A Farrell Arts Gallery Near You
We are in a state – to quote the commissioners of this extraordinary, amazing project and still can’t quite believe I’m on, our world ‘is in flux. The list seems endless: from the effects of climate change, to war, spiralling energy costs and inflation, seismic constitutional change – kings and queens and national identities – to debates around reproductive rights and gender politics’… and that is putting it mildly and defo not an exhaustive list! So we have an act of resistance from Artichoke – through an ambitious project working with a range of advertising firms in the public domain, eleven bold artwork are everywhere and anywhere, catching the corners of eyes….. unapologetic and compromising!
More kudos to Arts Anchor (Artsadmin newsletter for opportunities within the arts, do sign up) for informing me about The Gallery. I scanned over it once and smiled at the possibility of presenting an image at that scale but then moved on at an honest attempt to manage my schedule. Quarantine and Jen had other ideas and gently put the commissions in front of me again. Coincidently, this week I think I have put more applications then week days!....after reading the application process, I got very excited about the questions and wanted to respond to them – not only to be in with a shot at being part of this epic commission but the questions demanded a response. Yes, there was the usual self-doubt, confusion about whether I was saying what they wanted to hear, stress at deadlines etc but there was also a drive from passion and eagerness to write… I wish all applications were like this one! There were 3 questions, a standard short one about what you are all about, past commissions and what kind of work you make and then 2 questions with 700 words each!! Pure class (this seems very distant from a Let’s Create ACE applications). Both of those questions, about the artwork you wanted to present/create and how the work responded to ‘The State We’re In’, felt like important questions and ones that you wanted to answer….
This project might have fully sunk in for me in a Paignton high-street that was completely closed to traffic for children to play, create and be together. Tonic CIC has produced another amazing set of street parties with crafts, storytelling, circus, street entertainment, free-play and so much more! I spent a wonderful hour with 2 young nephews, Mum and my sister just playing and being immersed in culture, playing sweet music, dancing and trying to touch a robot without being squirted with water. I had no idea why it was vital to touch the robot, there were no instructions to do so, it was the consensus of the under 8’s, an organic game. The power of imagination was electrifying and in the mind of my 5-year-old nephew, the game was so much more than us adults could possibly imagine.
Anyway, Doorstep Arts were there with their ever-popular LGBT+ Storytime and after listening to a book and painting a rainbow, I was finally able to give Doorstep their Guardian copy with a 16-page supplement about The Gallery. Yes, we are in the Guardian!! Brilliant – mind-boggling – surreal – powerful. I think it’s a huge testament to Doorstep’s aluminate and Erin’s disbelief turned to very controlled, held back tears. I think the Doorstep team are very proud of every young person who graduates from their warm but risky spaces …the supplement is great and all, but the time I had to celebrate the artwork with the Doorstep gang, who were covered in face paint and surrounded around by children’s books was priceless!
Image by Appleton event photography, for Tonic creative
So what is the artwork? You may have already seen it – as I write this, all The Gallery pieces are in thousands of locations. All over the UK in cities and towns, on billboards and massive electronic screens. Mine is a sardine tin, mostly opened, with my body replicated and shrunken and abandoned inside. Literal cattle fodder or pigswill, ready and waiting to be plated up to feed ‘the system’. Emotively driven, starkly displaying the direct impact of ablism. This is a visual representation of consequences of the under-funded, objectifying and outdated ‘care’ assessment processes, yet still widely accepted and implemented. At first glance, the image is imposing, on second glance hard to digest, explore a little further and it’s seriously troubling.
I think this is an ideal commission for me. First of all, I was able to collaborate with Tim Dollimore (I say collaborate, Tim did genius photocopying and I just went, oh what if it was a bit bigger, could you make it look like I’m floating in icky jelly stuff, that kind of not irritating thing). Secondly, I think the image combines my personality, lived experience with wider political discourse around disability, care and austerity. It is a bit of a weird image – maybe even silly and definitely surreal. I know it is leaving mum scratching her head! But it’s deeper and darker – it is essentially a deep reflection on experiences I had and I think many disabled people have felt – abandonment, objectification, being reduced to what you can’t do, being left, living the idea that every individual disabled body must ‘fit’ the stereotype, and therefore have the same needs and aspirations, being led into soul-sapping system …… As the ‘growing’ saying goes – we are all sardines, right??
TickBox questions the very foundations of how ‘care’ packages, support measures and benefits are allocated – what if you don’t tick those boxes, what if the ever moving/tightening parameters of the box are ‘inaccessible’.
The work is definitely about the disabled experience first and foremost. About how disabled people amplify care and compassion as the cornerstones to community. How these fundamentals of humanity are being chipped away with cuts, mass media gaslighting and manipulation by governments and politicians. Yet, as skilfully co-written by Jennifer Noice, the work is also about each and every one of us: ‘Maybe it is easier to conform and silently cram ourselves into sardine tins?’. There’s so much to hide from and so many of us are subject to discrimination. Another angle of the work – if we are all cowering from the state we are in, we can connect with solidarity and understanding to break out of the solo thinking sardine tin walls!
Image taken by Southwest Theatre Photography
Who knows what the artwork will mean to people…. Well, I guess you do, reader! Please do get involved in this virtual national conversation. Tag us in with @Artichoke and @LiveHughM, use #TheGalleryS2. Also, I have a live tracker and if you see a massive sardine tin anywhere, it would be amazing if you fill out this form!
