Abstract
A Leap into the Dark (2020) | 300-word commentary
A Leap into the Dark (2020) is both (a) standalone film-work online, and (b) a multi-media installation by artist duo Walker and Bromwich,
exhibited presented by Queens Park Railway Club, an independent artist run gallery space in Glasgow (7 March – 20 Sept 2020).
A Leap into the Dark extends Walker & Bromwich’s interest in combining sculpture, performance and socially engaged art practice.
A highly personal work that deploys practice-led methodologies developed over an extended practice within a new framing, the project
explored how art has agency to shape ideas, be meaningful and release potential within peoples’ lives using speech, fairy-tales and nursery rhymes.
Focussing on, and working with Walker’s 88-year-old mother Libby Walker, who suffers from dementia, the research took a personal approach to
participation. This required carefully navigating the ethical and personal challenges of balancing the benefits and risks of working with a loved and
vulnerable parent within socially engaged participatory practice, filmmaking and portraiture.
The work consisted of two elements: (a) video in which Libby Walker performs the seemingly simple act of remembering and reciting the
childhood nursery rhyme ‘I know and old lady who swallowed a spider’ and (b) gallery installation, film-work and inflatable sculpture. The two
elements act in opposition to one another, creating a potent and emotionally charged, liminal space.
Alongside its central themes of memory and ageing, expressed both through the remembering of the verse and as the camera traverses the arc of
life suggested by the objects within the physical installation.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic the work was launched twice: physically on the 7 March for one night only, then 22 Aug to 20 Sept, Secondly the digital
video launched online from 1 may. It was notable that the timing, intimacy and reach of the online release prompted a strong audience response.
At a time when humanity was forced to slow down and reflect on planetary and personal mortality; the research seemed to resonate with audiences’
thoughts on the strange and magical fragility of life.
A Leap into the Dark (2020) is both (a) standalone film-work online, and (b) a multi-media installation by artist duo Walker and Bromwich,
exhibited presented by Queens Park Railway Club, an independent artist run gallery space in Glasgow (7 March – 20 Sept 2020).
A Leap into the Dark extends Walker & Bromwich’s interest in combining sculpture, performance and socially engaged art practice.
A highly personal work that deploys practice-led methodologies developed over an extended practice within a new framing, the project
explored how art has agency to shape ideas, be meaningful and release potential within peoples’ lives using speech, fairy-tales and nursery rhymes.
Focussing on, and working with Walker’s 88-year-old mother Libby Walker, who suffers from dementia, the research took a personal approach to
participation. This required carefully navigating the ethical and personal challenges of balancing the benefits and risks of working with a loved and
vulnerable parent within socially engaged participatory practice, filmmaking and portraiture.
The work consisted of two elements: (a) video in which Libby Walker performs the seemingly simple act of remembering and reciting the
childhood nursery rhyme ‘I know and old lady who swallowed a spider’ and (b) gallery installation, film-work and inflatable sculpture. The two
elements act in opposition to one another, creating a potent and emotionally charged, liminal space.
Alongside its central themes of memory and ageing, expressed both through the remembering of the verse and as the camera traverses the arc of
life suggested by the objects within the physical installation.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic the work was launched twice: physically on the 7 March for one night only, then 22 Aug to 20 Sept, Secondly the digital
video launched online from 1 may. It was notable that the timing, intimacy and reach of the online release prompted a strong audience response.
At a time when humanity was forced to slow down and reflect on planetary and personal mortality; the research seemed to resonate with audiences’
thoughts on the strange and magical fragility of life.
Original language | English |
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Place of Publication | Glagow |
Publisher | Queens Park Railway Club |
Publication status | Published - 7 Mar 2020 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Video care-pathway
- sculpture
- Installation
- Multi media
- exhibition