In The Way of Being
7 - 12 December 2012
The former practice and home of Dr John Slome
146 WALM LANE, NW2 4RU
Artists: Alice Gomme, Louis-Jack, Harry Mitchell, Hugh Nicholson Claire Poulter,
WR Saunders, Sebastien Sebastien, Gabriella Sonabend, Sam Kilcoyne
’The Bruce Lacey Experience’ film screening and Q&A with Jeremy Deller
’The House as a Set’ a talk with Jeremy Herbert and Gabriella Sonabend
Following the death of her deeply secretive and eccentric grandfather Dr John Slome, artist/curator Gabriella Sonabend did not just want to pack up his life and go through the impersonal funerary process so many experience in England (a country which has sterilised death and made it feel a distant and fearful phenomena, rather than the crucial other side of life). Instead she invited 8 artists to join her in turning his house into a temporary monument, inviting each artist to excavate his most intimate possessions, to read through letters and documents, to expose secrets, to intimately engage with a man they never knew.
Each artist was allocated a different room in the house and was allowed to use anything they found, the only stipulation of the exhibition was that nothing could be brought into the house, only materials found inside could be used. Together they unbound an unfamiliar life and by the end of the process each found a deeply intimate and sincere way of responding to the house and its former occupant. Installations utilised the tools and scraps of materials found in his workshop, medical implements from his former surgery, an old tape recorder from the secretary’s office, near empty pots of paint found in a storage cupboard, a slide presentation explaining the causes and symptoms of varies diseases and one showing the changing borders of Israel over thousands of years. In the house the artists found humour and pathos, obsession and fear and created a tribute to someone who considered themselves insignificant but contributed so much to his community.
This video is a walk through of the exhibition, sharing stories of the former doctor and ideas behind the installations.
