LIMITACTION Chapter 4: Space News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

Fourth part of LIMITACTION, a six-month programme developed as an artistic and curatorial residency with Charlotte Warne Thomas.

Space, the final chapter of LIMITACTION, investigates the contemporary purpose of artwork and space. The artwork’s relationship to the idea of space, and how this exchange contextualises art, is now not such an obvious thing with the increasing use of unconventional spaces. Following this conundrum, Charlotte Warne Thomas aims now to address the art-object’s contemporary purpose, by focusing on modes of display. Thus the Space chapter of LIMITACTION will become a dialogue between the artistic process and how the artists’ intervention activates a space, investigating the very nature of an exhibition space as a site of art production. This performative gesture will call into question the contemporary climate and social expectation of the myth of the artwork in a consumer-oriented world.

Space is curated by Alejandro Ball. The display will be on until 18 of June 2015.

Notes for Editors:

Charlotte Warne Thomas (London, UK) graduated with an MFA from Goldsmiths in 2009 and has since exhibited in the UK and internationally (India, Russia, Belgium). Her work investigates the myths of will power and individual choice as products of neoliberal ideology and consumerism. It incorporates imagery used in such fields as advertising, architecture, domesticity and bureaucracy, in order to highlight the power structures that are intrinsic in the fabric of everyday life. She explores institutions ranging from town planning to interior and furniture design, which implicitly manifest their authority through our surroundings, manipulating the behaviour, mood and atmosphere of individuals and societies. Central to her practice is Peer Sessions, an educational research platform providing CPD and collaborative opportunities for practicing artists.

LIMITACTION is a collaborative art project to develop a series of exhibitions as part of a curatorial and artistic residency, taking place in the Window Space from January to July 2015. Its conception comes as a response to the specific limitations of the space and in recognition of both its strengths and weaknesses, such as a high level of visibility, or its unusual dimensions and complete lack of public access. LIMITACTION is curated by Margarida Brôco Amorim, Alejandro Ball, Miriam La Rosa and Stefania Sorrentino; MA students of Curating the Contemporary: a course taught in collaboration between London Metropolitan University and the Whitechapel Gallery.

Window Space is a street-facing window gallery, which is visible 24 hours a day yet not accessible to the public. It is located on 59-63 Whitechapel High Street (E1 7PF, London) as part of The Cass building – home of the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design of London Metropolitan University. Nearest tube station: Aldgate East.