The residency is now in full swing with tomorrow being the last day before the install of the exhibition. We’ve developed a few different works all around traces, subtlety and narrative construction. The first of these is a 63 sand castles all mapped out to represent all the pubs we’ve been recommended during our time in Wigan. We chose sand castles because a lot of the stories about the pubs were accompanied by war or battles of some kind. Another comparative element is that a grain of sand goes unnoticed by itself but when brought together with others it can form something much more apparent, in the same sense that one person will struggle to create a community but a pub can assist in the construction and maintenance due to the scale.
The next work which is in progress is a radio that appears to have been left on in the gallery, abandoned by whoever was installing the work or by a bored invigilator. Coming from the radio will be a post-match-analysis style discussion similar to what one might hear after a football or rugby match. The difference here is that being instead of discussing a sports game, we’ll be discussing an 100 year-old court case which occurred when The Old Courts were still functional. There will also be people phoning in to give their opinion on how they thought the ‘match’ went. All the callers will be other artists on the residency and we will present the show. Here we were trying to present something in a methodology that mirrors the space but also might enable someone to think differently about what they’re presented with at another time. A sort of ‘not everything is as it seems’ scenario which prompts an audience to look a little closer.
Our final piece is the invention of a fake band called ‘The Left Book Club’ a name which is inspired by the publishing company who published George Orwell’s ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’. We going to create posters, CDs, and flyers and distribute them all over the building. The posters will be advertising a gig from 2007 and the CDs are left over from that final tour. We were considering these objects as strange distorted memories, things that were produced in the past but for an event in the future. Similar to the way that an exhibition guide is the only thing that remains after it’s de-installed, these posters are a little echo of what once was, or wasn’t. We’ve also decided to burn the sound work from the radio onto the CDs and people can take them on the opening night.
We’re also very excited that the SketchUp Residency has been invited to be a part of Keiken Collective’s upcoming project with Tate St Ives! On the 17th June between 12-4pm the SketchUp Residency Instagram will be taken over by Keiken Collective to broadcast 'BCNU', which is a dream time life simulation RPG taking place at Tate St. Ives / Tate Collectives featuring two AFK women, one in Japan and another in Berlin, whose online avatars will come to life within the gallery. So, if you like the sound of that tune in to one of many Instagram accounts to watch it happen live. The participating organisations are Keiken Collective, isthisit?, The SketchUp Residency, iouae and Hutt Collective. Click >>>here<<< for more info.
