On Trust

About

Campbell Works is pleased to present ON TRUST, a project curated by Claire Nichols in collaboration with Campbell Works directors, Neil Taylor and Harriet Murray. Five international artists have been commissioned by Nichols, Taylor and Murray to define an idea for a piece of work to exist within the gallery space, on the premise that authorship of these ideas be handed over to the commissioners who then create the work. The commissioned artists are: Robert Attanasio, Miriam Craik-Horan, Filipe Cravo, Levin Haegele and Laura Wilson. Of these ideas provided by the artists, some are very specific and others more open. The commissioners formed interpretations and responses to these ideas, examining the politics of their gained authorship in the creation of the work. ON TRUST blurs traditional boundaries between gallery, curator and artist. Modernist relics of ‘authorship’ and ‘the idea’ are reassessed within the context of the contemporary gallery space. The loss of artistic control inherent in this project serves to echo the way in which art is handed over to its audience when it is exhibited and how its perceived ‘success’ is dictated by public and critical opinion. ‘The artist has done their job by bringing an idea/image/object into existence…We must let go of the idea of control…How the work is used or abused will not affect its ability to, in one form or another, radiate and survive...’ - Robert Attanasio An open floor discussion with Richard Wentworth on Friday 18th May, 7.00 – 9.00pm will address these ideas, and an accompanying publication will be available with contributions from Michael Archer, Brian Catling, Henry Lydiate and Sophie Leris.