Rehearsals

Knowing early on that it would be the six of us – with our shared want for a type of exhibition, even when it was hard to pin down – this was the line to be followed from the beginning and became a point to return to when looking for the shape of the thing.

This was not a simple task, but already there were feelings we held in common: notions of romance were quick to enter our conversations. We spoke of creating a show where our work could whisper sweetly. In this there are concerns for distance; distances to whisper across: utterances in colour and exchanges in pattern. Concentric circles nodding to each other; painterly gestures exchanging glances. Romance as connection, but also as a set of aesthetics: flowers, gift boxes, delicate paper, the act of painting, thoughts of adolescence. In this we admit to a wilful sentimentality.

We soon realised, however, that this could not be a simple ‘sweet nothing’: there were things we wanted to say; ways we wanted to act. What mode could hold our comradery and desire for earnest work? The rehearsal was suggested. The rehearsal facilitates, if not insists upon, a provisional manner of working. In the attempt to mark out the shape of something, we can discover much in convenience and substitution: in the theatre rehearsal, a broom becomes a sword; a curtain can comfortably perform as a palace wall. Similarly, we understand the rehearsal as preparatory action before an event. Here, however, the concerns of repetition in the name of practice, as well as material investigations, are presented as the event itself.

In rehearsal, thoughts of an audience are always in the back of the mind. In his book, ‘The Empty Space’, Peter Brook implores us to take our audience seriously: what will they rejoice in? what will they be bored or frustrated by? What we offer is not to be understood, in the way that no one insists you understand birthdays or costumes or botanical illustrations, but merely looked at with an intrigue that may grow into affection or indifference: the rehearsal is not the performance, but a different show to be seen.

Works by Jarad Jackson, Aparna Mitra, Eliza Owen, Loveday Pride, Elliot Roberts & Angus Wood.

Exhibition supported by Pusher Gallery.