The last post on here was all about vermin and I concluded with writing about the irony of ‘rat’ being an anagram of ‘art’ – the rat ate my art!
I’ve just had confirmation through of the dates to take part in Coastal Currents, a contemporary arts festival in Hastings, East Sussex this coming September. It was a welcome piece of news following the whole sorry rat saga and there’s irony too, in the fact that the work that’s been selected happens to be my 10×10 Project.
Because 10 x10 was inspired by a rat! – true! A pack rat, in fact – a small North American mammal which has a habit of taking things but leaving something in its place.
10×10 was originally launched in 2008 for the Deptford X arts festival and was created in response to a call for art around the theme of trade and currency. I gave up 100 objects that all had some meaning for me, were precious to me in one way or another and invited the public to respond to them as part of the 10×10 exchange project. What is an object worth to you I asked? How much do you want it and what are you prepared to give in return?
More can be read about 10×10 on my website here:http://www.katemurdochartist.com/ten_by_ten.html
I’m really happy to be given the chance to resurrect 10×10; it’s turned out to be a fascinating project and taking it to Hastings will be the fifth time it’s been displayed for the public to interact with. When I first talked about the idea I had for the project, a friend’s response was that it would be a ‘comment on humanity.’ It’s certainly been that; humanity’s come out of it pretty well so far, too – very much as I thought it would – and I’m already intrigued to see how the people of Hastings will respond. Rather better than the common London sewer rat, I suspect who showed no hint of kindness or benevolence – taking away some of my art materials but leaving only droppings and urine in its place.
But onto more positive things … if you happen to be in the Hastings area on Saturday, September 22nd then do please come along and see and take part in 10×10 for yourself. You can visit the new Jerwood gallery at the same time, have fish & chips by the sea and celebrate some late summer sun.
