Shelved

Between the Acts

Throughout 2024, each artist in the Fold Collective was invited to make work in response to the idea of an ordinary domestic shelf (approx. 60x20cm) and write a short artist text to accompany it. Every month, a different shelf was discussed at the group crit.

The shelf I made was in the fashion of the theatre of the baroque, setting out a pastoral scene where the figure was used to maximise drama. Made from a piece of thin copper sheeting, the shelf is held up by two weathered iron supports. It nevertheless almost imperceptibly bows with the weight of the cornucopia upon its surface. A mise en scene of ‘wedded bliss’ and the spectacle of marriage. Mirrors, clouded glass, broken cherubs and figurine lovers adorn the surface, while chains and archaic objects weigh it down. The Marriage ceremony mirroring theatre. Both are performances with scripts, costumes, an audience and dialogues in which the leading characters must play new roles in the ‘production’.