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| Alban Low - Cambridge Cupid |
The Cambridge Cupid is already scouring the small ads for inspiration this week in preparation for a new project. Some of my most mischievous themes are being revisited for the cutting edge
Art:Language:Location exhibition in Cambridge next month.
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| Smartwalks Cambridge - 2012 |
In 2012 the rambling art collective, SMartwalks, thrust the ephemeral world of twitter out onto the streets of Cambridge for the inaugural ALL exhibition or
Text and Context as it was known then. Dotting 32 magnet tweets onto lampposts, railing and unsuspecting road signs we used content from local people with something to say. Not always coherent but always striving to create text in context we had a fantastic day. Plenty of banter too on twitter and a few intrepid people who walked the streets and picked up our magnets.
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| Lonely Hearts |
Well I'm back, unfortunately less of collective as @profhza is exhibiting himself in Texas and @bsfdarren is researching new territory for us in Australia. So I've gone back to my roots.
In 2010 I exhibited 10 magnetic vignettes inspired by real 'lonely hearts' ads at the Open Fridge exhibition at Gallery 89 in Barnet. Even though they proved a quirky success I wanted to explore the genre more and several questions came to the fore. If we are tantalised by 'The One' in our search for love then why do we write generalised statements, we should be more specific. Look for that girl with the limp, blues eyes, likes theatre, fried chicken and keeps pygmy goats, instead of casting the net wider. Be an angler not a trawler!
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@albnart & @profhza -
Text & Context 2012 |
The other obvious realisation was that the good old GSOH or Good Sense Of Humour is essential. Over 50% of dating statements cite GSOH as either an attribute possessed by themselves or one they search for in a mate. So why are so many of these personal description not funny.
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| Love O.N.O card |
Honesty rates highly in dating wordplay and this is where I fall woefully short. I will be exhibiting 10 Love O.N.O cards in newsagents windows throughout the city centre of Cambridge but all will have been doctored by myself. Although all are inspired by real Cambridge singletons, small changes will be made, a word altered, or the titles invented.
All 10 cards will be exhibited at an Oxfam shop in Cambridge throughout the city wide exhibition from October 17th to November 3rd 2013. The most interesting aspect though will be the 10 cards that find their way into real newsagents' windows throughout the city (October 26th to November 2nd), complete with contact details. Will anyone get in touch?
Check out all the Art:Language:Location info at
www.artlanguagelocation.wordpress.com
AL
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