RCA Society

One Day, Two Delays - Kathryn Best • Peter Suchin

A dialogue between two artist practitioners.

How does an audience respond to series of visual works presented by two artists?

When the intention is to elicit a response in the form of visual dialogue which will be presented as an exhibition how do the two artists then respond to works each other has presented and how will this be received by the outsider audience?

'One Day, Two Delays' posed this question. Kathryn Best, an architect and writer presented a series of black and white photographs which 'referenced' historical artefacts and landscapes located in Egypt, Peter Suchin, a painter and art critic, presented a series of abstract painted reliefs. Kathryn's photographs were accompanied by printed pages of text written by Peter. His text were not descriptions of the visual works nor made particular reference to them. Rather each text was a fragment of a story which was enacted in front of a back drop of exotic imagery. Kathryn's text accompanying Peter's abstract works were equally abstracted but responsive. The process of this dialogue took place over a number of months and is ongoing. Neither artist had seen the visual totality of their discourse until the works were displayed. 

Through the process each artist discovered triggers to a personal narrative - though it could be argued that both purposefully ignored the literal meanings of each others work and played on accidental references to enhance each others contribution to the dialogue and enabled a sub-conscious connectivity which destabilised each others intentions. This playful discourse between the artists was reflected in a disregard for the visuality of the written word. The sharply printed black and white framed photographs partnered workmanlike printed text on A4 paper tenuously fastened to the wall whilst the abstract painted reliefs were accompanied by detached A3 pages carrying a single comment. The conversation between the artists was confounding for the audience who became bystanders to expressions of obscure and historic references. But is this any different to the way we look at anything?  Our understanding of everything is informed by our experiences - direct or indirect - and mostly unknown to others. On this occasion the artists purposefully made reference to historical discourses which dwell on ways of seeing - each wishing to acknowledge the rich cultural history of visual and written language, and then in the same breath, as creative practitioners, ignoring it. 

See the following link to read Kathryn Best + Peter Suchin's statement which accompanied the event One Day, Two Delays by Kathryn Best and Peter Suchin. which took place at AND 'eventSpace1' (6 October 2016).

6th October 2016

Thursday 1pm - 9pm
Closing event 6pm - 9pm

AND eventSpace1, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art Society, are pleased to present One Day, Two Delays by Kathryn Best and Peter Suchin. This exhibition is part of the “One Day...” series of projects where artists are invited to use the gallery space for 24 hours.

Venue: eventSpace1

AND Association

10 Back Church Lane
London E1 1LX
t: 020 7481 9053
e: info@and.org.uk
w: www.and.org.uk