Babel, 2015
Sluice Art Fair
A selection of Florence Trust alumni curated by Kate Neave for Sluice Art Fair in London.
Exhibited for the first time in at the Florence Trust Winter Open, Babel explores what is gained in translation rather than lost. The viewer is encouraged to engage with this itinerant sculpture and take home a component of it, on the condition they report back where in the world it ends up. The way this component is then utilised, as cup, candle or perhaps pencil holder, becomes part of its varied translation across borders and uses.
Inspired by the colour pallet of St Saviours brickwork, Babel was constructed to replace a ‘missing’ column, mirroring its partner on the other side of the arch. This site specific response was supported by recreating the encaustic tiles that dot the neo gothic church’s floor.
‘As curator at The Florence Trust, Kate Neave put together an exhibition of Alumni artists for Sluice, an alternative art fair held at the Bargehouse in the South Bank during Frieze Week. Sluice aims to test the established model for art fairs, providing an antidote to the commercial scene with space for not-for-profit, artist run and emerging spaces. The Florence Trust booth showcased the diversity and strength of Florence Trust artists' practices and played on the founding principle of exchange at the Trust.’
The Florence Trust
‘Kate showed a selection of black and white prints, paintings and photographs by Florence Trust Alumni. Will Martin’s Babel (2015) is a tower of bisque-fired, wheel-thrown cylinders that were disseminated throughout the fair to international visitors so that their new locations and functions could later be documented by the artist. Help Yourself (2015) invited visitors to select a glazed ceramic vessel in which to take their refreshment of mint water.’
The Florence Trust
‘Sluice, run by artists and curators, assumes the form of a collaborative, provocative artwork. The authors of which are everyone that comes into contact with the project.
Sluice strategically adopts structures in order to showcase artist, curator and emergent discourse, projects and galleries. In addition to our extramural activities, exhibitions, talks, screenings, magazine, we stage a non-profit Biennial in London and a roaming international expo every alternate year.’
Sluice
Curator: Kate Neave
Commissioned by: The Florence Trust
Artists: Adam Dix, Andy Wicks, Anna Jung Seo, ATOI, Fabio Lattanzi Antinori, Freya Pocklington, Hanae Utamura, Jonathan Munro, Nicholas Johnson, Phoebe Boswell, Ryan McClelland, Susannah Douglas, Timothy Hon Hung Lee, Ting-Tong Chang, William Martin
Venue: Sluice Art Fair, Oxo Tower, London