CO(pe)VID 19
27 April 2020
Jenny Cashmore, Rory Duckhouse, Amy Edwards, Thomas Goddard, James Green, Dai Howell, Jason & Becky, Lydia Meehan, AJ Stockwell and Ian Watson.
Without art spaces to congregate in, 2m squared is an online space that acts similar to a gallery space. With the current social distancing measures in place, the online space has become the refuge for most, connecting with friends, endlessly scrolling through social feeds and checking news feeds. 2m squared is an abstracted space where creative communities can interact and discuss ideas similar to before the measures were in place.
The work is shown in an abstracted space that mimics a gallery but doesn’t necessarily follow the conventions of a physical space. The space is collaged together, referencing the way the Internet is put together, an amalgamation of information, connected but disconnected at the same time.
The works in the exhibition have all been made during the period of isolation, as a coping mechanism to the social distancing measures but in place by the government. Not all work is a direct response to the current situation, but work created in a moment where the artists have the time to reflect on their practice.
Thomas Goddard has created exhibitions of his work and added his artworks into the homes of collectors. The work hints at a sense of normality in these strange times. Alongside these are works made up of icons and backgrounds from GUIs drawn from early home computing. Created within the context of the coronavirus pandemic, these works, of interiors and landscapes, are overlaid by a sense of isolation and potential endings.
Pylon and Spires is a video work by Ian Watson that he has been reworking to reflect these strange times. The work reflects on states of contemporary life on earth via simultaneously particular and roundabout themes and observations delivered from characters living in the folds between the factual and the perceived.
A form of exercise everyday has become important in these strange times, as a way to keep fit, or merely sane. Jenny Cashmore has been taking a household object with her on a walk everyday, objects often confined to home are given a tour of her local area, a glimpse into a new world.
The work of AJ Stockwell lies behind a spinning rock. AJ Stockwell’s work considers the slippage of matter through time and our bodily connection to this through acts of observation and making. Her current work focuses on the relationship between human and geologic bodies and our entanglement with this more-than-human world. The work presented attempts to find connection through distraction.
Dai Howell, Lydia Meehan and James Green have all been engaging in creative acts to pass the time during isolation. Dai Howell lives and works in the Welsh valley town of Abercynon that has provided the inspiration for these watercolour sketches. Howell paints and posts one on various social media platforms every day. Painting is not strictly his art practice but a way to relax.
James Green makes a collage every day as a form of visual diary. Presented here are a selection he has made during lockdown reflecting acts and preoccupations of the period of isolation.
Rory Duckhouse has been making a series of collages reflecting on the current conditions, snippets of news sources are presented with memories of pre-lockdown times in an attempt to make sense of the pandemic. These disparate ideas are collaged together to create associations that are personal to each viewer.
Lydia Meehan has been taking a series of Polaroid images during her time outdoors, the hints at natural views resemble some form of normality in these times spend mostly in lockdown.
A series of pop cultural references appear in the work of Amy Edwards, images from social media advertisements and idealised ways of being in isolation are contrasted with the reality.
Down a corridor, situated in a darkened space, Jason&Becky present The remedy, it will agree, with how we feel . The work is a video response to a Tweet from Robert Klemko on the 13th April 2020; 4 weeks after schools in the United States were either ordered or recommended to be closed in an attempt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Klemko claimed that March 2020 was the first March in 18 years without a school shooting in North America. Paradoxically, March was also reported as the second-busiest month for gun sales in American history, with the highest level of background checks conducted since the FBI began recording the data in 1998.
Using research on crime statistics, location data, Google Maps, 3D-printing plans and re-purposed video, the work considers the potential of what might be produced at home, and reflects on the notion of productivity in such strange and uncertain times.
Alongside the curated exhibition is an archive of artists work made in isolation. An open call was put out asking for work artists have made during isolation, the responses are featured here.
Thank you to all the artists that have participated in this project.
2m² artspace is an ongoing project curated by Rory Duckhouse and Amy Edwards.