Manifesto

Abstract

Since 1993 I have worked with John Seth in an ongoing collaboration named since 1997 as 'work-seth/ tallentire'. 'Manifesto 3' is the third work in a series developed from research that proposes a politics of improvisation in order to address the relationship between the making of art, agency, contingency and event. Preceding works 'Manifesto I', exhibited in 'Predator' at KX auf Kampnagel, Hamburg, November 2001 and 'Manifesto 2', for 'Yes Lets Go' in 'Sum of the Parts', South London Gallery (Sept 2, 2002, 10.00am - 8.00pm) - a 10 hour performance - explored the limits of improvisation in the method of production whilst also employing various tactics to engage the spectator physically and conceptually. Reviewed in Art Monthly No 260 Oct 2002, Manifesto 3 employed a method developed over nine years of collaborative and twelve years of individual projects that has explored the relationship between live action and the mediated image through the juxtaposition of action, object, image, and the 'temporary coincidences' that occur in various spatial designations during the working process. This process entailed gathering fragments of broken furniture and other items of everyday detritus on journeys made by foot made between various sites. These materials, chosen according to a process of chance and 'rules' relating to manoeuvrability were then assembled, disassembled and reassembled in order to reduce identification to the objects' original use and draw attention to the objects' materiality. To reinforce the relationship to temporality, recordings of actions on video were carried out during this process and incorporated into the final installation. Research for the installation produced for 'Manifesto 3' was carried out during a residency at Le Couvent des Recollets and exhibited in 'Densité' (catalogue ISBN 2-84056-143-3) for the École des Beaux Arts, Paris and Kunsthalle, Fri-art, Fribourg, Switzerland in 2004.