Artist / Archivist

Artist/Archivist is my creative research project exploring the relationship between artists’ and archivists’. The public face of these two professions is strikingly different. An archivist is expected to behave with neutrality towards records and their information. Entrusted to preserve their longevity, to manipulate this information is seen as unethical. Yet artists are pushed, celebrated and expected to challenge and manipulate the originality of information.  To behave ethically is to risk going unnoticed.

I am myself both an artist and archivist. On a daily basis I find myself questioning whether it is possible to represent archived information reliably, either written or visually. While describing numerous archive collections records, I use words that are designed not to sway or to excite. Yet my arts practice centres on collage which deconstructs information and at the compositions heart, is formed from total manipulation.

I truly love the archives profession. It has opened an entire new genre to my arts practice and I am determined other creative communities can also be exposed and benefit. I am shaping my arts practice to respond to the current issues facing  information professionals. It is about exploring the deep philosophical questions visually (without needing very large unpronounceable words!) . It is about understanding how to bridge the barriers that exist between using creativity based on or inspired by archivists’. 

http://www.artistarchivist.co.uk/