| Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Iain Forsyth / Jane Pollard |
| Born | February 13, 1973 / November 4, 1972 Bolton, England / Durham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Field | Video art |
| Training | Goldsmiths College |
| Movement | Contemporary Art |
| Works | File under Sacred Music, Silent Sound, Radio Mania |
| Awards | Nominated for Samsung Art+ Prize (2012), Great North Run Moving Image Commission (2008), New Contemporaries (1997) |
| Website | www.iainandjane.com |
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists who create re-enactments of cultural and art historical events. Forsyth was born in Manchester in 1973, Pollard in Newcastle in 1972.[1]
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Forsyth and Pollard met and began working collaboratively while studying Fine Art and Art Theory at Goldsmiths College, graduating together in 1995. They initially focussed on live performance events, but since 2003 their work has been predominantly film and video based. They returned to Goldsmiths in 2002, receiving an MA degree in Fine Art in 2004.[2]
They have restaged David Bowie's farewell performance as Ziggy Stardust,[3] a 1973 video work by Vito Acconci (working with rap artist Plan B) and a 1968 work by Bruce Nauman.[4] In 2003 the artists recreated the 1978 Cramps performance at the Napa Mental Institute at the ICA in a work entitled File under Sacred Music.[5] The work caused some controversy [6] by including an audience of patients undergoing psychiatric care. The musicians were assembled by Forsyth and Pollard for the project and included Alfonso Pinto from The Parkinsons as Lux Interior, Holly Golightly as Poison Ivy, former Headcoat Bruce Brand as Bryan Gregory and John Gibbs as longtime Cramps drummer Nick Knox.
Silent Sound, featuring an original score by J. Spaceman, was presented at the 2006 Liverpool Biennial.[7] The piece was originally presented as a live performance that took place in the Small Concert Hall at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. It was based, in part, on the public séance act performed by Victorian entertainers The Davenport Brothers.[8] During the performance the artists were seated on-stage inside a soundproof booth based on the Davenport's "Spirit Cabinet". Together they recited a single phrase into a microphone, which was fed into a machine they had created that claimed to embed the phrase as a subliminal message into the music, which was performed live by a small orchestra. The Davenport Brothers had performed their act on the same stage in 1865.[9] The performance was introduced by Ciarán O'Keeffe, a British parapsychologist who became famous after appearing as the resident skeptic on the paranormal television series Most Haunted. An installation of "Silent Sound" was then presented by A Foundation at Greenland Street, Liverpool. An ambisonic recording of the live performance was incorporated into a large-scale immersive installation, created in consultation with acousticians from Arup. The installation was recreated inside a shipping container in 2008 for Art Basel Miami Beach where it was described by the New York Times as "one of the fair's biggest word-of-mouth hits".[10] In 2010 Silent Sound was re-presented as part of the AV Festival at Middlesbrough Town Hall.
Begun while at college, their first project together was publishing "Words & Pictures" - an art magazine in a box.[11] Published three times per year from May 1994 until November 1997 each issue collected together objects made by 20 different artists into an A5 sized cardboard box, produced in a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 copies. A printed booklet was included that contained information on the contributors as well as a specially commissioned preface and introductory text. The first issue was launched at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, with a preface by Scottish singer/songwriter Momus and an introduction by artist and writer Liam Gillick. Artists contributing to the project included Martin Creed, Jeremy Deller, Matthew Higgs, Bob and Roberta Smith, Georgina Starr and David Shrigley. Writers for the project included Tracey Emin, Angus Fairhurst, Billy Childish, Jake Chapman, Billy Childish and Joshua Compston. Forsyth and Pollard ended the project after 10 issues, citing the influence of the British indie band Felt who released ten albums in ten years and then disbanded.[12]
In 2008 they directed the promo videos for the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds singles Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!,[13] "More News From Nowhere" and "Midnight Man". They have also worked with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on a series of films relating to each of the 14 studio albums produced by the band. Collectively titled "Do you love me like I love you" each film will feature on a DVD accompanying the album it relates to as part of the remastered Collector's Editions released by Mute Records throughout 2009.[14] Continuing their association with Nick Cave, the duo produced and sound-directed the audiobook for his novel The Death of Bunny Munro,[15] working with the acoustics department at Arup to produce a spatialized binaural mix which creates a 3D effect when played on headphones. It was published by Canongate Books in September 2009.
Occasionally directing music videos for other artists, they have also worked with The Veils, Fanfarlo, Tindersticks and Gil Scott-Heron.
In 2009 they were commissioned by the British Film Institute to produce a new work for the BFI Southbank Gallery called "Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work"[16] a multi-screen 3D video installation featuring Kevin Eldon, Caroline Catz, Terrence Hardiman and Fenella Fielding with Martians played by Ben Crompton, Iain Lee and Ben Moor.
Their first major survey show was presented by the South London Gallery in February-March 2011. [17]
In January 2012 they were nominated for the Samsung Art+ Prize. [18]
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are currently represented by Kate MacGarry (London).[19]
They have previously worked with Lawrence Eng Gallery (Vancouver) [20] and Galleria Paolo Bonzano (Rome).
Public collections include:
Solo Exhibitions