Charlie Murphy: The Anatomy of Desire

About

THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE brings together over ten years work and research into a variety of expressions of desire. Since 1999, Murphy has been asking participants to donate casts of kisses and other intimate spaces to her project and has collected them from all over the world through her trademark 'kiss-in' events and open invitations. Asking couples, friends, and strangers to hold their pose for 90 seconds, she subsequently transforms their casts into glass sculptures through elaborate mould making processes.

Detailed impressions, taken using a fine dental casting material, are transformed through a series of positive and negative mould making processes into a wide range of forms that examine the intricate dynamics of each moment through the magnifying qualities of the glass.

Murphy has collected over 100 kiss casts through a touring live art event- the 'kiss-in' and this amazing collection to present an extraordinary survey of the kiss ' from the inside.

Capturing the revealing and tender encounters of participating couples, strangers and groups of friends as they hold their kiss for a minute and half ' an exciting new video will also present a mesmerising insight into the act and dynamics of the kiss - from the outside.

Animating the video material through percussive, electronic and choral instrumentation, composer Jorge Queijo will create a rich musical score that will conceptualise the sound of kissing and present an live performance at the exhibition event. The exhibition is complemented by a publication with three incisive texts by Luce Irigaray, Alistair Gentry, and Leonore Tiefer.

The Anatomy of Desire is supported by Grants for Arts, Arts Council England award and ArtSway Artist Associates programme, funded by The Leverhulme Trust. A text+work exhibition and publication.