Artist Noemi Lakmaier is calling for more support for disabled artists, and is using her latest exhibition to get the ball rolling. The Observer Effect is a live project at the Shape Arts pop-up space in the City of London. Over the course of four weeks, wheelchair-user Lakmaier will be hand painting 500 pairs of shoes, each donated by the general public, for up to 12 hours a day. Public visits are permitted and the whole thing is also being streamed live on the artist’s website, allowing viewers intimate access to Lakmaier’s working process.
On entering the space the size of the task at hand quickly becomes apparent. Hundreds of cardboard boxes are piled high, each awaiting their own set of shoes. They are on sale for £100 per pair, with 50% of the profits going directly to Shape Arts, a charity set up to help disabled people participate fully in the arts and culture sector. Lakmaier explains: “At this time of austerity, disability-led charities such as Shape Arts are facing more and more difficulties. They perform an important role and unfortunately sometimes this isn’t recognised. We need to do all we can to highlight the great work they do.”
Raising public awareness is one thing, but isn’t allowing people to watch you the entire time a little intrusive? “After a while you just get used to it,” says Lakmaier. “For me, it raises questions of power, control and insecurity, placing the viewer at the heart of the process.”
Placing the onus on the public is part of Lakmaier’s broader aims for the project – to effectively crowd-source funds to ensure Shape Arts can continue their work. “[Shape Arts] train cultural institutions to be more open to disabled people, running participatory arts and development programmes. Crucially, they also develop opportunities for young disabled artists. They certainly played an important part in my own artistic development.”
In 2008 Lakmaier received Shape’s £5000 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary. She was also given a three-month residency at Camden Arts Centre. Since the residency, Lakmaier has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, including shows at the LAB, Dublin and London’s Brunel Museum. She was also the recipient of the 2010-11 DASH Inside-Out Commission at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
“Shape helped open doors and offered support, which is something all artists need,” she says. “It was a fantastic experience which led to further opportunities elsewhere.”
Most recently, Lakmaier was involved in the Cultural Olympiad, becoming a ‘human baton’ for the live art event M21. Organisers DASH (Disability Arts in Shropshire) are also working to raise the profile and credibility of disability arts – both in the short and long term.
Whilst Lakmaier is pleased with the success of the Paralympics, she is keen for the momentum to be maintained. “We need to continue to raise awareness and educate people more effectively. There is a danger that we enjoy the Paralympics for what they were and then simply move on.”
Lakmaier’s immediate objective is simple – to sell every single shoe she paints during The Observer Effect. “I want to sell all 500 pieces of artwork,” she says. “That would raise over £25,000 for Shape to help further the work of disabled artists. Reserve your shoe today!”
To reserve a pair of shoes, click here.
To view a live web stream of The Observer Effect click here.
