The Unknown Craftsman
Shown as part of Friday Late at the British Museum, November 2011
Devised by Cootartazomp
In November 2011 Sophie worked with Deirdre Lennon, Malarchy Orozco, Ellie Stamp, Annabelle Stapleton-Crittenden and Adam James as Cootartazomp.
They devised and showed the promenade piece The Unknown Craftsman as a response to Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Tomb of The Unknown Craftsman at The British Museum at autumn/winter 2011. The piece was shown as part of The British Museum's first Late Night opening.
The six performers pushed a polystyrene plinth on wheels around the museum's main hall, basement and foyer as a searching machine, cleaning everything on it’s way. On chosen areas they stopped and asked the audience for belongings they wouldn’t keep: a piece of paper, a used ticket, a piece of fnuff on their jacket. Then the spectators were asked to place the object on the plinth, which was congratulated. Slowly a new piece of art grew, made by foundings on the floor and what the audience had in their pockets. Every now and then one of the performers would gather people around to talk about the new piece and it’s origins which would be based on a mix between what objects were actually there, associations to the objects as well as fragments of people’s conversations about the spectacle.
The piece was made as a reflection on the role and process of archiving and the value we place on objects in museums as well as the role of museum institution as a place which holds a questionable truth.
They devised and showed the promenade piece The Unknown Craftsman as a response to Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Tomb of The Unknown Craftsman at The British Museum at autumn/winter 2011. The piece was shown as part of The British Museum's first Late Night opening.
The six performers pushed a polystyrene plinth on wheels around the museum's main hall, basement and foyer as a searching machine, cleaning everything on it’s way. On chosen areas they stopped and asked the audience for belongings they wouldn’t keep: a piece of paper, a used ticket, a piece of fnuff on their jacket. Then the spectators were asked to place the object on the plinth, which was congratulated. Slowly a new piece of art grew, made by foundings on the floor and what the audience had in their pockets. Every now and then one of the performers would gather people around to talk about the new piece and it’s origins which would be based on a mix between what objects were actually there, associations to the objects as well as fragments of people’s conversations about the spectacle.
The piece was made as a reflection on the role and process of archiving and the value we place on objects in museums as well as the role of museum institution as a place which holds a questionable truth.
