Figuring out how to make a living….
Curator Lily Brooke voices the oft-unmentionable phenomenon which has for centuries pummeled the myriad talents, attributes and creativity of individuals (and societies) into uniform, joyless fodder for the maintenance of the status quo.
Salutations to her, and to all the others endeavouring to invent, create and curate new artefacts, expressions and modes of being in a world determined to impose its grey, grubbing image upon us all. Resistance is never futile.
What first drew you to art?
Innateness.
How did your curation start?
When I used to make artworks they were spatially orientated installations. Eventually my practice became secondary to the curation of the work I was producing.
How did your involvement with 2:1 at Safehouse2 begin?
The idea came during a show I curated previously called space: dependent on the mind/ independent of time, in which Ali Glover installed a rug that existed through several spaces in my own home. It was an interesting starting point which needed further exploration, as it had highlighted the notion of domesticity within an exhibition focusing primarily on space.
– Ali Glover ‘Proposition 31’
In contrast, around the same time Henry Burns had produced work that was positioned at the other end to the domestic towards…
construction. As a result Safehouse2 seemed a good location to combine these works revolving around domestically orientated physicality, a topic that had naturally occurred to be explored. The space then became the link between the work.
What is the vision for your exhibition?
The first in a two part series will showcase an inherent substantiality, a collection of works seemingly omitting the conceptual whilst adhering to the physical. Though Safehouse2 has had a dramatic separation from the house it once was, the remnants of the domestic space refuse the complete disassociation. The experimental position of this exhibition is allowing for curious coincidences to be recognised.
Which artists typify the vision you have for this project?
I’ve mentioned a couple above but all seven artists participating in the exhibition are guiding the project in their own way.
What do you dislike most about art?
Figuring out how to make a living.
How would you define artistic controversy?
The desire to disagree.
Or dissatisfaction with the status quo, creating the desire to challenge.
Do you think that controversy is a positive force in art or a conceptual red herring?
70 / 30
What does the future hold?
In relation to this specific exhibition, it is a two part project. The first being in Safehouse2, hence 2:1. The second of the two part series will be in Safehouse1, hence 1:2 in around six months time.
28th & 29th May 2016, Safehouse2, 137 Copeland Road, SE15 3SN. Opening hours: 11-6pm. Free entry
Read more curator interviews
in the hanging offence series
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
