A thing of beauty, colour and love.

Thursday January 08, 2009 18:40

by Lee Welch - FOUR

FOUR presents the third chapter in a recent work by Sarah Pierce.

The artist has undertaken a period of research in the ICA London's archive, focusing on two seminal events – the exhibition When Attitudes Become Form (1971) and the conference The State of British Art, A Debate (1978). Each connects to debates around art-making and organisation: Pierce presents both the practical remnants of institutional organisation, including redundant pedestals and archival documents; and the broader concerns of political organisation and protest through interviews and documentation, including video of a workshop where participants acted out gestures and recited quotes from bystanders at political demonstrations in the US between 1968-2008.

Sarah Pierce, A thing of beauty, colour and love., FOUR

The project's title refers to one such quote. With each location it changes, as does the selection of archival material displayed amongst ubiquitous stands from past exhibitions – this time borrowed from three Dublin-based organisations with ties to art-making, collectivity and self-governance. Central to Pierce's work is a consideration of forms of gathering, both historical examples and situations that she initiates. How we speak about the political in art and what bearing a legacy of conceptual 1970s art practices has on a present moment are among the debates that Mary Kelly speaks about in an interview with Pierce, which is part of an audio track that also includes artists/educators Liam Gillick, Dave Beech and Adrian Rifkin.

Since 2003 Sarah Pierce (born USA, 1968, lives in Dublin) has used an umbrella term – The Metropolitan Complex – to describe her art practice. Despite institutional resonance, it does not signify an organisation. Instead, it covers various discursive working methods, involving papers, interviews, archives, talks and exhibitions, which coalesce in Pierce's projects to demonstrate a broad understanding of cultural work. The processes of research and presentation that the artist undertakes are designed to highlight the potential for dissent and self-determination within such structures. One of the artist's emphases is on a "shared neuroses of place", whether a specific locality or a wider set of circumstances that frame interaction. Of particular interest too are archives, both personal and institutional, which Pierce often generates through a constant reassessment and rearrangement of elements, where spontaneous proximity leads to unpredictable connections.

—Richard Birkett, Assistant Curator, ICA London

11 December 2008 – 31 January 2009

Opening Hours: Tuesday: 11 am to 5 pm, Wednesday: 11 am to 5 pm, Thursday: 11 am to 7 pm, Friday: 11 am to 5 pm & Saturday: 12 to 5 pm

With thanks to: Institute of Contemporary Art London and Tate Britain Archives, de Appel Library and Archive, Project Art Centre and Tessa Giblin, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Broadstone Studios, If I Can't Dance I Don't Want To Be Part of Your Revolution.

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A thing of beauty, colour and love.