Abstract
Headspace App was an exhibition of seventeen works by Farquhar at Cabinet Gallery, London, from 1 September – 10 November 2018.
It consisted of a collection of mixed media works, adapted found objects and a video work inspired by Farquhar’s daily life in Edinburgh that took as their starting point -
the commute on public transport, the use of meditation apps,
the municipal sauna, childcare, shopping and visits to the gym.
Farquhar employs various painterly, sculptural and moving-image processes together with conceptual strategies in his research into the artistic potential of the modification of readymade objects. The works explore the impact on human experience of contemporary capitalist and consumerist culture and ways in which forms of adaption and resistance are manifest. They combine this conceptual critique with investigation through making into the aesthetic and technical conditions of image making in the digital age, tensions between the aesthetic and the functional in installation, and the ongoing conceptual function of the practice of appropriation. Following the exhibition at Cabinet, one of the works was selected for the 25th anniversary of the art fair Artissima at the Oval, Turin, Italy (1 – 4 November 2018). The fair attracted 50,000 visitors. The international fashion house, Symonds Pearmain, subsequently used Farquhar’s installation for their Spring/Summer 2019 collection. In place of hosting a runway show, they filmed their 2019 collection against the backdrop of Farquhar’s Cabinet exhibition.
It consisted of a collection of mixed media works, adapted found objects and a video work inspired by Farquhar’s daily life in Edinburgh that took as their starting point -
the commute on public transport, the use of meditation apps,
the municipal sauna, childcare, shopping and visits to the gym.
Farquhar employs various painterly, sculptural and moving-image processes together with conceptual strategies in his research into the artistic potential of the modification of readymade objects. The works explore the impact on human experience of contemporary capitalist and consumerist culture and ways in which forms of adaption and resistance are manifest. They combine this conceptual critique with investigation through making into the aesthetic and technical conditions of image making in the digital age, tensions between the aesthetic and the functional in installation, and the ongoing conceptual function of the practice of appropriation. Following the exhibition at Cabinet, one of the works was selected for the 25th anniversary of the art fair Artissima at the Oval, Turin, Italy (1 – 4 November 2018). The fair attracted 50,000 visitors. The international fashion house, Symonds Pearmain, subsequently used Farquhar’s installation for their Spring/Summer 2019 collection. In place of hosting a runway show, they filmed their 2019 collection against the backdrop of Farquhar’s Cabinet exhibition.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Cabinet Gallery, London |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2018 |
