SITED RECITED
An awareness of how important site is to creative work has become increasingly paramount in the past decade. Site-specific work is dependent on the intrinsic qualities (and challenges) of the chosen or given sites, particular attributes which might exist as catalyst, material, location, history, text, content, mise-en-scne, potential and limit. The relationship between site and practice, even what constitutes the site of site-specific work, varies widely between practitioners. We have invited a number of artists to discuss where and how site functions.
Geraldine Pilgrim, co-founder of the influential visual theatre company Hesitate and Demonstrate, and now Artistic Director of Corridor, creates site-specific performances in specially chosen buildings. Previous work includes Dreamworks3 at St. Pancras Chambers, hotel at the Midland Grand Hotel in Morecambe, and spa at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital. (See p.12)
Stephen Hodge is one of four artist-researchers who make up Wrights & Sites (Exeter, UK). The groups ongoing Mis-Guide project has resulted in drifts, mythogeographic maps, guided walks and guidebooks (such as the forthcoming A Mis-Guide to Anywhere), that provide walking frameworks for the urban environment. [www.mis-guide.com]
Ron Atheys work, which frequently draws from the various trajectories of his life, is dependent on his particular body. Athey, based in LA, first visited Glasgow in 1995 with the memorable Four Scenes in a Harsh Life, returning in 2002 with Joyce and most recently The Judas Cradle (2005). Other performances include Deliverance and The Solar Anus. (See p.24)
Sarah Cole works collaboratively to develop site-specific performances, videos, installations and interventions with participants who have a vested interest in the site. Recent work includes placing a live horse in a classroom as a response to teachers talking about their ideas on teaching/learning and creating a spitting performance with students at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Angus Farquhar is the founder and director of the Scottish company nva, best known for their outdoor, site-specific installations including Stormy Waters, The Path at Glen Lyon and most recently the Skye based work, The Storr Project (2005). For The Hidden Gardens, located at the rear of the Tramway, nva transformed a waste ground into a place of peace and sanctuary.
George Wyllie has been making social sculptures for more than four decades. In 1976, the Collins Gallery hosted his Scul?ture. Since then, Wyllie has continued to place the question mark firmly in the centre of his work, asking questions not only of art practice but of post-industrial society. Public sculptures include Straw Locomotive, The Motherwell Tree, Paper Boat, Stones of Scotland and Monument to Maternity.
This event has been curated by Dee Heddon, lecturer in Theatre, Film and Television Studies, University of Glasgow.