Saturday 12 – Sunday 27 March 2016
Public preview: Friday 11 March 2016, 18.00 – 20.00
Opening times: Saturday & Sunday 12.00 – 18.00, all other times open by appointment Admission: Free
Playing by the Rules
Artists: Carly Bainbridge, Simeon Barclay, Ane Hjort Guttu, Andy Holden, Peter Sweetman
Playing by the Rules looks at the role that rules play in society, from those, both written and unwritten, that govern our everyday behaviour.
The exhibition also examines the conceptual nature of rules themselves, and how we use them to try to understand and control the world around us. Authority figures and institutions use them to codify and control individuals’ behaviour, often with arbitrary and ineffectual results, however, having rules in place also provides a framework within which to operate, as opposed to a blank slate, and sets up boundaries to be tested and broken.
Rules are also a defining feature of games, with sports such as football existing in their contemporary format due to the implementation of rules, showing that the provision of a defined structure can be useful or even fun, as well as limiting and restrictive.
Carly Bainbridge, Simeon Barclay and Peter Sweetman all exhibit newly commissioned works, while Ane Hjort Guttu shows her film Freedom Requires Free People, and Andy Holden exhibits Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape.
The exhibition is curated by Tom Emery.
Carly Bainbridge will reactivate discarded fragments from another artist’s work, originally exhibited as part of An Arbitrary Exhibition at TOAST, in January 2015. Bainbridge will research new possibilities of dialogue with these objects, entering into a discourse exploring the value and ownership of ideas vs the value and ownership of material.
Simeon Barclay produces a synthesis of sculpture, painting and installation, using the resulting objects as a means to reinterpret the perplexity of his own personal memory. He is drawn to the diverse ways in which we inhabit subjectivity as a mechanism for coming to terms with and masking the psychological implications that form our perception of self within society.
Ane Hjort Guttu’s Freedom Requires Free People presents an 8-year-old boy at a primary school in Oslo. The film follows him through interviews and during school hours, and looks at the conflict between his strong desire for freedom and participation and the framework put forward by the school.
Andy Holden’s Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape makes an attempt to define the laws of physics as they appear in the cartoon universes of Wile E Coyote, Bugs Bunny, and more. For example, Law I informs the viewer that “Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.”
Peter Sweetman will produce new architectural, sculptural and sonic forms that arise from the hyper-reduced language of the CAPTCHA (a form that protects websites from bots by generating tests that only human beings can solve). In doing so, he will operate only under the automated and randomly generated sequences that CAPTCHAs produce.
The Royal Standard, Vauxhall Business Centre, 131 Vauxhall Road, Liverpool, L3 6BN
Web: www.the-royal-standard.com
Social Media: Twitter @Royal_Standard, Facebook /TRSgallery
Email: tomemerycurating@gmail.com, info@the-royal-standard.com
Opening times: Saturday & Sunday 12.00 – 18.00, all other times open by appointment Admission: Free
Events, hosted by the Bluecoat
Saturday 23 April 2016, 19.30
tickets FREE
Andy Holden, Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landskype Live-streamed from Glasgow International, Andy Holden will deliver the live, expanded version of his work Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape.
More about the Artists
Carly Bainbridge graduated from BA Interactive Arts at Manchester School of Art in 2015, winning the Alumni Prize, awarded by Ryan Gander, for her degree show work. She is also a member of the artist collective TOAST.
Simeon Barclay has recently been selected for the inaugural Liverpool Biennial Associate Artists Programme, which will include exhibiting at the Liverpool Biennial 2016. He has previously exhibited at the Tetley, Leeds; Meyohas, New York City; and the Grundy, Blackpool.
Ane Hjort Guttu’s first UK solo exhibition took place at South London Gallery in 2015, she has previously exhibited widely throughout Europe, including Bergen International Festival; Witte de With, Rotterdam; and the Vienna Biennial.
Andy Holden has exhibited and performed widely throughout the UK and internationally, including Spike Island, Bristol; Performa 13, New York City; and Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge.
Peter Sweetman studied at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. He has previously exhibited at TOAST, Manchester, and is based at Rogue Studios, Manchester.
The Royal Standard is an artist-led gallery, studios and social workspace in Liverpool, housing over 40 artists. In addition to their regular programme of exhibitions, The Royal Standard hosts Cactus Gallery and is a regular venue for the Liverpool Biennial.
