It is probably better to start from zero #1.2 Georgia Spickett-Jones News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO START FROM ZERO is a long-term curatorial and artistic project taking place in the Window Space, at The Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design.

IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO START FROM ZERO is a long-term curatorial and artistic project taking place in the Window Space, at The Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University from December 2015 to July 2016.

IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO START FROM ZERO intends to highlight the unfixed position of both artistic and curatorial practices and to assume them as research-based activities, andpotential nexus for discussion, critique and production. Through working with artists whose body of work functions as an ongoing process, the project aims to stress the growth, complexity and diversification of collaborative practices. The unpredictable state of flux inherent in artistic practice will shape the curatorial activity as a constant ”state of becoming” as stated by the artist and curator Paul O’Neill. Inspired by the particular properties of the Window Space, the project will also look at the window as a frame of process, exploring the constraints and possibilities of displaying a body of work within these spatial and conceptual boundaries.

After marking its mid-point with #0.2 Workshop, IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO START FROM ZERO presents a second intervention by each of the four artists exhibited previously, over the next four months. By coming back into the Window Space, the artists present the progress of their ongoing research and practice, taking into account the effects of their relation with the curators, the other artists and the space itself. For her second manifestation, Georgia presents Form for Amber, a further reflection upon the concepts that underline her work. Exploring form in a material and bureaucratic sense, the artist interrogates the value of official procedures in establishing and maintaining authenticity. Through her work with amber she invites the viewer to question the nature of the objects on display and, in doing so, questions the very processes by which truth is manufactured and assigned.

The artist

Georgia Spickett-Jones (b. 1992, Bristol) uses multiple forms and reflexive methods to consider the limitations of an archival art practice. IS IT ARROGANT TO USE HIS HAT? (2015) is an ongoing project using personal artefacts, pseudo-science and curatorial hierarchies to uncover the author as both subject and object. She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art: Print and Time-based Media at Wimbledon College of Art (2013-2015).

The curators

Matilde Biagi (b. 1990, Florence) is a London-based curator. She graduated with a BA in Contemporary Arts studies at Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna and is currently a second year student studying the Curating the Contemporary MA at The Cass – Whitechapel Gallery. She works as Gallery Assistant at Transition Gallery and writes short reviews and articles for Garageland Magazine and CUCO – Cultura Commestibile. In 2015 she co-curated PROTECHT exhibition at Bank Space Gallery, bringing together national and international artists, exploring the relationship with the screen and the impact it has on our everyday life. In October 2015 she worked in the Exhibitors Department at Frieze Masters and, as part CommaCollective, she collaborated with FloatArt London in the curation and production of FloatArt2015 exhibition at Bargehouse.

Inês Costa (b. 1991, Almada) is a curator and photographer based in London. In 2012 she graduated with a BA in Multimedia Arts – Photography from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon and is currently enrolled on the MA Curating the Contemporary at the Whitechapel Gallery and The Cass. She has done freelance photography work for names such as Fact Magazine PT, Ponto Alternativo, Big Issue Foundation and Tangram Theatre Company and is currently working as a Gallery Assistant at GX Gallery in London. In 2015 she co-curated PROTECHT at Bank Space Gallery, London, FloatArt2015 at the Bargehouse, London and co-founded CommaCollective, a curating collective based in London, with a focus on contemporary art and an ambition to work with emerging artists.

Antonio Terzini (b. 1985, Naples) is a London-based independent curator and art historian. He graduated in Modern Literature and specialised in Art History. In 2012, he completed an MA in Conservation of Contemporary Art at Plart Museum in Naples and he is currently enrolled on the Curating the Contemporary MA at the Whitechapel Gallery and The Cass. He collaborated with the curatorial staff of the Plart Museum and with art institutions in the UK, such as Spike Island, Bristol Museum and Cell Project Space. He is co-founder of CommaCollective and is currently involved in curatorial projects between Italy and the UK. He recently co-curated the exhibition PROTECHT (March 2015) at Bank Space Gallery in London, featuring national and international artists.