… and we’re live! - ish
We are excited to invite you to experience this experimental original moving-image piece on the 30th of April - Still Suspended:
One humble hour of exercise each day is essential. For Hugh, escaping the constant myriad of disinformation, cancellations and battles for care is becoming impossible. Loneliness, anxiety, the mundane repetitiveness of video calls, conflicting rules, mounting trauma – all this has jumbled his tired, restless brain. The reality of being a disabled artist is hitting home. Unable to be in others’ company creates a mind-numbing strain on Hugh’s imagination. Real, dream and imagined worlds begin to blur until the only thing that makes sense is nonsense. Hugh desperately searches for ways to reconnect above the virtual noise. Even with a perceived abundance of time, is it too late to escape?
It’s amazing to now have a launch date for Still Suspended. Hopefully we have been giving you little insights into the rollercoaster process through blogs and social media, but now we actually have a date when the artwork can be experienced. Part of Turner Contemporary digital artwork, Still Suspended sits alongside 2 original, experimental digital responses to the lockdown. The first, 'Memory Palace Thanet' by Anna Skutley and Umut Gunduz, is a virtual 3D landscape offering us an escape into tranquillity, memory, sound and loss, as objects appear and disappear as you wander - it is a beautiful, gentle piece and well worth getting lost in. The Second, ‘The Sacred Ecologist’ by Christina Peake has a real art gallery vibe even though it is online and is an honest reflection of tide, time and culture. The third, of course is Still Suspended.
From the 30th April 21 you will be able to experience this loud, bold piece via Turner Contemporary and you can journey there with this link: https://hughmalyon.live/still-suspended
Secondly, we were so excited to host the ‘live’ half scratch night half showback evening (hence the title of the blog) which was hosted by everyone’s home favourite Zoom. It goes without saying that we would have much prefered to experience the artwork with you in a space, but Zoom did allow barriers beyond Covid-19 restrictions to be overcome and this is worth remembering until we can reconnect again physically. The feedback from that event was an enormously helpful mix of supportive and positive comments and critical guidance. It is always a risk to open up your creative process to a wide number of peers but it was the right call and I feel blessed that we are surrounded by such brilliant, creative minds, but also such beautiful people – I hope you can see your input in the final version because I believe it was a critical moment in the creative process!
The whole process has led me to feelings of loneliness and helplessness at times but has also brought joy. Being isolated and just experiencing the world through video conferencing changes my perception of society, yet the restrictions have demonstrated that art and culture are fundamental for diverse voices to tell narratives that transcend barriers. And I think that is a paradox of Still Suspended – there are honest and unapologetic themes throughout that shine light on division and the unjust, however having a platform to shout about this injustice unlocks dialogue and allows us to truly question the world around us.
I also want to take a moment to say a massive thank you to our commissioners, Turner Contemporary. If you have read our blogs in the past, you may have picked up some of the troubles we have come across with partners and venues… our faith has fully been restored working with Turner! I stumbled across this opportunity through the e-digest (a weekly newsletter from ArtAdmin) and from application process through to production week, Turner have been nothing but supportive, understanding, helpful and even excited for us. They have respected our skills and expertise as independent artists whilst maintaining a strong support mechanism – reacting to the extraordinary barriers we are all facing. To my knowledge, this is also their first digital commission and they have done exactly what it says on the tin – as a live gallery space, they reacted and commissioned work that is both contemporary and which can be experienced now! This is added to by the fact Turner Contemporary decided to commission disabled artists to tell stories about now – it is obvious to me that this wasn’t just a diversity tick box exercise, but a genuine knowledge of the disabled experience and how our community is adapted to overcoming societal barriers through technology.
I do hope you get to experience Still Suspended and feel free to leave comments, both emotional responses and artistic feedback. This process has pushed and pulled us as artists and demanded a radical way of creating and presenting work – sit back and enjoy!