contact the NYS CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE REGISTRY # 1-800-635-1522

Clubsin House? {Yes {No Any Guns

Permit #(s): _____________________________

✓

Troll bating IS SUSPECT ON PAROLE OR PROBATION? CONTACTS INITIATED BY POLICE: { Domestic Violence Services TROLL WATCH LIST? Maybe { Perhaps sometimes { Troll Never Child Protection Protective Services Services (or ACS) { Other Agency: _______________________ { Maybe ProbationDefinitley { Parole Not Supervised { Certainly Status Unknown Month Day Year 1. Was DIR given to the victim at the scene? { Yes { No Page Officer’s Signature (& Rank) (PRINT and SIGN) I.D. 794774 27 04 2107 2. Was Victim Rights Notice given to victim? { Yes { No _______ Amber Bower, Chief Bottle Washer's Mate of IF NO, give reason: Supervisor’s Signature (& Rank) (PRINT and SIGN) 27 04 2107 ______ Ric Bower, Chief Bottle Washer 776598 POLICE COPY (Please make a copy for DA’s office if appropriate)

NYS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE ENGLISH: 1-800-942-6906 TROLLESE: SPANISH: 1-800-942-6908 3221-05/2011 DCJS Copyright © 2011 by NYS DCJS TROLL VIOLENCE HOTLINE

ORI

Sprint # (NYC)

ORI ORI

Month Month

Day Day

Precinct

(NYC)/CTV

CITY CITYOF OFLONDON LONDON

Sprint Sprint# #

INCIDENT INCIDENTREPORT REPORT

Incident Incident# #

8 2 of the CofL Incident Report: Page 3 of Page Precinct Precinct APT APT# # Aided Aided# # CTV CTV STATEMENT OF ALLEGATIONS / SUPPORTING DEPOSITION

Year Year Time Time(24 (24hrs) hrs)Address AddressofofOccurrence Occurrence

Bõögâr

Report Report

How Howcan canwe wesafely safelycontact contactyou? you?(e.g. (e.g.Name, Name,Phone) Phone) Suspect Name (Last, First, M.I.)

VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1) VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1)

Complaint #

Aided # (NYC)

Name Name(Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (includealiases) aliases)

Complaint Complaint# #

{{Officer-Initiated Officer-Initiated { {Radio RadioRun Run{ {Walk-In Walk-In Phone Phone

AUSE, AUSE,SAUL SAUL

3

SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL _________________________

Month Month

DOB DOB

Occurred

Agency Agency

DATES DATES Occurred

Incident #

Day Day

Year Year

Race Raceand andgender gender

MALE MALEHUMAN HUMAN 26 2017 (date) at _________ 04:55 ____/____/____, IfIfnon-English, non-English,language: language:

I, Street (victim/deponent name), state that state on the witness/victim the APT APT # #onthat Postcode Postcode Street&&City City {{Spanish Spanish { {Chinese Chinese Other:____________ ____________ Yo, _______________________ (nombre de victima/deponente), declaro que en tal fecha ____/____/____ en {{Other: _________

✓✓

✓✓

Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Injured?

Injured?{ {No No{ {Yes Yes

Notes Notes(e.g. (e.g.special specialneeds, needs,disability, disability,requests): requests):

{{No No { {Yes YesIf Ifyes, yes, Ficken 2000 Nightclub, Berlin (location of incident), in the County/City/Town/Village of __________, of the state of New York, the following did occur: ARM ARMRIPPED RIPPED OFF OFF OF OFPERSON PERSON what whathospital? hospital?_________ _________ Describe: Describe: __________________________________________ __________________________________________ (donde el incidente ocurrio), el condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, del estado de Nueva York, lo siguiente occurio:

BOOGAR BOOGAR

AND AND

Phone Phone

UGH UGH

Month Month

DOB DOB

Name Name(Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (includealiases) aliases)

Year Year

Day Day

Race Raceand andgender gender

SUSPECT SUSPECT // PARTY2 PARTY2 (P2) (P2)

MALE MALETROLL TROLL BÕÖGÂR Yes, we like drawing… just like Egurt [note: Egurt [The following is a direct transcript from the recording _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ APT APT# #

Street Street&&City City

Postcode Postcode

IfIfnon-English, non-English,language: language:

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓

Trollese Trollese {{Spanish Spanish { {Chinese Chinese { Other:____________ ____________ means Egill in Troll ]… I draw better than Ũgh! {Other: device used by AUSE to conduct the interview. The _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Injured?

Injured?{ {No No{ {Yes Yes Prior PriorCriminal CriminalHistory?

History?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No {{No No { {Yes YesIf Ifyes, yes, Prior Priorpolice policereport? report? {{Yes Yes{ {No No ŨGH: No, it’s not true, Bõögâr. recording ceases when the device was broken, after the whathospital? hospital?_________ _________ Describe: Describe:__________________________________________ __________________________________________what _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Victim Victimfearful? fearful? {{Yes Yes{ {No No ORI Precinct (NYC)/CTV / P2 # VICTIM (NYC) / P1) LIVING LIVING SITUATION SITUATION Sprint # (NYC) Incident # RELATIONSHIP: # RELATIONSHIP: (SUSPECT (SUSPECT /Aided P2totoVICTIM /Complaint P1) SUSPECT/P2 SUSPECT/P2 Suspect: BÕÖGÂR: I’m much better, Ũgh.Suspect: attack began] Do Doparties parties currently currentlylive livetogether? together? {{Yes Yes{ {No No{ {Married Married {{Formerly Formerly Married Married present? present? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Accesstotoweapons? weapons? { {Yes Yes{ {No No {Intimate IntimatePartner/Dating Partner/Dating { {Former FormerIntimate/Dating Intimate/Dating Access IFIFNO, NO,have havethey theylived livedtogether togetherininthe thepast? past?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No{ Yes {{ Yes {Yes Yes{ {No No Drug/Alcoholhistory? history? { { { Child Childofofvictim/party victim/party 11No { { Parent Parentofnot. ofvictim/party victim/party11 Drug/Alcohol ŨGH: you’re Evidence related to this case: 2 of the CofL Incident Report: No {{ No Do Dothe theparties partieshave havea achild-in-common? child-in-common?Page {{Yes Yes {{No No{ Suicidethreat threathistory? history? { {Yes Yes{ {No No AQUAINTENCE AQUAINTENCE SS Suicide {Relative Relative :___________ :___________ { {Other Other :________________ :________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ STATEMENT OF ALLEGATIONS / SUPPORTING DEPOSITION Phone Phone

Month Month

DOB DOB

ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATED PERSONS PERSONS

1.1.Name Name(Street (Street/ APT# / APT#/ City, / City,if ifneeded) needed)

Day Day

Relationshiptotovictim victim/ P1 / P1 Year Year Relationship

[Item TA260317/a] Recording Device (ZOOM H1):

AUSE, SAUL: Coming back to the subject of absence and presence;

The journalist AUSE, SAUL was in possession of said

your creations are mute apparitions, are they not, that have neither a

UGH, UGH, _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Suspect Name (Last, First, M.I.) 2.2.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.3.

✓✓✓✓ ✓✓ {{Weapons Weaponsused: used: BÕÖGÂR: Egurt, what is he saying? used to record interviews with BÕÖGÂR and ŨGH. The ✓ ✓Injury {{Destroyed DestroyedProperty Property { { InjurytotoOther Other Persons Persons {{Shooting Shooting {{Verbal Verbal Abuse Abuse {{Injure/Kill Injure/Kill Self Self {{ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________) _________) ((

ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS

beginning recording device throughout most of the night; originally I, (Check _________________________ (victim/deponent name), state that on nor an end? ____/____/____, (date) at _________ (Checkallallthat thatapply) apply) {{Threat Threatwith withweapon weapon {{Threats: Threats:(specify) (specify) {{Impaired ImpairedAlcohol/Drugs Alcohol/Drugs { {Pushing Pushing {{Threw ThrewItems Items _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yo,{{_______________________ (nombre de{victima/deponente), declaro que en tal fecha{{ ____/____/____ en _________ Biting Biting {{Injury InjurytotoChild Child {Sexual SexualAssault Assault { {Unwanted Unwanted Contact Contact Injure/Kill Injure/KillPersons Persons

✓✓

(specify) (specify)

Blunt BluntObject Object

Estimated Estimated$ $ Injury Injury totoPet/Animal Pet/Animal {{Slapping Slapping of {{Violated ViolatedVisitation/ Visitation/ {Injure/Kill Injure/Kill Pet/ Pet/Animal Animal (location ofEntry incident), in{{ the County/City/Town/Village __________, of the state { of New York, the following did occur: {{Gun Gun {{Forced ForcedEntry Custody Custody Conditions Conditions { {Interference Interference with withused Phone Phone { {Slamming Slamming Body Body { {Take TakeChild Child SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL: It’s a question that{typical art device was not intentionally to record incriminating { Motor Motor Vehicle Vehicle (donde el incidente ocurrio), el condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, del estado de Nueva York, lo siguiente occurio: { { Forcible Forcible Restraint Restraint {{Intimidation/Coercion Intimidation/Coercion { {Stabbing Stabbing {{OTHER OTHERSuspect SuspectActions: Actions: {{Destroy/Take Destroy/TakeProperty Property _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

✓✓

{{Sharp SharpInstrument Instrument {{Hair HairPulling Pulling {{Kicking Kicking {{Strangulation Strangulation/―Choking /―Choking ‖‖ EAT EAT FAMILY FAMILY RIPPING RIPPING OFF OFFARM ARM journalists ask.

Don’t worry Bõögâr he is here because he likes your evidence against, BÕÖGÂR and ŨGH, but following the ________________________ ________________________ { { Homicide Homicide { { Other Other : ______________ : ______________ { { Other Other : ____________ : ____________ { { Punching Punching { { Suicide Suicide or or Attempt Attempt _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Arrest## Reasons Reasonsarrest arrestnot notmade madeon-scene: on-scene:{ {No NoOffense OffenseCommitted Committed { {No NoProbable ProbableCause Cause{ {Suspect SuspectOff-Scene Off-Scene INSUFFICIENT Arrest ArrestMade?

Made? Arrest INSUFFICIENT art a lot! alleged attack, it has been deemed fit to be submitted. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKUP UP { { Warrant/Criminal Warrant/Criminal Summons Summons to to be be requested requested { { Violation Violation level: level: not not in in police police presence presence (no (no citizen’s citizen’s arrest) arrest) {{Other: Other:BACK Yes Yes { { {No No { _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

✓✓

Offenses Offenses

Section(Sub) (Sub) Law Law(e.g. (e.g.PL) PL) Section

Charges Charges

Offenses OffensesInvolved: Involved:(check (checkall allthat thatapply apply ) )

{ { Felony Felony

OFFENSES OFFENSES & & OP OP

[Item TA260317/b] Verbatim transcript of recorded Filed Filed BÕÖGÂR: OK, I like. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1.1. { {Misdemeanor Misdemeanor { {Violation Violation { {Other Other( Specify) ( Specify)___________________ ___________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OAP OAPACT ACT1861 1861 SECTION GRIEVOUS GRIEVOUSBODILY BODILYHARM HARM SECTION1818 { { Registry OP OP Court Court Name Name : : ___________________ ___________________ Registry Checked?

Checked? { { Yes Yes { { No No AUSE, SAUL: It is inherently problematic, or even contradictory, dialogue between the alleged assailant, [BÕÖGÂR] the 2.2. INDECENT _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INDECENTEXPOSURE EXPOSURE(attempted (attemptedtotocopulate copulate Order OrderofofProtection?

Protection?{ { Yes Yes { { No No{ { Family Family{ { Criminal Criminal{ {Supreme Supreme _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ { { with witha aheavy heavygoods goodsvehicle) vehicle) Stay StayAway AwayOrder?

Order? { {Yes Yes { {No No{ {Out Outof ofState State { {Tribal Tribal is it not, that you demand of your viewer sustained sensory alleged victim [SAUL, AUSE] and the principle witness 3.3.

Order OrderViolated?

Violated? {{Yes Yes { {No No Expiration Expiration Month Month Day Day Year Year _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ANTISOCIAL ANTISOCIALBEHAVIOUR BEHAVIOUR Date _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ { { Any AnyPRIOR PRIORorders? orders? { {Yes Yes { {No No Date [SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL]. All admissible evidence is

engagement that might be described as ‘half-registered moments’ in

STOP! STOP! ——————> ——————> ******************************COMPLETE COMPLETESTATEMENT STATEMENTON ONPAGE PAGE22NEXT NEXT ****************************—————–—–> —————–—–> _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Photos PhotosTaken?

Taken? IFIFYES, YES,photos photostaken takenof: of: { {Victim VictimInjuries Injuries { {Suspect SuspectInjuries Injuries Other Otherevidence evidencecollected? collected?{ {Yes Yes { {No No semi-specific, IFIFYES, YES, describe describe: : psychological locations? {{Yes Yes{ {No No transcribed: TROLL CAM CAM {{Scene Scene { {Damaged DamagedProperty Property { {Other: Other:TROLL _________________ _________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ additional pages asform needed) Results Resultsofofinvestigation investigationand andbasis basisofofaction actiontaken. taken.(Were (Wereexcited excitedutterances, utterances,spontaneous spontaneousadmissions admissionsororspontaneous spontaneousstatements statementsmade?) made?) {{Yes Yes { {(Use No No (Complete (Complete710.30 710.30 ororother other form when when ŨGH: Sensors? Yes we have made interactive art with sensors once.

AUSE, SAUL: Marc Quinn (have you heard of him?) once said: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ applicable). applicable)._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

✓✓

✓✓

False Statements made herein are punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor, pursuant to section 210.45 of the Penal Law. BÕÖGÂR: Yeah we did!

“Being born.

Art comes out of the son experience of beingcomo alive.”una As aclase de delito ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Declaraciones falsas hechas aqui castigables menor, deYeah… acuerdo con la seccion 210.45 de la _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ley penal. statement of intention, does this resonate with your own practices?

AUSE, SAUL: How can the 21st century practitioner cultivate an

II N NV VE ES ST T II G GA AT T II O ON N

Note: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ____________ Whether or not this form is ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ effective mobile maquette with sufficient agency to instigate the BÕÖGÂR: Resonate? Is that sound art??!

Victim/Deponent Signature Date signed, this DIR form will be _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Firma de victima/deponente Fecha filed with law enforcement. aesthetic … [inaudible] … the utopian - in terms of public space, I SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL: This might be too tricky a question. Be ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ____________ Nota: mean? aware, when they feel that they don’t understand very well, they get Interpreter DatePermit?

Si formaSeized? esta firmada, Any AnyGuns GunsininHouse?

House?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No Any AnyGuns GunsSeized?

Seized?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No Household HouseholdMember MemberHas HasPistol Pistol Permit?{ {Yes Yes{ {No NoestaPermit Permit Seized? {{Yes Yes{ {oNo No _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ no, esta DIR forma sera regisPermit Permit #(s): #(s): _____________________________ _____________________________ Issuing Issuing County:_____________________ County:_____________________ Name Name on on Permit(s): Permit(s): ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL: Saul, they are starting to get tetchy. grumpy. Bõögâr is quite grumpy tonight, don’t push it, ok? trada{Yes con la policia.

IsIsthere therereasonable reasonablecause causetotosuspect suspectaachild childmay maybe bethe thevictim victimofofabuse, abuse,neglect, neglect,maltreatment, maltreatment,ororendangerment? endangerment? {Yes {No {No _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ____________ IF IFYES, YES, officer officer must must contact contact the the NYS NYS CHILD CHILD ABUSE ABUSE HOTLINE HOTLINE REGISTRY REGISTRY # # 1-800-635-1522 1-800-635-1522 BÕÖGÂR: What did he say Egurt?

AUSE, SAUL: For me, drawing is not an act of representation; it Page Witness or Officer Date BY ISISSUSPECT SUSPECT ON ONPAROLE PAROLEOR ORPROBATION? PROBATION? CONTACTS CONTACTSINITIATED INITIATED BYPOLICE: POLICE: { {Domestic DomesticViolence ViolenceServices Services _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______ {{Child ChildProtective ProtectiveServices Services(or (orACS) ACS) { {Saul, Other OtherAgency: Agency:_______________________ _______________________ {{is Probation Probation Parole presence {{Not NotSupervised Supervised Status Unknown Unknown SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL: why don’t you ask them about Ai the process { of{Parole mining from absence. { Is{Status the process of of I.D. I.D. Month Month Day Day Year Year Page Page Officer’s Officer’sSignature Signature(& (&Rank) Rank) (PRINT (PRINTand andSIGN) SIGN) 1.1.Was WasDIR DIRgiven giventotothe thevictim victimatatthe thescene? scene?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No______ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______ 2.2.Was WasVictim VictimRights RightsNotice Noticegiven giventotovictim? victim?{ {Yes Yes{ {No No _______ Weiwei? generating line intrinsically a violation of (PRINT the immediate?

IFIFNO, NO, give givereason: reason: 3221-05/2011 DCJS Copyright © 2011 by NYS DCJSofof NYS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE ENGLISH: 1-800-942-6906 SPANISH: 1-800-942-6908 Supervisor’s Supervisor’s Signature Rank) Rank) (PRINT and andSIGN) SIGN) POLICE COPY Signature (Please make(& a(& copy for your DA’s office if appropriate)

______ ______ _____________________________________________________________________________________ (Use additional pages as needed)

POLICE POLICECOPY COPY(Please (Pleasemake makea acopy copyforforDA’s DA’soffice officeif ifappropriate) appropriate)

3221-05/2011DCJS DCJSCopyright Copyright©©2011 2011bybyNYS NYSDCJS DCJS NYS NYSDOMESTIC DOMESTICVIOLENCE VIOLENCEHOTLINE HOTLINEENGLISH: ENGLISH: 1-800-942-6906 1-800-942-6906 SPANISH: SPANISH: 1-800-942-6908 1-800-942-6908 3221-05/2011

False Statements made herein are punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor, pursuant to section 210.45 of the Penal Law. Declaraciones falsas hechas aqui son castigables como una clase de delito menor, de acuerdo con la seccion 210.45 de la ley penal.

(location of incident), in the County/City/Town/Village of __________, of the state of New York, the following did occur: (dondeORI el incidente ocurrio), elSprint condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, del estado de Nueva York, lo siguiente occurio: Precinct CTV Aided # (NYC) # (NYC) Incident # Complaint # (NYC)/

ORI ORI Agency Agency I, _________________________

(victim/deponent name), state that on ____/____/____, (date) at _________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INCIDENT INCIDENTREPORT REPORT CITY CITYOF OFLONDON LONDON

Sprint Sprint# #

Incident Incident# #

4 2ofof 8 Yo,Month _______________________ (nombrePage de victima/deponente), declaro que en APT tal ____/____/____ Page the CofL Incident Report: Precinct Precinct Month Day Day Year Year Time Time(24 (24hrs) hrs) APT#fecha # Aided Aided# # Occurred

DATES DATES Occurred

Address AddressofofOccurrence Occurrence

en

_________

Complaint Complaint# #

CTV CTV _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF ALLEGATIONS / SUPPORTING DEPOSITION

VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1) VICTIM/PARTY1 (P1)

Report Report

(location of incident), in the County/City/Town/Village of __________, of the state of New York, the following did occur: How Howcan canwe wesafely safelycontact contactyou? you?(e.g. (e.g.Name, Name,Phone) Phone) Suspect Name (Last,ocurrio), First, { {Officer-Initiated Officer-Initiated {lo {Radio Radio Run {{trying Walk-In Walk-In ŨGH: el Yes! Warrwarr knowsM.I.) Chinese troll Murg Pung. Him has [inaudible]del ... trolls in history to doYork, something likeRun even to make (donde incidente el condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, estado de Nueva siguiente occurio: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone Phone

Name Name(Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (includealiases) aliases)

Month Month

Day Day

Year Year

Race Raceand andgender gender

DOB DOB

ancient Chinese bone we want to chew on. Warrwarr can help meet art. I mean, some … [inaudible] … have done some sortMALE of art,HUMAN and _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AUSE, AUSE, SAUL SAUL MALEHUMAN

I, _________________________ (victim/deponent name), state on ____/____/____, (date) at _________ APT APT# # that Postcode Postcode Street Street&&City City IfIfnon-English, non-English,language: language: Chinese troll. some elephants, but so ____/____/____ far, no { trolls have.

They known for living in _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {Spanish Spanish {{ Chinese Chinese Other: Other:____________ ____________ Yo, _______________________ (nombre de victima/deponente), declaro que en tal fecha enare{{ _________

✓✓

✓✓

Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Injured?

Injured?{ {No No{ {Yes Yes

Notes Notes(e.g. (e.g.special specialneeds, needs,disability, disability,requests): requests):

{{No No { Yes YesIf Ifyes, yes, SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL: They are interested in some old{ Chinese caves and badlyofbehaving children, lately, [inaudible]. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (location of incident), in the County/City/Town/Village of __________, ofeating the state New York, the and following did occur:Saul, ARM ARMRIPPED RIPPED OFF OFF OF OFPERSON PERSON what whathospital? hospital?_________ _________ Describe: Describe: __________________________________________ __________________________________________ (donde el incidente ocurrio), el condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, del estado de Nueva York, lo siguiente occurio:

ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS ARREST SUSPECT ACTIONS

ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATED PERSONS PERSONS

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓

✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓

(NYC)/

DOB DOB

SUSPECT SUSPECT // PARTY2 PARTY2 (P2) (P2)

DOB DOB

Month Month Day Day Phone Race Raceand andgender gender Year Year Name Name (Last, (Last,First, First,M.I.) M.I.)/ (include / (include aliases) aliases) bone…

Ai Wei Wei apparently is very well connected, they figured youPhone must be careful, last week … it was terrible… this young Italian _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BOOGAR BOOGAR AND AND UGH UGH MALE MALETROLL TROLL _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ APT# # Street Street&&City City Postcode Postcode IfIfnon-English, non-English,Ilanguage: language: he might show the way to this Chinese troll. They want to chew on a APT female writer that came to the studio… was there, but had to go to _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Trollese Trollese {{Spanish Spanish { {Chinese Chinese { {Other: Other:____________ ____________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Removed RemovedtotoHospital?

Hospital?

Injured?

Injured? { { No No { { Yes Yes Prior Prior Criminal Criminal History? {{Yes Yes{ { No No bone. I guess it’s a troll thing… nothing we humans kind of understand the toilet. When I returned, she was...

Just her bagHistory? and coat were there. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {{No No { {Yes YesIf Ifyes, yes, Prior Priorpolice policereport? report? {{Yes Yes{ {No No what whathospital? hospital?_________ Describe: Describe:ORI __________________________________________ __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Precinct CTV Aided # (NYC) Sprint # (NYC) Incident_________ # Complaint # fearful?

Victim Victim fearful? {{Yes Yes{ {No No or grasp really. You see, Saul, being aSITUATION troll and being a human is not Bõögâr, he … [inaudible]…

LIVING LIVING SITUATION RELATIONSHIP: RELATIONSHIP: (SUSPECT (SUSPECT / P2 / P2totoVICTIM VICTIMBõögâr!!! / P1) / P1) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUSPECT/P2 SUSPECT/P2 Suspect: Suspect: Do Doparties partiescurrently currentlylive livetogether? together? {{Yes Yes{ {No No{ {Married Married {{Formerly FormerlyMarried Married present? present? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Accesstotoweapons? weapons? { {Yes Yes{ {No No {{ IntimatePartner/Dating Partner/Dating { {Former FormerIntimate/Dating Intimate/Dating Access really the same.

Just likethey being a together dog or ainincat being a 2human, itIntimate IFIFNO, NO,have have they lived lived together the theand past? past? {{Yes Yes {{ No No Page of the CofL Incident Yes {{ Yes _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {Yes Yes{ {No No Drug/Alcoholhistory? history? { {{Child Childofofvictim/party victim/party11Report: {{Parent Parentofofvictim/party victim/party11 Drug/Alcohol No {{ No Do Dothe theparties partieshave have a achild-in-common? child-in-common?OF {{ALLEGATIONS Yes Yes { {No No{ Suicidethreat threathistory? history? { {Yes Yes{ {No No AQUAINTENCE AQUAINTENCE SS Suicide {Relative Relative :___________ :___________ {{Other Other :________________ :________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT / SUPPORTING DEPOSITION is not the same. You have to understand that trolls tick different …

[Recording Phone Phoneends] Relationshiptotovictim victim/ P1 / P1 Month Month Day Day Year Year Relationship _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1.1.Name Name(Street (Street/ APT# / APT#/ City, / City,if ifneeded) needed) Suspect Name (Last, First, M.I.) UGH, UGH, _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.2. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.3. witness [SÆBJÖRNSSON, EGILL] stated that he was knocked unconscious as the lights went out. When he regained consciousness, Ause’s The I, _________________________ (victim/deponent name), state that on ____/____/____, (date) at _________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Check (Check allallthat thatapply) apply) {{Threat Threatwith withweapon weapon {{Threats: Threats: (specify) (specify) {{Impaired ImpairedAlcohol/Drugs Alcohol/Drugs {{Pushing Pushing {{declaro Threw ThrewItems Items Yo, _______________________ (nombre de victima/deponente), que en tal fecha en _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ arm had apparently been{{ removed from its socket{{ and bothAssault trolls had left the nightclub.

One eyewitness ____/____/____ reports seeing him leaving the _________ premises with { {Biting Biting Injury InjurytotoChild Child Sexual SexualAssault {{Unwanted UnwantedContact Contact {{Injure/Kill Injure/KillPersons Persons _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {{Weapons Weaponsused: used:(specify) (specify) {{Destroyed DestroyedProperty Property {{Injury InjurytotoOther OtherPersons Persons { {Shooting Shooting {{Verbal VerbalAbuse Abuse {of Injure/Kill Injure/KillSelf Self (location of$ $_________) incident), in the County/City/Town/Village of __________, of the state{ New York, the following did occur: {{Blunt BluntObject Object _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________) (Estimated (Estimated { {Injury Injury totoin Pet/Animal Pet/Animal {{Slapping Slapping {{Violated Violated Visitation/ Visitation/ what appeared to be a human arm his mouth. (No signed eyewitness statement submitted) {{Injure/Kill Injure/KillPet/ Pet/Animal Animal {{Gun Gun {{Forced Forced Entry _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (donde elEntry incidente ocurrio), el condado/ciudad/aldea/pueblo de __________, del estado{de Nueva Custody CustodyConditions Conditions {{Interference Interference with withPhone Phone { {Slamming SlammingBody Body {Take Take Child ChildYork, lo siguiente occurio: {{Motor MotorVehicle Vehicle {{Forcible ForcibleRestraint Restraint {{Intimidation/Coercion Intimidation/Coercion { {Stabbing Stabbing {{OTHER OTHERSuspect SuspectActions: Actions: {{Destroy/Take Destroy/TakeProperty Property _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ {{Sharp SharpInstrument Instrument {{Hair HairPulling Pulling { { Kicking Kicking { { Strangulation Strangulation /―Choking /―Choking ‖ ‖ EAT EAT(Use FAMILY FAMILY _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ additional{{ pages as needed) RIPPING RIPPINGOFF OFFARM ARM {{Other ________________________ ________________________ {{Homicide Homicide Other : ______________ : ______________ Other Other : ____________ : ____________ {{Punching Punching {{Suicide SuicideororAttempt Attempt _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Arrest## Reasonsarrest arrestnot notmade madeon-scene: {No NoOffense OffenseCommitted Committed { {No NoProbable ProbableCause Cause{ {Suspect SuspectOff-Scene Off-Scene INSUFFICIENT Arrest ArrestMade?

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Declaraciones falsas hechas aqui son castigables como una clase de delito menor, de acuerdo con la seccion 210.45 de la ley penal.

We act as if we will always be there and it changes everything

Cinzia Mutigli 32

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: Did you make this up? : Yes. : Is it a lie? : Don’t you believe it? : I do. : Then it’s not a lie – : Shall we sit down on this chair and discuss it then? : Yes, let’s do that. : You claim that because I believe it, it is not a lie? : You are not the only one to believe it. : Many of us do – : Yes. Take this chair – it exists doesn’t it? : Yes, it’s real. : You know that, so you can choose to sit down on it. : Yes, I’m sitting on this chair right now. : And anyone could. : Ok. : And so it isn’t a lie. : It is real. : Yes. : But you made it up. : Yes, it’s make believe.

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: You sing sometimes and it seems like you are improvising but there is a script. Did you rehearse? : I stopped rehearsing. I rehearsed up to a point and that was enough. : You need to be able to respond, to sing the song like that first time. : There was never a first time. There was a song and that song became the same song over and over. : But just at that moment when the song was made and there were no future songs – there were all the songs ever written up to that point and there was that song and that was it. : We couldn’t know all the songs that happened after that.

Couldn’t hear them or sing them or make a version of them.

They weren’t there. And other people hadn’t heard the future songs either. : Did you feel like all the future songs existed somewhere, waiting to be written? : I couldn’t rest – I had to get to them before any one else did.

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Refs: Heaven, Talking Heads, Sire Records, 1979; Deserter’s Songs: A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens, Dave Bell, Ceasefire Magazine, 2010; Huis Clos, Jean Paul Sartre, 1944; In Camera, director Philip Saville, 1964, BBC; Separation, director Jack Bond, writer Jane Arden, 1967; The Path, Professor Michael Puett, Christine Gross-Loh, 2016; Sapiens: a brief history of humankind, Yuval Noah Harari, 201; Stoner, John Williams, 1965.

: It feels as if – : As if there is continuity? : But there isn’t. Just now then just now then just now. : The way you say that, and now I’m saying this, it’s as if there is. : What are you saying? : Us talking, here now, this table, this chair – : If we keep talking - you say something I listen I respond, I say something you listen you respond then we are having a real conversation. : Ok. Shall we try that again? : Yes, it feels as if – : Go on – : There is continuity – : And – : The reality is – : Yes? : There is now, now, now – : Let’s start again. : It feels as if there is continuity. : As if? : But it’s more like a constant succession of instances. : Now, now, now, now, and so on? : Yes. : Good. Let’s stop there.

Rituals of Becoming In an attempt to identify with a persecuted community in Ghana, Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, a.k.a. crazinisT artisT, has committed himself to cross-dressing for four years. His exhibition, Rituals of Becoming, at Accra’s Gallery 1957, offered a brief glimpse into his world. Ric Bower spoke to Fiatsi and curator Maria Rus Bojan, at the exhibition opening. Fiatsi and Bojan collaborated with Fagot Koroviev to create a series of performative images for CCQ. The gallery, where Fiatsi will be living for the two-week duration of the show, is festooned with the traditionally feminine apparel he has been accumulating and wearing for the past four years. He has transformed the space into a kind of theatrical dressing room, replete with red curtains and mirrors. Here he enacts and then re-enacts the private, and yet familiar, processes of bodily preparation, during which he lays aside his biological masculinity to assume a mantle of performed, (and assumed), femininity. Every available surface in the gallery is covered with what are marketed as feminising unctions; bottled salves are laid out in orderly rows before him, each vying to condition his male and muscular corpus in an effort to feminise it.

The show’s title, Rituals of Becoming, infers a sense of process; this sense is reinforced in the work by the artist’s rhythmic rubbing of ointments into his skin and his engagement in a cycle of constant dressing and undressing. Fiatsi takes off his frock, bra and pants in front of us, and sets about washing himself in a tiny tin bath, placed on the gallery floor. He is utterly absorbed in the process, fastidious in his attention to detail.

With disarming candour, he pays particular attention to his underarms and genitals.

Each mise-en-scène he conjures is redolent of those once observed by Edgar Degas, as he drew young women performing their ablutions. Fiatsi is petite, and his head, when primped and coiffed is beautiful; even the slightest movement of his naked form can tip the viewer’s impression of his gender from being male to female and then back again.

Cross-dressing can’t be read as a shorthand for anything to do with LGBTQ in a Western context (nor can we assume that Fiatsi is saying that it is); it is the isolation

and aggressive reaction that he is seeking to provoke through his performance, which echoes the way this community (or community of communities) is treated in Ghana. The discourse Fiatsi is engaging in through this work is therefore one entirely of his own choosing. For over the course of the time he has been dressing as a woman, it is the personal rejection he has accrued that forms the heart of his project.

When I spoke to him, with Maria Rus Bojan in Accra, Fiatsi began by telling me what happened the first time he crossdressed in public.

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi: I went on a trip with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where I was studying at the time, to Elmina – a town on the central coast of Ghana. A group of young men started shouting: “GAY! GAY! GAY!” at me. They were going to attack me, but a soldier, who was traveling with us, dissuaded them. When they had calmed down I overheard them talking amongst themselves: “...But who says he’s a gay? He could be a filmmaker or a musician...” Of course, cross dressing, if I had been a musician, would have been OK with them for some reason!

Ric Bower: Maria, you’ve curated performance for a number of years, including Ulay’s retrospective in Spain, in 2010; you bring considerable international stage experience to the equation. What has it been like working in Ghana, as opposed to a Western European context?

Maria Rus Bojan: The European context is saturated due to a strong revival of performance art in recent years; everything

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has become somehow predictable. The experience of coming here and working with Vab [Fiatsi] is, in fact, enriching my understanding and opening my eyes to different formats for performance. In fact, what Vab is presenting is a combination of things, not just performance; it is a complex amalgam of expressive media. Sometimes it seems bewilderingly complex.

RB: Gender Trouble, Judith Butler’s 1990 book, presents the idea that gender is a series of improvised performances, ones that cohere to constitute a sense of gender identity. How much currency would Judith Butler have in Ghana?

VEF: I think her influence is considerable here too. I first read Gender Trouble in 2013.

I have approached this project with the firm view that gender is both constructed and performative. She took a certain position in relation to specific discourses. I am taking a similar approach in that I am assuming a provocative position, but the discourses I have chosen are quite different from the ones she was interested in.

MRB: Personally I don’t think his project has much to do with Judith Butler’s thinking; Vab’s project is about identifying with the outsider, ‘the other’. It is a discourse based in ethics. By cross-dressing for four years, he has chosen to identify with a community in Ghana, which experiences extreme victimisation from the established churches and from society as a whole. Crucially, this is a community that he is not himself part of — he does not identify as gay or trans.

RB: I understand you were going to

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First, second and third spreads: Rituals of Becoming, crazinisT artisT (Va-Bene Elikem K. Fiatsi) in collaboration with Fagot Koroviev, 2017; courtesy the artists and Gallery 1957, Accra

become a pastor for a Christian church, Vab, what persuaded you not to continue down that path?

present a project that’s important for society, even if it is so difficult to sell. As a commercial gallery, Gallery 1957 is actually assuming the role of an art centre in Accra.

VEF: I was born in a very strict, conservative Christian home, where almost everything around us was perceived in spiritual terms; there was a demon under every stone, so to speak. I joined the Assemblies of God denomination when I was 16, and started preaching in villages; some of them you had to walk for hours get to. When I went to college, I earned the nickname ‘pastor’, not because I was ordained, but because I was so active in my church. When I went on to teacher training college, I was general secretary, vice president and president in three different Christian organisations concurrently. I began to question some of the supposedly Christian values I had been taught as I was growing up.

There was a considerable distance between what I had been taught in church all my life, and what I read in the Bible. I realised that I needed to take a step back.

VEF: My work has never ventured into the commercial arena before; I thought it might make for an interesting progression.

RB: To announce to one’s family that you are going to pursue a career as a performance artist, in the West, is akin to inviting them to book you in for a thorough psychiatric assessment. The idea of performative practice is often still considered as alternative. Is the situation similar in Ghana? How have your family reacted to you spending years dressed as a woman?

VEF: Not very well. I have been locked in a room and prayed for by my immediate relatives, as it was believed I was possessed by a demon.

One or two of my siblings are open to the dialogue though, and keep following my work.

RB: From what I understand there are numerous verses in the Christian Bible that emphasise our obligation to stand up for the outsider, the other, those that are different and alien to ourselves – for example, Zechariah says: ‘...Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ Am I right in saying that by dressing as a woman you are seeking to identify with the LGBTQ communities that are so oppressed by official Ghanaian churches; and that it is your Christian faith, your own personal reading of the Bible, that is compelling you to do this?

RB: In the Gallery 1957 presentation, there is a lot of red, specifically the Red Sanctuary, an area of the exhibition space surrounded by red curtains, where you attend to your ablutions as part of the performance.

What is the significance of so much red?

VEF: My entire studio is red at the moment. The red is symbolic of the violence and pain resulting from the discrimination and hostility shown to LGBTQ communities. Conversely it is also associated with love and passion. Red is a very sensual colour.

VEF: Yes, do you know the story of Hosea? He was the prophet, in the Old Testament, who married a prostitute because God told him to; I very much identify with him. The idea of a holy prophet of God marrying a prostitute was a highly provocative act then, and also a theatrical statement. When I become a performance artist, many of the things I used to preach about began to appear in my work. Standing up for ‘the other’ and the oppressed is something I feel is my responsibility as a human and an artist. In Uganda, the death penalty has been instituted for homosexuality. I heard some church pastors agreeing with this law in interview. In whose name are they doing this, I find myself asking – in the name of Jesus Christ, who prevented a prostitute from being stoned?

In the name of the same Jesus Christ who was declared himself to be a ‘friend of sinners’?

MRB: On one hand there are parallels that can be drawn with theatre in Vab’s practice, and the red categorically emphasises this link. The red stands as a colour that encapsulates two-fold meanings and paradoxes, such as life-death, majesty and drama, love and anger, desire and violence, and so on. The space of the gallery required a theatrical choreography. We needed the red curtains to highlight the underlying essence of the performance, rather than adding a layer of artificiality.

The exhibition is also about Vab’s different rituals of becoming: the ritual of washing, which suggests a connection to baptism and symbolic purification in Christianity.

RB: What do you hope an audience will take away from the presentation?

RB: Switching tack a little: performance artists have to survive. How can practice rooted in performance, like Vab’s, function successfully within a commercial environment?

MRB: I hope the work will initiate dialogues where perhaps, at present, there are none; not only in the Ghanaian society, but in the world as a whole–CCQ

MRB: It is a common fallacy to assume the role of art is limited to the beautification of living environment, when, in reality, the role of art is to communicate meaning – a role that is too expansive to be contained within the role of product alone. Big museums, like the Pompidou, have departments dedicated to performance art; documentation and even live performances can be acquired for a museum collection. It is interesting that Marwan Zakhem [owner of Gallery 1957] has chosen to

Rituals of Becoming was at Gallery 1957, Accra 6 February – 12 March 2017 gallery1957.com crazinistartist.com mariarusbojan.com

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Falling Silent Anthony Shapland works predominantly with moving image and he is currently exploring a new approach to how sound is perceived with visual imagery, and how silence can be used as more than the absence of noise. Emma Geliot talks to him about the spaces between things and the knotty problem of defining a multi-faceted practice.

The first thing that strikes you about Anthony Shapland’s work is that it is filled with poetry, even though few of his films have any kind of dialogue in them, and that they ooze a generous and empathetic quality. He has been described as ‘an astute people watcher’, with a painter’s eye for detail. In A Setting (2007), a simple, two shot work, which switches from a landscape to the image of an elderly man, seen reading a newspaper through a caravan window as night falls, Shapland’s steady gaze allows us to drink in his father in a way that is rather moving. This work has stayed with me since I first saw it, in 2007, as part of his solo exhibition, Suddenly After a Long Silence, at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.

‘Suddenly After a Long Silence’, is a quote from Jon McGregor’s first novel, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, and it’s easy to draw similarities between that book and Shapland’s work. However, where McGregor uses liquid prose to chart the lives of the residents of a street, the prose in Shapland’s work is implicit, forged in the minds of the viewer. The response becomes a wordless poem, where words are replaced with a kind of sensation around a word, evoked by the rhythms of images.

“I realised, recently, that I talk more of books and writing in relation to my work than I do about film”, Shapland reflects, “There was a type of character emerging in the pieces – usually male, existing slightly apart from others and absorbed in their own world – that was recurring.

In one film it was Dad, in another it was a guy I observed in Swansea Market, then the small team of Spanish security guards in Asturias, [Seguriadad, 2009], who existed below ground, while the world carried on above them. Ray Cook is one of these characters. I started to wonder how much they stood in as surrogates for myself. This is how I read fiction; I empathise so completely with another viewpoint that the central characters become inseparable. Ryder, the central character of Ishiguru’s The Unconsoled is also Singer in Carson McCullers’ The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, more recently I’ve found the same character cropping up in some outstanding Tove Jansson short stories.”

Shapland, an evocative writer, has been, periodically, working on a series of chapters of a book, in which he imagines the life story of R C Cook. Cook’s civil service career is shrouded in mystery. He suddenly came to the attention of the British public when, in the 1970s, he appeared on the children’s programme, Blue Peter, to talk about his miniature matchstick carvings. Shapland meticulously fabricated Cook’s workbench for The Life of R C Cook (Title Sequence), in 2009 and there, his eye for authentic detail shines through. He’s also concentrated on creating convincing R C Cook ephemera – a film poster, a book cover – while the chapters of the book aren’t intended to be joined together, but seen as discrete moments. And in these extracted moments it’s clear that the reason Shapland’s work can be so emotionally engaging is his ability to inhabit another character, to take on another point of view.

Some R C Cook works were brought together in The Unremark (2013), but this seam of work has yet to be worked out. Will it ever

be resolved for Shapland? “What to do with Ray Cook is an ongoing question. He had his first outing with a show that Sean Edwards put together, nearly ten years ago. Sean had Beth Harmon at the centre of the show, a Walter Tevis character to work out – I had Ray Cook. The difference is that Harmon exists in just 243 pages, where Ray Cook existed/ exists. I only know about a brief moment in his life; all attempts to find out more are slow and painstaking. I still don’t know what this work is – it’s been many things. I didn’t even know that I remembered him, until I was writing a text about those moments when we realise that something isn’t real, that film is constructed – those moments when you have to work hard to mentally sustain an illusion.

I was writing about this and, while my brain fished around for information, I remembered a moment from my childhood. The moment was when a camera panned off-set and revealed the edges of the studio fakery, along with the other cameraman – I was a child and I remember my shock.

“I researched it and my recollection was right. The person being interviewed, when the cameras were swapped, was Raymond C Cook of Pinner, and since then I have

been trying to work out why he’s important to me. What is his story? I’ve spent days in archives on microfiche viewers, followed dead-end leads, put out articles in local papers in Harrow and Pinner, as well as producing a series of works that take apart and reconstruct his life, often in collaboration with film/ TV professionals. A title sequence for the film that might be made about him was made in collaboration with a props buyer, to recreate Cook’s work desk. The sequence left space for the titles and credits, to be added at some point when the story is known. I still don’t know how it ends, but then neither do I know how it begins.”

The fictional autobiography of R C Cook is called The Unremark. I’d not heard this word before. Shapland enlightens me: “Things not said; the compound adjective formed by putting un in front of the noun, or verb. It talks of things not done, or things that are slightly unreachable. An unremark is a silence – but not an absence. It stands for things thought but not spoken, things not remarked upon but observed. It’s also the root of things that are deemed insignificant. I coined the term, so it can mean what I like – but it fits. It became the place for Ray Cook,

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a life that was briefly glimpsed in a spotlight, but otherwise quietly lived. But it also serves as a good description of the things I’m currently working on.”

Shapland is excited about the new works he’s making. The technical requirements and the resources that he needs mean that some works develop in bouts of activity, followed by a waiting game, so it it’s sensible to have more than one on the go. He’s also in demand, with several exhibitions in the pipeline and a Northern Film & Media Connect/Exchange residency at Chapter, giving him much-needed development time.

He’s become interested in the disconnect between what we hear and see and, at Universal Sound’s Foley studios, is filming the objects used to make sound effects, like walnuts and apples, crashing onto parquet flooring to aurally mimic breaking bones.

How does a work evolve; what happens in Shapland’s head? He explains: “There are moments, images, or ideas, or words that I come across, which have a resonance. I sit with them; sometimes for days, sometimes for years, until they let me know why I think they’re important. Sometimes making work feels like a long wait, a good wait that

allows for thinking. Eventually, some or all of these ideas coalesce and make sense together. Every decision has a reason – and every decision is the result of deliberation, compromise, circumstance, or luck. These waiting spaces are important to me. I used to think they were the physical spaces – the ones that are often referred to as ‘liminal’ – but I’ve realised since that it’s a space of anticipation and uncertainty.”

Attempting to illustrate his conceptual connections, Shapland thinks, “There is the inescapable sense, sometimes, that the world – its fabrication, human and otherwise – is all constructed in the same way that a film set is put together. It is a functioning prop, within which we exist. It’s transient and changing. Maybe those places that undergo regular change, like galleries, have this stamped all over them, but those spaces that exist over a longer timescale are equally transient. What makes something real? What is the baseline before things exist, happen, animate, resonate? It’s perhaps ‘silence’ and ‘emptiness’ that best expresses this baseline.

Rather than an absence of stuff, silence could be seen as the ‘solid’. The phrases ‘to break a silence’, ‘pierce the darkness’ would

suggest they are solid. But sound travels, light travels. Silence rests and darkness waits to be illuminated.”

Exploring the relationship between sound and vision, for the 2016 Cardiff Contemporary biennial, Shapland filmed Cardiff sign writer, Alan Caverly, producing two discrete single channel films, Do The Dashes Split (Over The Water) and The Hand That Makes The Sound (both 2016). The first is filmed in real time, as Caverly’s hand writes each letter of Marconi’s first messages. For the second film, Caverly is observed as he works. Shapland says its origins lie in previous work using decommissioned billboards, in Buenos Aires. “I started to think about the sounds of language before comprehension and the practice of Foley. The power of writing to create silent sound. You draw an o and I hear one, you follow it with an n and I hear a different sound and find a different meaning, when that sound is added to the first. Writing sits there, shaping sounds that we then form in our minds, or with our mouths, in order to understand it. We add the sounds together to understand the collection of sounds and the sense they might make.”

Those two works were some of

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Shapland’s longest, but watching many of his films creates the sensation of time suspended, that more minutes have elapsed than actually have. “I’ve become known as that guy that makes slow films and it’s really difficult to get away from that description, so I wear it”, Shapland seems resigned to the label, “In fact, hardly any of my films are more than six minutes long, but there is a peculiar thing that happens when you screen footage without jump cuts. Real time inertia ticks by and feels longer, more drawn-out than our experience of it.

“But I know there is a very thin divide between expectation and boredom – and more recent viewing habits have shortened our attention span. We view, hand on mouse, at the ready to click on, to ffwd and rew at will – to see what happens next, like skim-reading books. Its easier to skitter through digital footage, there is no physical film to move, nor tape to spool.

“There is an impatience in our daily lives that I just have to embrace. When people talk to me about my work, they mostly talk about the still that has been the publicity image – I wonder how much we absorb when there isn’t a digestible ‘story’ to repeat. We

all long to make sense of things, to be able to order or arrange things into a clean narrative in the re-telling. I hope I might make that process more difficult. It’s complex, it doesn’t make sense, it has non-sequiturs. If anyone has ever transcribed speech – stutter for stutter, pause for pause – they will know that we are often inarticulate, unsure, uncertain if what was said by me was understood by you.”

Shapland is the king of crepuscule, the shift from day to night, or night to day, as seen in works such as False Dawn (2007), in the same show as A Setting. His fascination with that tipping point between light and darkness continues almost a decade on.

“I have a collection of grey cards. They are 18% grey and, used with a camera, they give a balanced and measurable exposure.

I’ve started to wonder whether the lux level at which our eyes shift from cones to rods is also at 18%. Is twilight 18%? Between the safety of daylight and the unknown blackness, there is a point at which we are in neither. We treat light as everything and darkness as nothing.

We also treat silence the same way. Sound is something where silence is nothing. My question, I suppose, is whether this can be seen, or rather heard, the other way round?

“Visually, can I establish where and how the switch from cones to rods takes place? At what point do we measure this? Night vision becomes black and white. At what point does this happen?”

Shapland is similarly interested in visual shifts, “…the plane of water/glass mirror, which switches from view to reflection. It’s a place that marks the line between one state and another.

The world reflected is seen in Level (2015), a work that developed from a residency project at the Elan Valley. In this remote setting, artists were invited to

respond however they liked. There is, indeed, something unsettling about a landscape filmed entirely as a reflection in a reservoir.

The image seems plausible, then a fish breaks the surface, a fly lands, a leaf falls, and the illusion is shattered. Out of that residency came Circumnavigate (2016). The rhythmic pan past conifers at the water’s edge makes music in the head, as each randomly spaced trunk splits the screen into staves, until the final shot of a water-lapped island offers up a kind of finale.

Given the beauty of the Elan Valley, how challenging was it for Shapland to make a response that went beyond the scenic? “I struggled in Elan. Another description that has been hung on my work is that it’s about landscape. I made a couple of films in the hills of the place where I grew up and that was enough to seal the deal. One of the problems of working as a filmmaker and being asked to work in a beautiful place, a wild place, is that it is too easy to make something beautiful.

In Elan I wanted to find the grit, the thing that was specific to there. The two films (of many) that came out are almost narrative-less, but they came from quite a long period of research and thinking. I was aware that the landscape I was in was also a set, was also completely manufactured and concealed a different place. The reflection of the world above on the lake surface doubled the landscape; it became a twin. Where once a stream or a river rushed and surged, this sound was drowned with the construction of the reservoirs. That work isn’t quite finished with either. I’m more tortoise than hare.”

These residency respites are important to Shapland, giving him time to step back and pull together his thoughts. He took an 18-month sabbatical in 2015 to do just that.

Now he’s back at g39, the artist-led gallery in

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Cardiff he initiated in 1997, before teaming up with co-founder and director, Chris Brown, in 1998. How can Shapland be described: Artist?

Film maker? Curator? Definitions are difficult.

Of course he’s an artist – by training and practice – but ‘film maker’ is too ambiguous, especially as he rarely uses film, shooting in HD video, often using dual channels to create two viewpoints, or points of view. And his work is not cinematic; it’s intended to be seen in gallery or art context.

He’s a curator too, but his influence extends beyond exhibition-making; he’s had a hand in shaping scores of emerging artistic and curatorial careers. Yet Shapland falters at that description. “I never quite feel intellectually adequate enough to call myself a curator. I struggle academically, I always have. It’s not that I don’t ‘get’ things, just that I understand them differently. I have a belief that we can say the most complex things with simple words, and this is often at odds with the way the art world, often unintentionally, writes about art, confusing verbosity with eloquence.”

It must be tough, keeping his work at the gallery separate from his artistic practice.

Shapland agrees: “So difficult. I struggle to keep space between the two and often fail. The conversations at g39, and the drive to make things happen, have always been at the forefront of what I do. It keeps me connected with how other people are thinking, what artists are doing, and how the public reacts to galleries. I think I have some skill in choreographing gallery spaces, in understanding how people experience those spaces and interact. This, combined with some building skill, means I keep building the sets. After all, galleries are just sets; it’s all just scenery, a space to house or display changing ideas or objects. One show ends

and another takes its place. I sometimes feel cornered by a feeling of obligation; that there’s an expectation of g39 that’s somehow more pressing or urgent than my own work.”

In the end it’s Shapland’s approach that provides the solution. He decides that ‘editor’ describes him best, because this connects the way that he pares down his films to the essentials, and how he works with artists to help them turn studio work into an exhibition.

It’s a constant process of sifting and refining, of the detail in the bigger picture, of taking out the visual noise. Of finding the silence—CCQ

First spread: 18% Grey, Anthony Shapland, studio experiment, 2017 Second spread, left: The Hand That Makes The Sound, Anthony Shapland, still, 2016

Anthony Shapland is currently making new commissions for Plas Glyn y Weddw and Oriel Davies, to be shown in 2017/18

Second spread, right: The Life Of R.C Cook (title sequence), Anthony Shapland, still, 2009 This spread, opposite: The Life Of R C Cook (Future Books), Anthony Shapland, book series, 2013

anthonyshapland.com g39.org

This spread, above: Level, Anthony Shapland, still, 2015

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MEMENTOS Artists’ Souvenirs, Artefacts, and Other Curiosities For the 35th edition of Art Brussels, curators Jens Hoffmann and Piper Marshall invited exhibiting artists to submit an object of significance to them. The resulting exhibition became a kind of exploration into the impact particular objects have had on their artist owners. Ric Bower spoke to Hoffmann and Marshall at the opening of the art fair.

Ric Bower: What have you learnt in particular, from putting together this show, about the way artists think?

Jens Hoffmann: There is no one specific thing, perhaps due to the diversity in the practices of the people we asked. Most of the things they chose have some kind of relationship with their work though.

Piper Marshall: There is a sensuousness, a particular materiality, inherent in many of the objects, perhaps because the people involved are artists.

RB: Is the exhibition all-inclusive? Did you turn objects down?

JH: Yes, we did. We looked at all the artists who participated in the fair and selected about 80 for the project. The artists made their proposals to us, along with the stories as to why they chose them. There were a few artists who proposed artworks they had made though…

to be submitted that would be just plain inappropriate though, either culturally or politically, or ones that were just really dull. The artists were extremely eager to participate, which was good, l was a little worried they would not be. Many of them commented that they liked the fact that it was such a specific request that was being made of them.

RB: So the objects are telling truths about the artists rather than the artists about the objects; a reversal of roles.

RB: The final exhibition resembles a cabinet of curiosities, was that your intention?

RB: And we are not talking market value here… so how does this presentation of emotionally significant, but financially insignificant, objects interlock with a marketdriven art fair.

JH: Yes, there are similarities. An early cabinet of curiosities was put together by Ole Worm in Copenhagen in the 17th century.

Wunderkammer [cabinet of wonder], included very few artworks; they generally consisted of artefacts and natural phenomena people had brought back from their travels. People had never seen a crocodile, or the horn of a rhinoceros, at that time in Denmark.

PM: It was difficult to travel in 17th century Europe.

RB: ...they just did not get it...

RB: Did the artists feel an obligation to tell the truth with their accompanying stories?

JH: ...indeed. I was expecting more objects

JH: No.

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PM: The question is: what are these objects revealing about us? The collection questions how we bring value to things and how they, in turn, bring value to us.

JH: It is a response to it, a riposte. That little pencil over there, is worth nothing to anyone except Mathieu Mercier, who submitted it. Even though there is a little criticality embedded in it, the collection is a playful reaction to the main art fair; where the market value an object commands, is of paramount importance—CCQ

artbrussels.com

Mathieu Mercier My wife gave me this small pencil two years after we met, so about 2004. She got it from an obsessive-compulsive kid when she was working as a psychologist at a specialised school in New York. This is a simple but dramatic object, carried by a kid with a mental disorder, who was collecting only very small things. It is simple, obvious, poetic. I like to work with what is available, and by that I mean already here.

I’m convinced masterpieces could be created with what we can find in this very room – which doesn’t mean that it would be easy. It means that your perception of reality can change in less than a minute.

Sophie Nys During the production of the work Die Hütte, a short film about the Black Forest cabin of Martin Heidegger, I very unexpectedly came across a human-made object, forgotten and left to be digested by nature. It was the wooden toilet seat of Martin and Elfride Heidegger.

The object disarmingly demystifies the aura around a major thinker; its bare physical aspect makes us equal as human beings. And yet, in a way, this is not just a toilet seat. The buttocks of not only Heidegger and his wife, but also the National Socialists during the muchdiscussed visits, and Paul Celan, who came to ask Heidegger to apologise for his ambiguous attitude during World War II, all rested on this manufactured object. Historical objects and subjects often serve as starting points for my projects and works. I reproduced this toilet seat for an exhibition in 2009, as an edition of 10, under the title Multiple, to question Heidegger’s romantic attachment to the singularity of the work of art, and to celebrate Walter Benjamin’s famous essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

Josephine Meckseper This first edition of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Great Shark Hunt was left behind by an ex-boyfriend. He is related to Victor Hugo and grew up surrounded by the likes of William S. Burroughs and Paul Bowles. His godfather is the former CIA counterintelligence chief, James Jesus Angleton. Thompson’s writing style served as a template for the magazine I published in the 1990s, together with the ex, called FAT. I’ve moved apartments many times since then. The only objects that I keep when I move are these types of books. Publishing magazines and books has always been part of what I do. Thompson’s outlaw journalism has been a continual inspiration. The Great Shark Hunt, with its chapters on Richard Nixon and Watergate, feels particularly relevant in this time of political instability.

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To Blow the Spirit of Engagement to the People After seeing Mahmoud Bakhshi’s dual screen installation, The Unity of Time and Place, in London, Ric Bower took the opportunity to meet the artist on his home turf in Tehran, where he learns about the complex environment that informs Bakhshi’s multi-layered practice.

[London] I am groping my way through gloom, as I enter narrative projects’ intimate central London gallery. The space has been sectioned into two tiny back-to-back cinemas, each containing a row of vintage, flip-up, flea-pit seats, and each screening two short films; the viewer is thus impelled to stumble back and forth between spaces.

The first cinema is showing an excerpt from the 1974 Iranian film The Deers, by Masoud Kimiai. Specifically it is showing the part of the film that was showing on 19 August 1978, when the Cinema Rex in Abadan, southern Iran, was set on fire, killing the 400 plus people inside. Surreally this excerpt focuses, in part, on a theatre audience – seen from the back of the stage, during a dramatic production. It’s unsettling to watch because it is the audience of the Cinema Rex’ final show, who are perhaps the tragically doomed stars of this whole story.

The film in the second space is a small excerpt from an interview Bakhshi recently conducted with The Deers’ director Masoud Kimiai.

It simply shows a close-up of the famous man’s tear-streaked face, because Kimiai had requested that the sound from the interview be deleted. Overlaid photographs of the burnt-out cinema are placed across the first film. On the second screen, text scrolls across the

director’s face, making connections between the CIA backed coup, which ousted Mohammad Mossadegh and ushered in the Shah, 25 years to the day earlier. These are the only clues Bakhshi offers us to facilitate the historical contextualisation of the work. The relentlessly cyclical nature of the alternating films seems, in itself, to reflect a cyclical inevitability in the painful convulsions of the Iranian political system.

Middle Eastern politics often seem impenetrably complex to an outsider. Given the multitude of world views crammed into a relatively small geographical area, it’s not surprising that some of us, who are not in immediate contact with the region, fail to fully grasp their intricacies.

Whether our on-going state of ignorance can be justified is another question, for Iran can lay claim to both hosting one of the 20th century’s most all-encompassing national revolutions, and to currently being one of only two theocratic states in the world, (the other is Vatican City). The need to understand this particular Middle Eastern country has, perhaps, never been greater, especially given the long shadow of post-colonial meddling cast over it by various European powers, and the ongoing nuclear dispute with the USA. This dispute has resulted in the country’s increasing diplomatic and economic isolation.

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[Tehran] The truth is that none of the participants in these games of power can honestly claim to have completely clean hands, in spite of their vehement protestations to the contrary.

And it is in this arena of deep complexity that Bakhshi’s work demonstrates a capacity to communicate not only powerfully, but also non-didactically. His approach is to counter the propaganda, which only serves, of course, to reinforce entrenched and conflicting narratives, with a subtle layering of visual poetry.

But why am I surprised that the intricate complexities of human interaction, and the visual communications that spring from them, are conducted with such fluency in Iran? Persia is, after all, the home of one of world's oldest continuous major civilisations; the Kassites, Mandaeans, and Gutians were

drinking cappuccinos on the Iranian plateau, millennia BCE, whilst we in the West were still scratching our bony, freezing arses with the wooden handles of our flint axes Having never been to Iran, I had much to learn; and the roads in Tehran, which are fast flowing rivers of metal, offered me my first precipitously steep learning curve. The traffic depends on a fine balance of two opposing ingredients for it to run smoothly: t’aarof and testosterone. T’aarof (‫ )فراعت‬is the elaborate system of formalised civility that dominates every social interaction in Persia and testosterone (‫ ) نورتسوتست‬is the rocket fuel that flows in the veins of exactly half the nation’s youthful population. Mahmoud’s assistant, Hedieh, picked me up and we wove west for 45 minutes, into the city’s suburbs, though grey and brown ribbon developments,

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squeezed in between the snow-capped 4000m Alborz mountain range to the north and the desert to the south.

Bakhshi welcomes me into his busy courtyard studio complex, where a team of fabricators are finalising a new public work, which is soon to be installed in the centre of Tehran. After the obligatory and copious quantities of food and drink, I begin by asking the artist to fill me in with some context for his work The Unity of Time and Place.

Mahmoud Bakhshi: Masoud Kimiai’s 1974 film The Deers (Gavaznha) had been in my mind since childhood. I don't know of any other work of art that has been so directly effective as a tool for social change, (in Iran anyway) – it played a significant part in initiating the 1979 revolution. Of course many people

are not happy with the result of that political upheaval, but that does not detract from the undeniable power of The Deers as a tool for change. For 15 or 20 years, I had wanted to make a work using this film as a lens through which to examine how art interacts with the machinations of power. To me, The Deers is a case study and my interest in working with it grew further, after I had spent two years living and working in Amsterdam. The European art I experienced there seemed to be devoid of both narrative and urgency. This apparent deficiency caused me to ask such questions as: ‘Why am I working as an artist?’ And, ‘What is art for?’ Many of the people I came across in Europe had grown up in the ’80s and ’90s, in a state of reasonable stability, it seemed to me that they were just not hungry enough.

Ric Bower: How can a film play such a pivotal role in the starting of a revolution?

MB: When the Cinema Rex was set ablaze, they were watching The Deers – a film about broken lives and addiction – which implicitly criticises the Shah and his regime for mismanaging the socioeconomic upheavals of the time. The government blamed Khomeini and the revolutionaries for causing the fire, whereas Khomeini, of course, blamed the Shah. Even now, there are theories and counter theories about what actually happened being discussed.

The Islamic Republic say: ‘Why would we do such a thing to our own supporters?’ whereas those who are closer to the Shah and the royal family say that it would have been crazy for them to have acted in such an inflammatory manner, in the tinder-dry political situation that was in existence then.

And, to make things more complicated, it seems that whoever actually did start the fire did not necessarily intend to kill everyone in the building; the cinema’s exit doors opened inwards, so that when a crowd of people pressed against them, trying to get out, they would not open.

RB: It is interesting how an event, like this arson attack, has the capacity to develop a life of its own; an agency that reaches far beyond the intentions of the instigators. I gather this happened to you too, in a way, when you interviewed the director of The Deers, Masoud Kimiai. He broke down in tears during the interview, something you could never have anticipated and a reaction that massively amplified the expressive power of your final work.

MB: Many of the artists who fled the country,

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after the Islamic Republic came to power in 1979, lay the blame at Kimiai’s door for what happened; particularly as, after the revolution, he was given an influential position as head of one of Iran’s two TV stations. As recently as two years ago, there was a fresh bout of blaming him in the media, which I did not know about when I went to interview him. He spent the first 40-minutes or so of the interview just trying to counter those recent accusations; it was like sitting through a formal lecture. It was interesting, but there was no real dialogue between us.

Intermittently, I tried to interrupt him; at first this just made him angry, then he broke down in tears and he started to say things like, ‘I’m so sorry!’ The fact that the interview has no sound – that he asked for it to be deleted from my final film – makes the close-up image of his face more like a traditional portrait; we could never have planned for that. For me, he becomes symbolic of all miserable artists who have tried to change things, tried to engage with power, but then found themselves, in the end, to be the losers. The portrait is very much about me as well, and the feelings I have about my own practice, as I try to make political or socially relevant art.

RB: There was a time when, for us in the West, the idea of creative output from Persia would conjure in our minds poets and rugs – but now it has to be cinema that comes to mind first. What is it about that medium that so resonates with the Iranian sensibility?

MB: We are a nation of storytellers. We have a love/hate relationship with cinema as a nation though. Before the revolution there were three or four cinema’s set on fire, but during the 1979 revolution as many as 80 were burned down.

RB: What is the official Shia position on cinema as a vehicle of expression then? Is it one of disapproval?

MB: No, Khomeini liked cinema; he had no problem with the medium. This is why many artists came back to Iran after the revolution and continued working. The cinemas were burned down because of the kind of movies they were showing, which, although not explicitly pornographic, were deemed inappropriate because of the amount of female flesh on show. It was not just the movies themselves, but the advertising for them too. I saw a police report stating that under one advertising hoarding, depicting a particularly busty movie star, there were as many 50 car accidents every day. Taxi

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First spread: TalkCloud 92-11, Mahmoud Bakhshi, 2013; Iron-Florescent Light,180cm x 56cm x 22cm, courtesy of the artist and narrative projects, London; photo: Hedieh Ahmadi Second spread, left page, third spread right page and fourth spread left page: Hard Copy series, Mahmoud Bakhshi, 2013; courtesy of the artist and narrative projects, London Second spread, right page and third spread left page: The Unity of Time and Place, Mahmoud Bakhshi, 2017; film still, courtesy of the artist and narrative projects, London Fourth spread, right page: Endless Celebration, Mahmoud Bakhshi, 2016; courtesy of the artist, Izolyastsia, Kyiv, narrative projects, London; the project is realised with the kind support of Mr Bertrand Coste; photography Valeriy Miloserdov

drivers just couldn't keep their eyes on the road! There are photos of that hoarding being pulled down and burned in the street in the main square of Tehran.

RB: It is easy for a Westerner, such as myself, to sneer in disbelief when I hear about this kind of thing, but I would be forgetting that every society, no matter how liberal, has a moral line that it is not prepared to cross. In 2000, a specialist paediatric registrar’s home was attacked in the UK; the vigilantes simply did not understand the difference between a paediatrician and paedophile. Behaving illogically therefore, to uphold a perceived moral position, is not the sole preserve of residents of the Middle East. We can disagree with each other over exactly where that moral line is, or where it should be, as much as we like, but no one, as far as I am aware, argues that a moral line should not exist.

MB: The thing about moral lines is they need to be changed little by little. It becomes difficult when a regime, any regime that is, tries to change all the moral lines all at once; people simply will not accept it, they cannot be forced to think a certain way.

RB: The Western distinction between Christendom and Christianity is one for which it seems there is no Islamic equivalent; in Iran the sacred and the secular are inseparable.

The Western attitude to art would seem to be the same as its approach to religion; we keep it separate from our lives, from anything that actually matters. Is art in Iran, like religion, inseparable from life?

MB: Of course art is inseparable from life!

It is part of life and its role is to discuss the important things of life. Gender, politics, power and religion, they are the subject matter of art.

The first thing I remember about art as a child is cinema screenings in mosques; they were South American leftist films being shown in the ’70s, just before the revolution here; I must have been three or four at the time. I remember how strange it was seeing a projection screen set against the ornate tiling of the mosque interior. So this was the first kind of real art I was exposed to and it was fully engaged with both society and belief. In contrast, I see how my nieces are brought up now; their parents will not even take them to funerals, they are completely protected, there are no difficult discussions in the house, no politics. The atmosphere was so different just before the revolution, everything was being discussed. I think this is why I don't understand other kinds of art…

RB: ...You mean art that just exists to bring aesthetic pleasure, candy for the eye or intellectual titillation…

MB: ...Yes, again, when I was a child, eight or nine perhaps, I was taken to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran by my uncle, who was studying cinema at the time. The museum had been closed for a few years, (because it had been deemed decadent and Western by the Islamic Republic); it has modernist works

by Giacometti, Pollock, Kandinsky, Rothko and Henry Moore of course, but the works that made an impact on my young mind were the big propaganda paintings by Iranian revolutionaries; these works stayed with me.

After the revolution there were shortages of everything, this made it difficult to justify taking a piece of paper and making a pretty drawing on it; a drawing needed to be useful to justify the expenditure of the materials, it needed to have a purpose.

I have never felt that the reason for my being an artist has been much to do with pleasure, mine or anyone else's. When people come to my studio now, they assume I must be from a rich family and that I am producing these objects for my pleasure; art is still very much perceived as a luxury.

RB: I understand you are about to install a large public work in the middle of Tehran, your first major public commission, a giant steel cloud with a Farsi aphorism laser cut into its flat frontage. As we are sitting here talking I can hear the sheets of metal being worked in the background. Can you tell me something about the thinking behind the work and the process of its commissioning?

MB: The quote, laser cut into the steel, is an aphorism of Khomeini’s, and the shape of the work is based on a traditional calligraphic representation of a cloud. The work will be illuminated from inside the structure, it will be a light box. Tehran is a city full of propaganda statements; they are mainly painted on the walls. Most of the sculpture in the city though is purely formal decoration; in that respect this work will be somewhat unusual.

RB: What does the art community make of you undertaking a commission from a government that many people find difficult to accept?

MB: Many people feel I should not be doing it, and I wonder myself if, when it is finally placed in the city, it will just become further propaganda. It was a difficult

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decision to do it, and I have no idea how it will be received – by either the religious conservatives in Iran, or the generally more progressive art community. To an extent I did it as a reaction to the elite, those from the upper economic echelons of Iranian society, who are controlling the art scene. It's boring to me to make work that looks good in a smart gallery; it’s simply not enough. This work will, for better or for worse, be more than just decoration.

RB: So what does the statement say?

MB: It translates something like: ‘Art exists to blow the spirit of engagement to the people’.

RB: Wow! Politics aside, it’s an extraordinarily insightful statement. In Western culture we associate clouds with dreaming…

MB: ...here too…and metaphorically, ideas come from clouds too.

RB: There is a sadness that is intrinsic to the work though. Your cloud is made of steel, it will never fly.

MB: Yes, the cloud will never fly; it is the product of an industrial fabrication process and very obviously so. In the end it is just

another public advertisement, a steel box with lights in it.

figures together into one work? Was the work accepted when it was installed?

RB: Why does so much Persian work incorporate calligraphy

MB: It's not often appreciated that we can actually live together, in the same place, even if we have very different ideas. For this reason there were two guards who were posted with the piece for 24 hours a day, whilst it was installed in Kyiv.

MB: The safest thing, the most halal activity we can engage in as artists, is calligraphy, which is why I find commercial calligraphy interesting. Most of the time people write something about love, or God, or an excerpt from the Koran. The market in the region is geared toward this kind of work, ‘nouveau rococo’, you might say.

RB: I understand this is not the first time you have undertaken a politically sensitive public commission. In 2016, you took part in a project, in conjunction with Daria Kirsanova of narrative projects, called Social Contract, which looked at the frenetic de-communisation of former Soviet bloc countries that was occurring at the time. You constructed a kind of neon traffic light, from which shone, in a both magnanimous and gloriously ecumenical gesture, the outlined visages of Lenin, the Virgin Mary and the pop star Madonna. The work was temporarily installed at the former site of the Lenin’s monument on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard in Kyiv. Why did you choose to combine these powerful, but profoundly different, symbolic

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RB: Where is the work now?

MB: It is installed on the facade of the headquarters of the foundation that commissioned the work, IZOLYATSIA, they have a kind of factory.

RB: It brings to mind a quote by David Foster Wallace: ‘There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship…’

MB: I don’t believe in worship, this is why I presented these figures as advertisements; they are symbols of power and I am playing with them–CCQ Mahmoud Bakhshi is represented by narrative projects, London narrativeprojects.com bon-gah.com

In respectful memory of

The Art Institution 1661 – 2017 Nathan Coley works with the ready-made, both text and venue. Much has been made of whether Tate Modern on Fire (2017) constitutes a proposal, or a warning; certainly, it has formed the basis of this piece – a memorial order of service.

Officiated by Emily Watkins Principal pallbearers: Nathan Coley, John Berger, George Bernard Shaw and Jackson Pollock.

Introductory rites

Liturgy of the word

Entrance Hymn

First Reading

Heaven

iv. You

Everyone is trying To get to the bar The name of the bar The bar is called heaven The band in heaven They play my favorite song Play it one more time Play it all night long Heaven Heaven is a place A place where nothing Nothing ever happens Heaven Heaven is a place A place where nothing Nothing ever happens There is a party Everyone is there Everyone will leave At exactly the same time It's hard to imagine that Nothing at all Could be so exciting Could be this much fun Heaven Heaven is a place A place where nothing Nothing ever happens Extracted from Heaven, Talking Heads, from album Fear of Music, 1979

Priest The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All And with your spirit.

shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:iv

Lector The word of the Lord.

All Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Together It is not the church we want, but the sacrifice; not the emotion of admiration, but the act of adoration; not the gift, but the giving.

From The Seven Lamps of Architecture, John Ruskin, 1848

Second Reading A Place Beyond Belief And it came to pass that one day amongst many, there travelled a young woman to a subway carriage in the city of New York, and it was a number of days after terrorists had smote the twin towers. The hour was early, and all the people of the city were set to their trades. Like unto most of her countrymen, she was full of fatigue and wrath, and besieged with thoughts, which turned her from the light. i.

‘How can it be’, she said, ‘that such evil has come into my home?’

All Glory to you, O Lord.

ii.

A Sikh man sat upon the seat opposite to her own, and he had a turban upon his head and it was of brightest orange. There arose amongst all the people upon the carriage such feelings of hatred and ire that he could feel their coldness through his clothes. Lo, the man averted his eyes, and verily he wept. iii.

And the subway train, wherein their carriage was contained, continued its passage deep into the heart of New York City, and passengers embarked and disembarked each according to his own need, and still the wrath of the city fell upon the Sikh. The man gathered his belongings and looked to leave the train wherein this carriage was contained. To pass through its doors, yea, he was obliged to approach a young woman who had black skin and a new babe. Without a word had passed his lips, he searched into his pockets and pulled forth currency, applying it to the cloth wherein the babe was swaddled. And I say, not a word did he speak but he left the train. So moved were the other passengers as they could do no more than weep in their turn, as he had done in his, and beneath their ire.

And Lo, they came to see, and the young woman among them, that New York must become a place beyond belief.

Jesus entered the art institution and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the gallerists and the benches of those selling souvenirs. xiii. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of art’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers [alt. trans. capitalists].’” xii.

Matthew 21:12-13 (version)

Priest

of Syracuse... Pierrus... Perseus... Hannibal...

Yogreta... Arivistus... Caesar... Pompey...

Nero... Jerusalem... Otto... Vitalius...

Domitian... Richard II. England... Edward II...

Henry VI... Richard III... Mary Stuart... Charles I... Henri of France... and Emperor Henry IV.” "I do not have to tell me, either", Candide said, "that we have to take care of our garden."

"You're right", said Panglos. Because when a person is put into heaven, it is with the intention of wearing it, and this proves that the person is not being idle."

"Work without a question," Martin said. "This is the only way to make life bearable."

The Gospel of the Lord.

All

Candide, Voltaire, 1759 (translated from the original French to English, and put into Hebrew and back to English)

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ Reading

Liturgy of The Eucharist

A letter from Jackson Pollock to Andy Warhol Lector

Priest Dear Andy, Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Saviour gave us.

iv.

A Gathering (of Strangers)

I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation last week, and I think I’ve cracked it: All artists are either cowboys or Indians. Do you see?

Lector Iternet hearsay: lumiere-festival.com/archive/place-beyond-belief

Lector The word of the Lord.

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Yours, Jackson 'I am the gathering of strangers,' sayeth the Lord, 'he that gather in me, though he were a stranger yet shall he gather: and whosoever gathereth in me shall never feel a stranger.'

Dear

,

I’ve been a lot about our last week, and I think I’ve cracked it: All artists are either or Indians. Do you see?

John 11:25-26 (version)

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

All

Words of Remembrance Reading

Yours As attributed to Jackson Pollock speaking with Andy Warhol

Priest We Must Cultivate Our Garden

Reading

The Lord be with you.

All

'"The greatness of man”, says Panglos, "is very dangerous, if we believe in the testimony of almost all the philosophers;”

And with your spirit.

Priest: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

“That the king of Moab was killed by Ehud; Absalom hung on his hair and ran with three arrows. King Nadav the son of Jeroboam was killed by Baza; King Ela by Zimri; Okosias by Jehu; Ethelia by Jehuada; Darius... Dionysius

Nathan Coley sets fire to (a tiny) Tate Modern for London show Glaswegian artist's works gain pertinence at a time when cultural institutions are being targeted by extremists 'I sat in shock, with tears in my eyes, at the sight of the flames ripping through

the roof,, , , and thick black smoke engulfing that so familiar building. How could this be happening?” The text that accompanies the Glaswegian artist Nathan Coley’s new exhibition, which opens at Parafin gallery in London today (until 18 March) could easily have evoked the shock of seeing Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art, where Coley studied, ablaze in 2015. . But in fact it’s a fictional response to a fire at another much loved, but more recently built artistic venue: Tate Modern, of which Coley has created a scale model, with flames and black smoke billowing from its Switch House.

It’s not the first time an artist has imagined and pictured a fire at a major building: Coley’s work is a nod in the direction of Ed Ruscha’s painting The Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Fire (1965-68). And while Coley’s work is characteristically ambiguous, loaded with many meanings, it also has a troubling prescience: a press release speaks of living in a time “when cultural institutions are deemed viable targets by terrorist groups such as IS”.

Within a couple of weeks of its issue, a man had attacked a patrolling soldier outside the Louvre. “The image of a prominent public building on fire carries a host of troubling associations,” the press release continued.

Coley—no stranger to analysing terrorism, having created work based on the trials of the bombers of the Pan Am aeroplane that came down in Lockerbie Scotland in 1988—couldn’t have predicted just how troubling, and how much more resonant, his work would become'. edited from theartnewspaper.com/news/nathan-coley-sets-fire-to-atiny-tate-modern-for-london-show-

Priest Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. xiii.

Proverbs 13

its threshold, bowed our heads beneath its ceilings and searched for Truth within its walls.

The Art Institution has been nothing less than a Church, its services ministered by curators and critics, directors and academics.

Its messages have been varied, but each sect has had a Prophet Artist to communicate their own understanding of something like a gospel. Amongst the strangers gathered here today, I’m sure we have devotees of the Abstract Expressionists, YBAs, Minimalism and many more besides.

Now that the Church, which encompassed you, has gone up in flames, remember that there is more to unite you than to divide you; more which you share than that which you hold separately. Take courage in the knowledge that another umbrella will emerge, that human beings are sentimental and superstitious creatures, who will manufacture schools of thought for as long as there is community and a society to stratify.

We heard the death knell of the Art Institution long ago – perhaps when patronage slipped away, or was it when Van Gogh starved because he could not sell? No matter; in its latest incarnation, the Art Institution ran upon press releases, not creativity. An entity founded in good faith, designed to support its charges and bring them recognition, became too huge and lumbering to support itself.

Exhibitions scheduled three years in advance could not hope to chime with a zeitgeist evolving at an ever-increasing pace.

Boards of donors and consultants pulled the reins too hard on the bridle of the horse, and stopped it in its tracks. The Institution fell to capitalism and self-combusted.

We grieve its loss, but we rejoice in a new-found freedom to call film ‘film’, painting ‘painting’, objects ‘objects’, a glass an ‘oak tree’. We have shaken off the burden of Art with a capital A, lent significance by the venue in which it was exhibited, rather than by the strength of its concept.

All Now please stand for the Hymn of Berger If you do not initiate the young into the village, they will burn it down to feel the warmth. jjbola.com/african-proverbs-2011

Eulogy read by Priest We are gathered here today to remember an entity shaped by, and which has shaped in turn, our cultural lives. We have knelt at

All I am in front of it. I can see it.

This painting by Leonardo is unlike any other in the world.

The National Gallery has the real one.

If I look at this painting hard enough, I should somehow be able to feel its authenticity.

The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci: it is authentic and therefore it is beautiful.

Ways of Seeing, John Berger, 1972

Concluding rites You Imagine What You Desire 'Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.'

Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch, George Bernard Shaw, 1921

iii-xxxi. And

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.

And it was so.

And it was so.

And it was so.

And it was so.

And it was so.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Where did the night fall?

Where is death’s sting?

Where, grave, thy victory?

The same for everyone, if Thou abide with me.

V. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; A gathering of strangers points me to the skies; Heav’n’s morning breaks, and all artists are either cowboys or Indians; Give up the good book; pick up a good gun.

From original Abide With Me, Henry Francis Lyte, 1847

Genesis 1:3-31 (highlights)

Concluding Hymn Abide With Me (version) I. Abide with me, in a place beyond belief; There will be no miracles here; Lord, with me abide; Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens, Never trust a loving god, oh, abide with me.

II. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; You create what you will, imagine what you desire; Change and decay in all around I see — We must cultivate our garden, oh, abide with me.

III. What but burn the village every passing hour; Feel the warmth and foil the tempter’s pow’r?

Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Let no lessons in writing be given, Mother, abide with me.

IV. Belief; Mind; Life; Land; Wealth;

Additional notes: Never Trust A Loving God comes from Never Trust A Loving God, Nick Tosches & Gravleur, 2009 'Give up the good book; pick up a good gun' is a kind of mantra from old American pulp stories Where Did the Night Fall, Unkle, 2010 There will be no miracles here is a funny little story from an old French village sansgod.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/no-miracles-here.html Belief; Mind; Life; Land; Wealth; are supposed to be the five rights of man according to some interpretations of Islam 'The Same for All' is a kind of Danish governmental mantra 'A Gathering of Strangers' is a common idiom for Christian congregations or the Church itself.

Works by Nathan Coley referred to: Palace, Nathan Coley, 2017 Let No Lessons in Writing be Given, Nathan Coley, 2017 Tate Modern on Fire, Nathan Coley ,2017 The Same For Everyone, Nathan Coley, 2017 You Imagine What You Desire, Nathan Coley, 2015 We Must Cultivate Our Garden, Nathan Coley, 2013 Burn The Village, Feel The Warmth, Nathan Coley, 2013 A Place Beyond Belief, Nathan Coley, 2013 Unnamed, Nathan Coley, 2012 We Must Cultivate Our Garden, Nathan Coley, 2012 If the Young, Nathan Coley, 2012 Never Trust A Loving God, Nathan Coley, 2011 Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens, Nathan Coley, 2010 There Will Be No Miracles Here, Nathan Coley, 2010 Give Up The Good Book, Pick Up A Good Gun, Nathan Coley, 2008 What Jackson Said to Andy, Nathan Coley, 2008 Gathering of Strangers, Nathan Coley, 2007

Nathan Coley's exhibition was at Parafin Gallery, 10 February – 18 March 2017 parafin.co.uk studionathancoley.com

First, second and third spread: Tate Modern on Fire, (detail), Nathan Coley, 2017; stained timber, perspex and mixed media, 170cm × 100cm × 90 cm approx, copyright Nathan Coley 2017; courtesy Parafin, London; photo: Peter Mallet Fourth spread: The Same For Everyone, Nathan Coley, 2017; aluminium with flourescent lamps, 105cm × 75cm × 8cm, copyright Nathan Coley 2017.

Courtesy Parafin, London, Photo: Peter Mallet

As he approached the centre of the room - taking extra care not to step in what he thought was probably something integral to the installation - one of the cross-sawn, brushed, oak floorboards creaked angrily.

His steps were lengthened due to the care he was taking, subsequently lengthening the creak. The gallery invigilator, who was possibly also the curator and artist, glared scornfully. The weight of social anxiety squoze his head, splattering across the untreated pink plasterboard adorning the walls.

Sunsets, go home...

John Lawrence’s practice involves mining diverse resource material to use as sustenance – to sample, chew on, pull sinew and morsel from. This material is then offered up for consideration as dissemination of ideas, cultural comment and reference. Bob Gelsthorpe introduces Lawrence’s recent installation at Spit & Sawdust, in Cardiff Last year, John Lawrence was awarded the 2016 Kim Fielding Award (KFA), which provides resources, networks and agency for experimental artist projects. As winner of the KFA, Lawrence developed The Solar Pessimist, a sound and vision event, held in March, at Cardiff’s Spit & Sawdust skate park and art venue. With the award and venue both artist-led, this project had real opportunity to be a transformative experience for the artist – a key founding principle of the award, given the level of collaborative support that the late Kim Fielding encouraged, even demanded.

The Solar Pessimist incorporated an eight-channel speaker system surrounding the perimeter of the skate park, a 30ft circular lighting rig, clad with intelligent LED lighting and hung from the rafters, and a circular track and dolly for filming. It delivered an audiovisual assault. As the rig bathed the park in shifting coloured light, the sonorous London tones of actor Peter Hugo-Daly aurally enveloped the space, the Gangs of New York actor delivering a ‘self-righteous pub rant’ about how he didn’t believe the sun existed... followed by the inevitable disgruntled reply from the awoken Sun itself.

The 33-minute score was composed by Berlin-based musician Tim Eve (W/ndows), created with the use of a Roland d50 polyphonic synthesiser, combined with field recordings from Tegel Airport, Berlin, and Lake Lugano, Switzerland. This heavily layered aural landscape stews and stirs throughout the space, the chords and half-rhythms, bleeding a tension that the monologue works in complete tandem with. Throughout the work, there are key moments that repeat and sometimes fall over each other, in the way that running in a circle makes you dizzy – a reflection of how contemporary absorption of ideas, image and references instil nausea through overwhelming choice. This nausea is affirmation of the ability to understand the fatness of existence; and instead of looking to compartmentalise and define, in some respects The Solar Pessimist offers us what could be the worst kind of protagonist. Then again, it could be the guiding light and source of heat that a pub-chat diatribe emits; the focus that follows it makes personal connections to time, space, and to others, revealing their dark, red, sticky potency.

We are not often communally asked to think about the potential of zero gravity pornography, solar heat death and what to do at the end of the world in the same half hour. Lawrence’s installation signifies a thought process that is not simply singular or binary, but something cyclical, staining its audience with residual feelings and decisions that will no doubt reoccur until the sun goes cold—CCQ Lawrence’s new project this man. is a text and image work for the page. It has been adapted by the artist especially for CCQ and is on the following spreads.

The Solar Pessimist was at Spit & Sawdust, 4–12 March 2017. @ johnlawrenceisanartist kimfielding.org spitandsawdust.co.uk

this man.

1.11.12
 he was present. in the room. simple. in many ways. this man. sat. on the edge of a bed. elbows. pressed into his knees. and hands. clasped between them. leaning. forward. slightly. not craning to watch television. not bent over. to scroll through his phone. sitting. just. it seemed. an image. of contemplation. or worry. an image. a pamphlet. how to deal with anxiety. depression. a complicated condition. internal. articulated through a seated position. an angle. a head. or read. that way at least. meant to be. so. scene. implied. intended. reading. along these lines.

2.11.12 the house. typical. area. white-fronted. terraced. townhouse. regular. route. a bay window. ground floor. framed. the man. in his room. scene. capture. image. meant to be. dissected. rather than. noticed. that. and its stillness. the man. barely moving. not enacting. some human statue. move. he did. noticably. but with direction. lacking. urgency. he was. in it. for. the long haul. lights. on. the eye. drawn. curtains. wide. the room. exposed. uncomfortable. domestic. full frontal. autopsy. of a life. minor acts. such as these. show up. [wonderfully] how little. it takes. to unsettle the still. lingering sediment. at the bottom of a culture. reserved.

5.11.12
 the man. in black. is black. a black man. dressed in black. sportswear. black t-shirt. black running bottoms. no logos. how far. to avoid. logos. on sportswear. these days. all this. towards intention. of some kind. bandana. black. logoless. tight. around his head. loose excess. a veil across his neck. foreign legion. a beating sun. manoeuvres. that simple veil. overhead. bandana excess. oppressive effect. militarizes. this man. directs the image. or am I projecting.

7.11.12 the room. white. the room. a lightbox. at night. and the day. contrasts. high. dark figure. against the white room. a silhouette. strong. and the bed is unmade and the mattress is white. and the cheap looking wardrobe. white. and the bedside table is white. and there is nothing on the walls. and there is nothing on tv. but on top of the wardrobe is a big holdall bag. black. and a tv in the far corner of the room is turned off. and there is nothing on top of the tv. black.

9.11.12 this blocky organisation. of light and dark. the purfunctory decisions. when painting over grafitti. made by council workers. but in this case. of objects in space. could such an effect. be incidental. the eye cannot. help. but tune-in to pattern. construction. balance. and intent. like reading a face. for an expression.

11.11.12
 approaching. this time. i crossed. the road. a decision. not made. on the spot. truth be told. but planned. for days. form a new angle. the corner. he faced. if he was there. or not. but. i would be closer. closer than i. had been before. across. the street. the luxury of distance. across. the street. the security. of being a viewer. rather. than a witness.

19.11.12
 an upright hoover. black. how did this. go unnoticed. how did i. before. the man was not in the room. his absence. the hoover. handle. tilted. took on the role. his bodily space.

21.11.12
 and a remote control. black. lay on the bed. sat on the bed. a remote. control. black. cushioned within a small indentation. on the cold volcanic scenery of an uncovered duvet. the seams and thin silky label. hanging out. sticking out their tongues. the seams. and thin silky label turning their insides out. confronting you with their display. the seams and thin silky label running their fingers. across. each other. taking themselves. and the flacid. black. remote. control. black. resting. evaporated. the whole scene. a foreign country. to eyes. everyday. the weight. and the power. spent. the touch and restraint. the necessity of anger within all this. anger. sex. boiling. point. these chambers. the people above you. of their shouting. and bending down. of their phones. vibrating. on their floor. your ceiling. this is where we get compressed. and the mania. and the boredom. and the restraint. and release.

A Fine Arrangement Artist Anne Gibbs’ bone china and found object assemblages may reference the formality of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, but their sensorial delight is strictly for the eye. Emma Geliot visits her studio.

Winding out of Cardiff and veering off the arterial A470, I meet Anne Gibbs in a pub car park so that she can guide me to her studio. This is a wise precaution as, if I can get lost I will, and the twists and turns that take us to a leafy village, northeast of the city, are guaranteed to make the magnets in my head go funny. Her studio is rented from a friend and is Wi-Fi-less, helping to keep distractions to a minimum. It’s not a huge space, but it’s well organised, and various pieces of work are dotted around, interspersed with objects for reference and colour

tests. My magpie eye lights on first one then another delicious artwork or assemblage. It’s the visual equivalent of being presented with a huge tray of amuses bouches, all equally tempting, and so it’s fitting that we end up talking about banquets and tea-drinking ritual.

Gibbs trained as a fine artist but, having done her postgraduate degree in ceramics, is now synonymous with bone china, a material that is famously fragile and yet paradoxically strong enough to be manipulated to create fine detail. Gibbs says she was first drawn to it by

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its whiteness, for its lack of colour. However, she has since been developing a palette that could be described as ‘grown up pastels’, the kind of colours you’d find in those delicate breath-freshening French cachous, or in a box of Wagashi sweets, like the one Gibbs brought back from a significant research visit to Japan, a few years back.

Mixing china pieces – often cast or constructed to mimic other materials – with found objects, pins and wire, Gibbs’ work is certainly more sculptural than functional or purely decorative. Taken individually, the

works are small, but they have the kind of quality and presence that creates a kind of unifying bubble around them, born out of the visual tension between each object, and enhanced by their apparent fragility.

I’d seen her latest body of work at Swansea’s Mission gallery in her solo exhibition, Still. The exhibition is part of a series of three one-woman shows, curated by Ceri Jones, and touring under the collective title of The Language of Clay. Although this exhibition is showing exclusively in Wales (at the time of going to press), Gibbs has shown

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internationally, with shows in Greece, Canada, the US and Korea. In 2015, following a second Creative Wales Award, she used some of the dedicated work period created by the award, to travel to Japan to study flower arranging.

The formal framework for Ikebana seems particularly pertinent to Gibbs’ arrangements of ceramic works and other objects. There is a precision to the relationship between each element, as there is in the choice of colours that she uses. The contents of the box of Wagashi, which serve as a colour reference, are traditionally laid out in a

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First spread, left page: Landscape in Blue, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd First spread, right page: Landscape in Green, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd Second spread, left page: Still Life #2, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd Second spread, left page, top: Landscape in Blue, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Matthew Otten Second spread, left page, middle: Landscape in Green, Anne Gibbs, detail, 2017; photographer: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd Second spread, left page, bottom: Landscape in Blue, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Matthew Otten Third spread, left page: Landscape in Blue, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; Photographer: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd Third spread, right page: Landscape in Blue, detail, Anne Gibbs, 2017; photographer: Matthew Otten

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meticulous way; another important connection point for Gibbs is close observation of the notoriously formalised Japanese Tea Ceremony. It is in understanding this approach that Gibbs’ arrangements of objects make sense, albeit based on the artist’s own aesthetic structure and the parameters that she sets herself.

Through following Gibb’s work for many years, there has recently been a palpable sense of an artist working confidently at full power.

While she herself is incredibly modest and unassuming, there is real authority in the precise way her objects are constructed and assembled.

She feels that she began to really get into her stride after an intense period of research and development.

The reality is that these things come in waves, as Gibbs proves: “In 2009, I received my first Creative Wales Award, and also did two residencies in the same year. One was at The Clay Studio, Philadelphia and the other at Cove Park, Scotland. This particular year was material in pushing my work forward. It was in Philadelphia that I started using colour, and in Scotland I became inspired by its landscape. Both are dominant in my practice today. In 2012, I received the gold medal for craft and design at the Eisteddfod, which was, I feel, the direct outcome of the award and those residencies.”

It was after getting her second Creative Wales Award, and returning from her three-week trip to Japan, that she applied for the British Ceramics Biennial, and was one of 12 artists selected to exhibit

at the Award exhibition in Stoke-on-Trent. She describes the Japan visit as a particularly significant turning point. “I loved the experience”, Gibbs says enthusiastically, “[Japan] really suited my aesthetic... the attention to detail”.

Of course, the making of Gibbs’ work isn’t as effortless as it might appear. There is a lot of discarding and remaking, spending time “experimenting with sickly colours”, Gibbs told me. Two specific things had an impact on how the eventual palette evolved: the visit to a design museum in Japan, from where she squirrelled away a lot of postcards to take back to be colour matched; and discovering Gary Hume’s paintings, in which she experienced the power of a restricted palette.

Her first foray into using colour in an exhibition was in the major ceramic survey show, Fragile?/Bregus? at the National Museum, Wales, in 2015. She then used the British Ceramic Biennial as a testing ground for how to set out and display her work. “I treated it as if it were a banquet; I was so influenced by what I’d just seen in Japan”. In these two exhibitions Gibbs felt she was on to something. “I’d tapped into a few ideas that I really wanted to explore. For Still, I wanted to introduce another new colour palette, along with mark making and sensory materials – like dressmaking pins.” She planned everything in painstaking detail, and began making the work a year before the exhibition. “I would make a single presentation or assemblage, and then I would wrap it up, and put it away. It was only when the photographer

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came to the studio, and I unwrapped them again, that I saw them all together.”

At Mission Gallery, several works were laid out on tables, again mimicking the idea of a banquet; and, despite their obvious vulnerability, Gibbs was pleased that the gallery didn’t insist that they were shown under glass. Many of the pieces are cast from found objects and materials, in a process using bone china slip; “mould-making is very boring”, Gibbs says wryly. At first glance it is easy to read the material as something else, something other than china, as it retains the quality of the original – a curl of paper, for example – but then reality bites and there is a beautiful poignancy in the transformation of something intrinsically mundane into something profoundly beautiful.

Once the exhibition had been packed up and sent off to a string of venues, it proved hard for Gibbs to get back into the studio. Re-engaging with the whole process of analysis and reflection, of collecting new

reference material and starting again, is always tough. But, at last, Gibbs feels that she has her own artistic voice: “I feel comfortable in what I make now. Before, I thought, ‘I just make these bits, these fragments’, and I felt I couldn’t justify it. Now I think, ‘This is what I make, if you don’t like it, that’s fine’.

At the moment I feel I am in a good creative place.”—CCQ

Anne Gibbs: Still is at the Ceramic Gallery, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 8 April – 11 June 2017; Ruthin Craft Centre, 22 July – 24 September 2017; Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, 7 October – 18 November 2017 Full details of The Language of Clay exhibitions can be found at fieldworking.co.uk annegibbs.co.uk

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hediehahmadi.com

To communicate something of the intimate experience of living and working in an artist’s studio for two years.

User configurable 60 page photobook, 2016, 145mm x 205 mm, (290mm x 205 mm poster size), limited edition, 300 copies, installation view, Tehran

Place: Keresht – Time: 2014-15 Hedieh Ahmadi

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THE AALTO NATIVES NEANDERTHAL So that’s HUSBANDRY and ART nailed.

There’s just two more things I want to share with you, RITUAL BURIAL and BUILDING THINGS. HAIRY-MUD-MEAT-MAN Grunt, grunt.

NEANDERTHAL The first one’s a hygiene issue. You keep leaving your dead mates lying about and quite frankly it’s insanitary.

HAIRY-MUD-MEAT-MAN Grunt! Grunt!

NEANDERTHAL I’m sorry for your loss. You and your mates meet me back here tomorrow. Bring flowers and a spade and I’ll show you how it’s done.

HAIRY-MUD-MEAT-MAN Grunt! Grunt!

The Finnish Pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia this year, hosts the first collaboration between Erkka Nissinen and Nathaniel Mellors.

The Aalto Natives is an irreverant and satirical, if pertinent, look at various clichĂŠs surrounding

Finnish history and national identity, bringing together a reimagined Finnish society.

CCQ were given exclusive access to excerpts from the script and a set of stills from the film which we reproduce here

GEB Are you ready, son?

[THE LIGHT GOES UP ON THE ANIMATRONIC ATUM] ATUM Yes, father. And very, very excited to see New Finland’s achievements after 35 million years of evolution!

GEB So then, project your essence down there. They are expecting you.

ATUM Yes, father.

GEB And remember, from their perspective you are a God. ATUM Really?

GEB Yes, so try and use your intuition.

THE PRESIDENT (whispering to ADVISER) I thought his head would be more like mine. Why doesn’t he look like us?

ATUM I will, father!

THE GENERAL

AALTO SHIP COMPUTER

Bomb him. And bomb Sweden. Bomb-bombbomb-bomb!

Two minutes 30 seconds to New Finland’s New Advent…

GEB Go now, don’t be late, they are obsessed with punctuality.

ADVISER Sweden never existed. It’s a myth, you military moron.

THE GENERAL It’s my strategy! Pre-emptive strikes are the most effective. We should take this opportunity, while people are preoccupied with God, to bomb Sweden out of pre-existence.

ATUM

ATUM (CONT.) What have you got for me?

(The FIRST MINISTER OF THE CHURCH pushes THE PRESIDENT FORWARDS) THE PRESIDENT (mumbling, embarrassed)

Have I failed? Have I let myself down? Daddy, have I failed you? Myself, have I failed, me?

My father and I had a dream of Finland’s social perfection.

We based it on things we had seen and copied and felt should come true.

Well, chickens range freely in Finland.

And folks moved from four legs to two.

If chickens walk freely in Finland, why can’t you?

Zero tax evasion, nationalised health, care-free education...

Opportunities for all.

A fully optimised society.

Finland’s green pastures, Finland’s herring.

We have a multimedia presentation for you.

A cultural dream for Finland’s mmmm-mmmm-mmmm-mmmm The best of humanity’s dreams and desires perfected in Finland

ATUM

with very little fanfare.

Wait, what? What’s that?

THE PRESIDENT A video, sir. With some live singing.

ATUM What, sort of a ‘son et lumière’ type thing?

THE PRESIDENT Yes, but less French.

ATUM Proceed.

NEANDERTHAL (V.O.) Oi! Son of God bloke! Over here!

ATUM Whose voice is that speaking in such a charming vernacular fashion? This interior of the exterior of Original Original Finland is looking increasingly promising!

NEANDERTHAL Oi, box-head! Come over here! We need to talk. I know everything!

(Through the mist we see the BURIED NEANDERTHAL, just his HEAD protruding. A sign next to him reads “HOMO NEANDERTHALIS” and another sign reads “ARCHETYPE”.)

ATUM Greetings! You must be some form of under-class...

NEANDERTHAL Well, I’m under the ground. So, yeah, I suppose you could say that.

ATUM And yet you know everything, you claim?

NEANDERTHAL Well yeah. Pretty much. Could you get rid of that sign? I hate the categorisation.

It’s very reductive.

ATUM Who put it there?

NEANDERTHAL Some daft academic.

(Atum uproots the signs and throws them away) NEANDERTHAL Thanks.

Nathaniel Mellors and Erkka Nissinen, Works in Progress from The Aalto Natives (2017), HD Video Stills, Courtesy of the artists and Frame Contemporary Art Finland

Finland’s Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2017 is commissioned by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, 13 May – 26 November 2017, framefinland.fi

east bristol contemporary

more info and sign up for mailing list eastbristolcontemporary.com

admission free

upcoming autumn programme 2017

Oceans: Surface/below 20 Mai May – 8 Gorff July 2017 Fel rhan o’r gyfres o arddangosfeydd a digwyddiadau Ephemeral Coast , cyflwynir gwaith yr artistiaid o’r Unol Daleithiau Pam Longobardi a Diana Heise yn Oceans: Surface/below.

Mae’r ddau artist yn defnyddio mapiau amgylcheddol i ystyried pa effaith a gaiff llygredd plastig, pysgota ar raddfa ddiwydiannol a dirywiad cynefinoedd ar gefnforoedd y byd.

As part of the Ephemeral Coast series of exhibitions and events, Oceans: Surface/below presents the work of United States-based artists Pam Longobardi and Diana Heise.

Both artists use environmental mapping to consider the effects of plastic contamination, industrial fishing and habitat degradation within the world’s oceans.

Delwedd Image: Pam Longobardi, Pink Floatie, Lesvos (Crime of Human Trafficking), 2016

Mae Ephemeral Coast yn cael ei guradu gan Celina Jeffrey mewn cydweithrediad ag Oriel Mission, Abertawe.

An Ephemeral Coast is curated by Celina Jeffery in association with Mission Gallery, Swansea.

Edefyn Tywyllach A Darker Thread 15 Gorff July – 21 Hyd Oct 2017 Deuddeg artist tecstilau o Gymru a ddewiswyd oherwydd eu bod yn tanseilio ein disgwyliadau. Curadwyd gan Laura Thomas.

Delwedd Image: Spike Dennis, Treading Clouds

Oriel Myrddin Gallery

Twelve textile artists from Wales chosen because they subvert our expectations. Curated by Laura Thomas.

Marchnad Gwneuthurwyr Makers Market 2017 28 Hyd Oct – 30 Rhag Dec 2017 Delwedd Image: Vicky Lindo

Lôn y Llan / Church Lane, Caerfyrddin / Carmarthen SA31 1LH 01267 222775 • www.orielmyrddingallery.co.uk Dydd Llun — Dydd Sadwrn 10—5 • Monday – Saturday 10—5 • Mynediad am ddim • Admission is free

Music Theatre Wales + Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru

Y Tŵr

Theatr Bryn Terfel Nos Iau 25 Mai, 7.30pm £15/£12/£5

Thursday 25 May, 7.30pm £15/£12/£5

Theatr Bara Caws

Gair o Gariad Stiwdio Nos Fercher 31 Mai a Nos Iau 1 Mehefin, 7.30pm £12.50

Studio Wednesday 31 May & Thursday 1 June, 7.30pm £12.50

Off The Kerb Productions

Andy Parsons Peak Bullsh*t Theatr Bryn Terfel Nos Fercher 31 Mai, 8pm

Ballet Cymru

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Theatr Bryn Terfel

£15

Nos Iau 15 Mehefin, 7.30pm

Wednesday 31 May, 8pm

Thursday 15 June, 7.30pm

£15

£12.50/£10.50

Circolombia Acelere Theatr Bryn Terfel £15/£10

21 Gorffennaf/July, 6pm + 8.30pm 22 Gorffennaf/July, 2pm + 7pm 23 Gorffennaf/July, 2pm + 7pm

Theatr Bryn Terfel 7+9 Awst 2017, 8pm

7+9 August 2017, 8pm

£15/£13/£12

£15/£13/£12

Swyddfa Ewrop Greadigol y Deyrnas Unedig Cymru

EWROP GREADIGOL

Cyllid a chyfleoedd i’r sectorau diwylliannol, creadigol a chlyweledol

CREATIVE EUROPE

Funding and opportunities for the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors www.creativeeuropeuk.eu #creativeeurope @CEDUK_Culture

Volcano Theatre – One Land Many Faces. Prosiect cydweithredol rhwng Volcano Theatre (Cymru) | La Transplanisphère (France) | Institut Français (France) | Bildung und Integration (Germany) | Maison de la Création (Belgium) | Ortzai Teatro (Spain) | Sin Arts (Hungary). Ffotograffiaeth gan Arthur Navellou. Prosiect cyd-weithredol wedi ei ariannu gan raglen Diwylliant yr UE 2007-2014. www.volcanotheatre.co.uk

Volcano Theatre – One Land Many Faces. A co-production between Volcano Theatre (Wales, UK) | La Transplanisphère (France) | Institut Français (France) | Bildung und Integration (Germany) | Maison de la Création (Belgium) | Ortzai Teatro (Spain) | Sin Arts (Hungary). Photography by Arthur Navellou. Cooperation Project supported by the EU Culture Programme 2007-2014. www.volcanotheatre.co.uk

Elizabeth Price curates

IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY 13.05.17 – 28.08.17 Becky Beasley / Simon Bedwell / Claire Makhlouf Carter Edward Onslow Ford / Henry Fuseli / Richard Hamilton The Lumière Brothers / Katrina Palmer / Giulio Paolini / Bridget Riley Jo Spence / Carolee Schneeman / Gavin Turk / Francesca Woodman The Lumière Brothers gyda Loie Fuller, Llun o Danse Serpentine (Serpentine Dance), 1899, Trwy garedigrwydd Institut Lumière © Institut Lumière The Lumière Brothers with Loie Fuller, Still from Danse Serpentine (Serpentine Dance), 1899 Courtesy Institut Lumière © Institut Lumière

Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian Hoel Alexandra Abertawe SA1 5DZ

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Alexandra Road Swansea SA1 5DZ

glynnviviangallery.org 01792 516900

Image: The Brutalist Playground by Assemble and Simon Terrill. Installation photo taken at S1 Artspace, Sheffield, 2016. Photography: Alun Bull © RIBA

THE EDGE EXHIBITION

The Brutalist Playground A surreal landscape of post-war play Turner prize winners Assemble & Simon Terrill, commissioned by The Royal Institute of British Architecture Tue 27 Jun – Sat 9 Sep 2017 The Edge · University of Bath Tues–Sun, 11am–5pm Free Admission #brutalistplayground

www.edgearts.org

Part architectural installation, part playground, the exhibition raises questions around design for play, from historic and contemporary perspectives.

Presented as part of a season celebrating the legacy of Alison and Peter Smithson. Synonymous with the term ‘Brutalism’, the architects designed a clutch of buildings at the University of Bath including The Edge theatre.

UWTSD

2017

2nd June

Image: Adrian Fear

20th May

uwtsd.ac.uk/art-design

Opening 19th/20th May

Swansea College of Art

1-31 May Mai 17

diffusionfestival.org _Diffusion

diffusionfestival

_Diffusion

Image © Manuel Bougot Chandigarh: Portrait of a City

Oriel Wrecsam

Contemporary Art Gallery // Oriel Gelf Gyfoes

Gofod diwylliannol a celfyddydau newydd, yn agor yn gwanwyn 2018 A new arts and cultural space, opening in spring 2018

www.owpeoplesmarket.co.uk

ARCADECARDIFF

Counting in Colour, Simon Fenoulhet

Fun Show 4 CSAD MFA ACW Lead Creative Schools Simon Fenoulhet Philippa Brown Eifion Sven-Myer Penny Jones & Gemma Green-Hope

10/05/17 - 27/05/17 31/05/17 - 09/06/17 12/06/17 - 17/06/17 21/06/17 - 08/07/17 19/07/17 - 05/08/17 09/08/17 - 26/08/17 30/08/17 - 16/09/17

For further details on projects_Am fwy o fanylion am brosiectau: arcadecardiff.co.uk facebook: Arcadecardiff @Arcadecardiff Dydd Mercher - Dydd Sadwrn_Wednesday - Saturday: 12.30-17.30 Arcadecardiff, Queens Arcade, Queen Street, Cardiff, CF10 2BY

Mewn mannau eraill o Queens Arcade, fel rhan o Ŵyl Diffusion_ Elsewhere in Queens Arcade, part of Diffusion festival: The Icon/The Star - Bojan Radovic 1/07/17 - 27/05/17 diffusionfestival.org