Four new moving-image works by early-career artists Lucy Clout, Kate Cooper, Anne Haaning and Marianna Simnett in response to the curatorial theme “What Will They See of Me?”.
Lucy Clout’s work for this exhibition investigates the background noise of modern communication, and those examples of so-called ‘minor speech’ that are everywhere around us but do not always capture our attention.
Kate Cooper ‘s work for this exhibition investigates how our everyday performance is produced online and how in turn this might relate to ideas of gender. The work explores the potential for self-invention that our relationships to our own images produce, and the complex ways in which images of the self are used to accrue a new kind of ‘capital’.
Anne Haaning’s work for this exhibition considers the marks we inadvertently leave in digital space and the records that we choose to make to document personal journeys. Alluding to the shifting sands of the desert, and the backdrop of a mythological historical past, the work experiments with the idea of digital ghosts, whose identity and meaning is forever changing, and who will eventually outnumber and outlive us.
Marianna Simnett’s work for this exhibition uses the image of an udder as a symbol of innocence and abundance. All is not quite what it seems, however, as the piece develops into a wider reflection on our desire for pristine, virginal images of nature and our knowledge that these images, like milk itself, are not always inherently ‘natural’ but often the product of a complex system of technological manufacture.
The four artists were selected from a list of over 150 submissions in response to open call to UK artists within the first five years of establishing their practice. Each artist received a bursary of £4,000 and production support from FVU, in order to develop pre-production proposals for new works.
Selectors: artist Ed Atkins, previously selected for the first edition of the Awards; Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella; Shonagh Manson, Director of Jerwood Charitable Foundation; Francis McKee, Director of CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow; Sarah Williams, Jerwood Visual Arts Gallery Manager; and Catherine Wood, Curator of Contemporary Art & Performance at Tate Modern.
The Jerwood/FVU Awards are a major annual opportunity for moving-image artists run in partnership by Jerwood Charitable Foundation and FVU. They were established in 2012 in response to a need for significant major commissions for early-career moving-image artists at an unproven stage in their practice, and contribute to an ongoing dialogue around urgent or timely concerns within moving image through the curatorial theme, which changes each year. Alumni include Ed Atkins, Corin Sworn, Emma Hart and Marianna Simnett.
