It takes one to know one 

I am interested in an experimental and collaborative process, working with artists and performers to expand and examine curatorial practice, the role of the curator, the role of the artist and the role of the audience within contemporary art. Within this is an over-arching investigation into ‘performativity’ what that means in terms of live art, audience participation and performative curatorial practice, distinct from traditional curation.Working with sociological theory (Goffman, Durkheim, Mauss and recently Prof Jeffrey Alexander), I design and stage situations where the audience are central to the performance and exhibition. The resultant meta or third art work (being the sum of all the participants, performers, dancers, sound artists, film makers and audience) is within a space where the concept (i.e. the sociological theory) is completely embedded in the exhibition and performance space design. No part of the staging is superfluous, every item is carefully chosen for its conceptual content. These factors all aim to heighten audience experience, to reduce complacency in experiencing art, increasing awareness of their situation, their surroundings, their own behaviours (seen in Interaction Order (2014) and Collective Representation 2015). 

“It takes one to know one” and will focus on the telling of a joke, the nature of cultural and collective understanding of the rules and interpersonal relations. Development of the third show in the cultural sociology series will include cutting edge digital/new media artists physically or online.The concepts I work with are ambitious, i wish to realise  ideas such as multiple view points, motion capture, projection mapping, and the ability to fully capture the intense subtlety of human gesture in such a way that would enhance our understanding of human behaviours and interactions and potentially impart new knowledge both artistically and sociologically. 

image below: Professor Jeffrey Alexander