People In Need
2004
Residency at the charity shop People in Need, Cathcart Road, Glasgow.
The project was inspired by a desire to engage with the community where I lived.
It lasted for 3 months and had different stages:
The initial step was to approach the staff at the charity shop and establish a contact by offering to do some window displays. I also started a dialogue by showing them some artworks from contemporary artists who use objects and colours.
From then on I visited the shop daily and we established my position in the shop as an artist in residence. After a period spent drawing, researching, and talking to the staff and customers, I installed a small photography studio, in which I took pictures of every item in the shop over a period of 2 weeks. The main piece generated during the residency was a digital slide show of the images of the objects of the shop. Each image was displayed for a different duration and was organised by colour and pattern.
An event in the shop closed the residency during which the slideshow was projected. About 30 people (staff, regular customers, friends and passers-by) spent a few hours in the shop, buying things, drinking wine and discussing the project.
It was later reworked into a self contained format for showing in gallery environment.
