My Practice

In the past thirty years there has been an uprising of new forms of this type of art practice, loosely termed ‘socially-engaged’. These practices share many things in common, including an ability to move easily between modes of engagement with audiences and the sites that audiences occupy, be they institutions in the form of museums, schools, universities or government bodies, or seemingly less constrained sites such as ARIs or the virtual spaces of social media. One aspect of my practice has been to unpack the way that sites and social relations inter-operate, and to understand the frameworks and power dynamics that constrain or emancipate them.

The trajectory of my interest in socially-engaged practice can be seen through the progression of my works, which not only slip in and out of institutions—or more accurately are both inside and outside of institutions at the same time; within institutional boundaries and yet managing to slide outside of their power structures—but which also critically and intrinsically involve working collaboratively with audiences to co-create works that overthrow the rigid duality of artist/audience.

Artworks developed in these marginal zones between audience and artist often go unacknowledged (as art), and it is for this very reason they are able to become such potent tactical forms of infiltration of power, shining a light on the invisible to make it visible. It is at these sites of energy transferal that much of the exciting and innovative work in contemporary socially-engaged practice is being created. And it is here that audiences can discover a new articulation of their resistance.