Reset [2019], Video Installation [still]

This week I (virtually) sat down for a little Q&A with Jakub Jezerski from the Wigan STEAM team around my current exhibition Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] to talk being an artist, working with Alzheimer's and sci-fi.

Through the very specific lens of Martha (a fictional character living with Alzheimer’s) and those close to her, Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] aims to gently explore changes in perception, autobiographical and spatial memory and behaviour common to Alzheimer’s in a way that is human and – I hope – resonates with people’s lived experiences; alongside more universal questions around care, how we determine what is real and what is not, and how we define our relationships with each other and the world around us. I hope that by enabling new ways of thinking about Alzheimer’s, Martha might inspire ways of living better and more inclusively.

Click here to read the interview.

Reset [2019], Video Installation [still]

In just over 2 weeks Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] will open at Wigan STEAM. Featuring new film Reset alongside other work from the series Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III], this exhibition brings together video installation work exploring the effect of Alzheimer’s disease on the way we see, interpret and understand the world around us through the eyes of Martha, a fictional character living with Alzheimer’s.

Drawing on research into autobiographical and spatial memory and the behavioural and psychological features of Alzheimer’s, Martha [Alzheimer’s Machine III] weaves together competing and intersecting narratives that present conflicting accounts of Martha’s experiences. Collectively, they examine the complex spaces autobiographical memory, account, fact and fiction that underpin conscious recollection meet.

The exhibition will open on Saturday 18 May and continue until 6 July, with a workshop and preview evening on 24 May from 7-9pm and a series of family workshops to take part in across across the summer. If you find yourself in Wigan over the summer, please come and say hello!

Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] is kindly supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Wigan STEAM, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Wigan Archives and Local Studies, Wigan Council and Wigan Dementia Action Alliance.

I'm very pleased to have been invited by artist and curator Louise Mackenzie to screen my Arts Council England funded video Visualisation of Beta Amyloid Growth, Cortical Slice as part of Black Box at the Institute of Genetic Medicine in Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne. It will appear during Life Week, in a programme of moving image work that asks if and how life can be shaped, alongside work by artists Nipam Patel, White Feather Hunter, Louise Mackenzie, Cecelia Johnsson and Dr. Rodrigo Leite de Oliviera, Laura Harrington, Ursula Biemann, Vicky Smith and Louise Hervé and Cholé Maillet. I will also present Interrupt Cycle: Exhausting the Scenario during Intimacy Week, in a programme exploring the relationships between mind, body and society alongside work by Marissa Keating, Christine Borland, Marianne Wilde, Beverley Hood, Adura Onashile, Aleks Cicha, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Alexey Marfin, Daksha Patel, Lilian Mehrel, Stelarc, Viktoria Modesta and work from the Wellcome Trust collection.

Black Box is a joint project by The Cultural Negotiation of Science and the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Newcastle University. Opening the door on the inner workings of genetic research, Black Box is a curated programme of film works inspired by and expanding upon genetic themes. The programme showcases films by artists and researchers involved in a creative and critical engagement with the field of genetic medicine alongside films produced by scientists that provide insight into the research that takes place within the Institute.

I am pleased to share a short critical essay written by Julia Makojnik commissioned in response to my recent work, exploring some of the cross-cutting themes within my practice. Focusing particularly on recent projects Between States and Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III], the text explores the ways in which transition is articulated within my video work through the manipulation of narrative, character and space.

This essay is presented through interactive digital platform Mural. Click here to view the piece and press the play button once it loads. Then, use your mouse to scroll down and explore the work.

Between States [Installation Views], 2018

As Between States begins to draw to a close at the NewBridge Project: Newcastle, I thought I would share a few images taken of the work in situ. There is still one more day to see the show if you haven't had the opportunity to do so already, and the exhibition will be open from 11am - 5pm.

In just under 2 weeks I will open Between States at the NewBridge Project: Newcastle. This exhibition of new video installation work takes the process of interviews as a starting point to explore the boundaries we place around ourselves through the ritual actions of 3 figures. The work features Rene McBrearty as the three figures, playing the role of examiner, administrator and subject. The exhibition will open on 21 June between 6-8pm and will run from Friday - Sunday until 1 July. For full details, please click here.

I am excited to announce that my new digital commission launches online today. Devised as part of my recent project Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III], Lapse explores the effect of Alzheimer’s disease on the way we see, interpret and understand the world around us through the eyes of Martha, a fictional character living with AD. Lapse unfolds within Martha’s garden, a place that became significant to Martha and is connected to a number of personal memories shared with her daughter. Through a mosaic of personal memories and sound design, great stretches of time are collapsed into a single continuous stream of memory that blur past and present; reality and artifice.

Originally created as a projection-mapped video installation, this new digital commission translates the work into an engaging online format. This piece was commissioned by D6: Culture in Transit, and has been created using Mural, a new interactive online storytelling tool. You can experience Lapse in your web browser here.

Last week I was shooting footage for new work as part of my current project Between States. Taking place across sterile transitional environments, the film takes the process of interviews as a starting point to examine the borders and boundaries we live within.

Journey over to Helen Shaddock's blog to see a kind review for Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III], currently on show at the NewBridge Project, Newcastle. Join the event on Facebook to find out more and see the remaining two parts of the show.

Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] is a series of new video, photography and installation work exploring the effect of Alzheimer's disease on the way we see and understand the world around us.The work will be exhibited in February 2018 in 3 parts at the NewBridge Project: Newcastle, Carliol House, NE1 6NE.

Part 1: In Transit
Preview: Thursday 15 February, 6-8pm
Exhibition Open: 16 - 17 February, 11am-5pm

Part 2: Dissolution
Preview: Tuesday 20 February, 6-8pm
Exhibition Open: 21 February, 6-8pm and 22 February, 11am - 5pm

Part 3: Lapse
Closing Event: Tuesday 27 February, 6-8pm
Exhibition Open: 24 - 25 February, 11am-5pm