About
Ikon presents the first UK solo exhibition by Dublinbased
artist Sarah Browne, a survey of film and
sculptural works, including the artist's entry for
the 2009 Venice Biennale. Using âthe economy' as
the basis for her artistic practice, Browne works
with small communities of people, documenting
resourceful forms of exchange such as gifting,
subsistence, poaching and subsidies, to reveal the
hidden social relations that exist in small-scale
economic structures.
On 17 February 2012, in the midst of an unfolding
European currency crisis, the Central Bank of France
ceases to exchange French francs for euros, ending a
system that has continued since the introduction of
the euro and thus marking the demise of the franc
altogether. Browne's film Second Burial at Le Blanc
(2011) follows a procession through Le Blanc, a small
French town where local merchants have continued
to accept francs for goods and services. At the centre
of this procession is Browne's bespoke âticker-tape
countdown clock', a glass-domed mechanism
counting down the hours, minutes and seconds of
the franc's existence. Accompanying the film are
two newspapers, distributed at Ikon and in Le Blanc,
visual essays that weave together historical and
anthropological information related to the work.
Several of Browne's works explore redundant
technologies and leftover industries. Her Carpet
for the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2009) is
made from surplus wool stocks from the Donegal
Carpets factory. Once renowned for its handknotted
carpets adorning Irish embassies around
the globe, Donegal now produces carpets by
machine or outsourced labour. The artist's carpet
was hand-knotted by two of the factory's previous
female employees and the design, reminiscent of
Irish modernist Eileen Gray, was dictated by the
proportions of surplus wool remaining at the old
factory, now converted into a âheritage centre'.
A Model Society (2007) stems from research
undertaken prior to the recent financial crisis in
which Iceland was declared the happiest nation
on earth. Browne advertised for knitwear models
in Reykjavik newspapers and then surveyed
respondents about the quality of life in Iceland.
The models are presented within iconic Icelandic
landscapes, wearing traditional lopi sweaters in
which selected phrases from their comments, such
as âno war' and ârotten politics', have been knitted.
In works like these, the artist taps into the personal,
emotional underpinnings of both national identity
and macroeconomic forces.
Browne's exhibition runs parallel with the
development of a new project, Scarcity Radio, in
collaboration with the Ikon Youth Programme
(IYP) and Slow Boat. Browne is working closely with
members of IYP on film-screenings, discussions and
workshops that investigate our understanding of
scarcity in the current economic context, focusing
particularly on the role of radio communication
during moments of social crisis.
A full colour publication accompanies the exhibition,
priced £20, special exhibition price £18. It includes
essays by Tessa Giblin, Curator of Visual Arts, Project
Arts Centre, and artist Jeremy Millar, plus texts
by graphic designer Chris Lee and anthropologist
Marshal Sahlins.
Visit Ikon's online shop at www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/
shop for the full range of Ikon's catalogues and
limited editions.
