I am the warrior, Juneau Projects, Pump House Gallery

I am the warrior, Juneau Projects

Pump House Gallery

22nd October to 11th December 2011

By Paula Barriobero

I am the warrior takes its name from a Patti Smith’s song from the eighties. The fact that the title of the exhibition is a musical reference is not new in this duo of artists formed in 2001. Philip Duckworth and Ben Sadler, Juneau Projects components, have focused their artistic practice on the experimentation with forms and the relationship with music through the creation of participative and collaborative projects. Along the years, they have examined the relationship between music, sound installations and performances.

The artists met while they were working as technicians at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. It was this approximation to the work of art from the technical point of view which allows them to experiment with the technical possibilities. Having been the installing and uninstalling exhibition people at Ikon, they try to run off the clichés when dealing with exhibiting a work of art as wells as all the references to the white cube exhibition space. That’s the reason why Juneau Projects have designed I am the warrior alternating walls and shelves painted in green, purple and yellow.

The exhibition conceived by curator Jenny Walwin aims to create social network and to make people participate with the creation of their own works of art. The artists, during the process of making the exhibition, met with residents from the Doddington and Rollo Estate in the same area as Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park. Juneau Projects are not interested in the creation of works of arts in the side of commercial purchase. They are interested in the pure experimentation of expositive concepts and the pleasure of creation. That is the reason why this ongoing collaborative project consists on people bringing their art and craft to the exhibition. Submission may include every kind of creative activity as cookery, painting, photography, video or crafts. Every kind of work can be submitted with no restrictions.

One of the reasons this exhibition is different from others participatory projects is that it is an ongoing exhibition due to the fact any person can bring any work as long as the exhibition is still opened. Pump House Gallery commits to exhibit the work of art the moment one brings it. This particular fact makes that the exhibition is continually changing day after day with the increasing number of works of art as well as the changing of place of different works of art.

Besides, the audience is encouraged to visit the exhibition several times because that’s for sure they are going to see different exhibitions coming and going during the two months the exhibition is going to be opened. At the same time, the artists are raising money to publish “I am the warrior anthology”. This publication would be the result of the exhibition research and include all the exhibition works of art and the people who has contributed to make it possible. You can check them out at https://www.juneauprojects.co.uk/