Whitechapel Gallery 4th August 2016

Edge and Shore

Helen Carnac and Laïla Diallo

Whitechapel Gallery, London

Thursday 4 August 7pm to 9pm

‘“Play” is a vast, free-and-far-ranging term for what this interaction… conjured out of found objects, simple tasks, hands-on curiosity and a willingness, on each artist’s part, to embrace the unpredictable and build on it.’ Mary Brennan, The Herald

Visual artist Helen Carnac and dance artist Laïla Diallo present Edge and Shore, a work exploring the edges and boundaries of making and working, performance and installation. The work is a development of an extended research project where the artists have considered process and making, exploring where the borders of their two creative practices meet and permeate.

Previously shown as a larger durational work including film and installation elements, this two-hour iteration draws on its previous incarnations and reflects on the prevailing environment at the Whitechapel Gallery and the materiality of the Heilman and Sonnier artworks.

Feel free to move around the room, to find different viewpoints, to sit or stand and to come close. You are welcome to stay for the full duration of the work or to come and go.

Helen Carnac is a maker and curator who lives and works in London. Drawing, mark-making, the explicit connections between material, process and maker and an emphasis on deliberation and reflection are all central to her practice as a maker and thinker.

Laïla Diallo is a choreographer and performer who makes work for live performance. Upcoming projects include a commissioned work for Skanes Dance Theatre, Malmö, Sweden. Laïla also teaches and regularly works in the fields of theatre, opera and film as movement director. She lives in Bristol.

Edge and Shore was commissioned by Siobhan Davies Dance and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Developed with additional support from Battersea Arts Centre, Bristol City Council, Bristol Old Vic Ferment, Quay2C and Stroud Valleys Artspace.

With many thanks to Richard Sennett and the Penguin Group for kindly granting the artists permission to read from the author’s Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation.

With many thanks to Tim Ingold for kindly granting permission to read from Lines: A Brief History (2007, Routledge)

Images copyright Gorm Ashusrt 2016

Materials list

Paper clips, Craft Study Centre, Farnham, 2012, given by archivist.

Steel wires, found on Dungeness beach, 2014.

Wooden off-cuts from studio of furniture designer, London 2012 – ongoing.

Stripy blue and white string, bought Antwerp, Belgium, 2012.

Pink rubber string, bought Munich, 2009.

Iron-soaked twigs, collected Forest of Dean, Glos, 2014.

Folded paper, used at Arnolfini, Bristol, 2015.

Graphite paper bought online 2012 – ongoing.

Coloured paper, Ex GDR, found in a drawer Weissensee, Berlin, 2011.

Sticky white tape, bought Scrapstore, Bristol, 2014.

Steel rule ‘borrowed’ from co-student, Cass, Aldgate East, London, 1993.

Ceramic tile, found H Carnac Studio, 2016.

Scissors, sent from Alberqueque, USA, 2008.

Red suitcase, bought charity shop, Gloucester Road, Bristol, 2009.

Brown cardboard suitcase, family item, date unknown.

Rolls of tape, various provenances.

Fax rolls, various provenances.

Large paper roll: Fabriano Accademia 200g, bought Cowling and Wilcox, Camberwell, London, 2016.

Piano keys, given Farnborough, Kent, 2010.

Blue rope, bought B&Q, West Norwood, London, 2012.

Blue gloves, bought Robert Dyas, Farnham, Surrey, 2012.

Nitrile atlas fit gloves, bought Deer Isle, Maine, 2013.

Fluorescent orange nylon tape, bought Greenville, North Caroline, 2010.

Clay pipes, found River Thames, London, 1999 – ongoing.

Silver ticker tape, found Battersea Arts Centre, May, 2014.

Jewellery tags, bought Hatton Garden, London, 2007.

Orange pencils, bought Woolworths Closing down sale, Birmingham New Street, 2009.

Quarter-sawn sticks, given, furniture workshop, Woolwich, London, 2013.

Pebbles, collected Dungeness Beach, 2014.

Yarn and bobbin, given, Dovecot studios, Edinburgh 2015.

Photos, given, Arnolfini Bristol (1975), 2015.

Edge and Shore research images, 2012 – 15.

Grey nylon thread, bought Rye Harbour, 2012.

White dance floor tape, bought Staged Electrics, Bristol, 2008.

Stainless steel containers, bought Whitechapel, 2013.

Small scissors, bought Tokyo, 2005.

Lines: A brief History, Tim Ingold, Routledge, 2007.

Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation, Richard Sennett, 2012.