Prototypes (V/P): Robin Deacon presents a new live performance lecture which continues his obsession with railways and travel. By taking on the role of a researcher, undertaking a spoof civil engineering ‘project’, the artist attempts to rebuild, in model form, a stretch of railway line, as seen from a window in Southall, West London during the 1980’s. Speculating as to what lies outside of this field of vision, there is the suggestion of a ‘theoretical’ terminal station at the other end of the line, as imagined by a young railway enthusiast. But how are the two to be connected today? A visit is made to a model railway fair to seek expert advice. PROTOTYPES is concerned with the interconnection of architecture, memory, location, travel, the passage of time, and the process of ageing.
Stuart Sherman (V/T): This presentation is part of a burgeoning research project about the late American performance artist Stuart Sherman (1945 – 2001). A key figure in experimental performance practices in New York during the late 1970s, Sherman is an important and (in my opinion) an under exposed figure in the history of performance art. Described by one writer as ‘the Buster Keaton of linguistics’, Sherman is also an artist who has influenced me profoundly, with much of my own work referencing his unique approach and sensibility; in the case of my early performances, sometimes explicitly. Since 2006, I have been undertaking a series of research projects that aim to bring Sherman’s work to the wider audience that it deserves. This project originated from an Artists Residency at Camden Arts Centre in 2006, and a series of re-enacted performances of Sherman’s works presented at the Cardiff Art in Time Festival (University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, 2007) and the South London Gallery (2007). Currently, research is being undertaken to contribute towards the production of a documentary film on Sherman’s life and works.
Key: V - Video / P - Performance / T - Talk
Prototypes 2006 - 2008