contract
Contract (2015) – works in progress, graphite on bristol board, 21cm x 30cm each
Contract, installation view, Syson Gallery, Nottingham (2015)
The exhibition Tempus Fugit was organised by students on the MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice at the University of Lincoln in partnership with SYSON gallery in Nottingham.
The term refers to the notion of time escaping and being irretrievable. The curators invited artists to explore their own perceptions of time and the value they put upon it. They asked if it was possible for an artist to sell their time in the pursuit or creation of art. Artists were invited to send a piece of mail art or a series of instructions for the curators to follow.
The ‘Contract’ drawings employed self-imposed rules; each piece would require roughly one hour of mark making and be valued in line with the National Living Wage. The hand-sized circles would be formed by working clockwise in lines that migrate inwards towards the centre, the lines could curve but each subsequent line would need to adjust to the previous one until the circle was complete.
The title referenced the contractual nature of the undertaking – six zeros/zero hours – and also the forms that the drawings alluded to – contracted muscle, tension, drawing inwards. All the works shown were sold for £6.50 each.