Finally, the show is up and we have completed a month long devotion to creating works for 'The Distance Between'. @bethink arts and @sallemanda have been busy creating works that reflect their ruminations on the theme.
Check it out- visit LCB Depot Leicester:
http://www.lcbdepot.co.uk/event/exhibition-sally-newham-jodie-cresswell-waring-the-distance-between
The Questions have taken the form of:
http://www.lcbdepot.co.uk/event/exhibition-sally-newham-jodie-cresswell-waring-the-distance-between
What is 'The Distance Between'?
February was a very important time for this show to see its debut. The thoughts and questions asked relate very much to the relationships we share with our loved ones. In my mind it started with thinking about the being in a loving partnership but then my mind drifted to other important relationships that people form with each other and the world around them. The pieces I created in response to my explorations of the theme have taken on some of the relationships that I feel are the most fundamental in life. The relationship with our parents informs us of who we are. The relationship with our home and the world informs are sense of place and happiness. Finally the relationship between life partners impacts on our values, aspirations, self-value and our sense of belonging.
What struck me about these three relationships was how differently we all experience them and for me this is ‘the distance between’ people. I felt I could only speak for myself and struggled with the idea of making sweeping statements about these fundamental human relationships and also not wanting to focus on my own experience. I was unsure how to create work that represented what I was thinking. I realised that coming from a Live Art perspective where I normally ask people their ideas about the world I was not comfortable with giving answers and it seemed right for me that the works should be interactive. I wanted to be able to ask questions about these relationships, not give answers, but provide opportunity for the audience to give their answer and enable them to take control of the work; changing it or adding their own opinions.
The answers will change as the audience interact with the work and this in itself will create conversation about the relationships and their views will represent ‘the distance between’.
The Questions have taken the form of:
Heart Strings, 2012
Recycled Cloth, felt, pins, string
Recycled Cloth, felt, pins, string
An interactive piece.
Instructions
Please add your response to the following questions:
‘Where do you live?’
‘Where does your heart live?’
Attach a pin on the map to indicate where you live and then place a heart on the wall using double sided tape and write, using pencil, your comment about where your heart lies. Join the two up with a string wrapping one end around the pin and the other stuck underneath the heart.
Mother’s Apron String, 2012
Recycled bed linen, tea towels and clothes, cloth tape, wire
Interactive Work
Instructions
Search the pocket at the front of the apron and find the word that best resonates with you in describing your relationship with your parents. Attach it to one of the apron strings and remove any words that you don’t relate to and place them back in the pouch. Write down your list of words in the book.
Sally Newham
Airing Dirty Linen, 2012
Recycled bed linen, embroidery threads
Interactive Work
Instructions
There are a variety of works that express different relationships in the basket. Put out the works that you feel express the distance between you and your partner. Use pegs to peg out the work. Take down any works that you wouldn’t want to air.
