The work we’ve produced for 30/30 today is called 'while stocks last' and is an advert for nothing. It uses all the structure and language from an advert you would see for any product from a toilet brush to a laptop. It came out of us attempting to make something as minimal as possible, and what’s more minimal than nothing? Then the problem that all minimalists face; how can we depict this nothing. Inserting it into a world which already exists but doesn’t belong felt most appropriate - an awkward fit.
We're also developing a new work titled ‘Figures of late’ which comes in the form of a fictional eulogy written for us by a ghost writer about our life and untimely death. The eulogy is delivered by an actor alongside a stock photo that we occasionally use as a fictional representation. Viewers will hear a summary of fictional projects and artworks but in real situations such as a retrospective at Tate Modern. This is another work where we’re attempting to portray that artists are fabricators by design; like children inventing their future, artists bring things into the world that did not previously exist, whether its conceptual or physical. As the eulogy is delivered two ‘mourners’ will slowly drive a selection of black Scalextric cars around a track in the shape of a figure-of-eight. This procession will feature a miniature version of the our names in flowers, humorously pointing a finger at the ridiculous nature of the fictitious eulogy summarising two fictitious lives. Using toys and story telling (in the form of a eulogy) is an attempt to analyse the future using the tools one used as a child to explore and understand the world around themselves.
Another conceptual tangent that this work is heading down is considering the point of view of a child; the mysteries of adulthood boast a marvellous array of possibilities. At that stage in a person’s life one may be aware of the jobs an ‘adult’ is required to do, but can’t quite fathom the meaning of these actions nor the stress that may be placed upon the individual as a result of certain jobs requiring attention. Children mimic adults’ linguistic skills, their mannerisms and even their jobs by engaging in acts of play involving miniaturised and non-harmful versions of real life objects attached to these jobs. Tiny plastic kitchen sets with fake fruit and vegetables, remote-control or Scalextrics cars and small plastic babies that allow the child to act as a parent. Very little of this process accurately mimics the realities of the ‘adult-world’, but from the point of view of a child’s imagination they are fulfilling a critical aspect of adulthood. The vast expanse of unknown that stretches out before them is filled up with fictions that they create for themselves. Children are hugely interesting for all these reasons, they possess the most creative and uninhibited minds; if you put a child and an adult in a gallery and ask them to talk about an artwork, the adult won’t say anything or they’ll say very little other than stating the obvious. It’s for fear of saying the wrong thing. The child will be honest and instinctive with a far more interesting answer.
