Tatton Park Biennial: Sited Commissions
THE LITTLE ARTISTS are devising a series of botanical marketing interventions within the grounds and gift shop at Tatton Park.
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Proposal for Institutional Survival Strategy Dispersion Unit Flower seeds, packaging, coloured wood and perspex |
For the Biennial, The Little Artists have worked to develop new techniques for both their own survival and the survival of what has now become an instituionalised culture. Heavily branding themselves and their productions in a manner reminiscent of Manzoni’s ‘seminal’ 1961 Artist’s Shit, the pair have opted for a corporate colour scheme of blue and orange, reflected in their clothing and all they have done at Tatton Park.
Marketing their work as a saleable commodity, part of their art is a limited edition box of seeds for blue and orange flowers, Lobelia Crystal Palace and Marigold Orange Boy. On display and on sale at the Tatton Park shop, the boxes are stacked to create a larger sculptural form, which must be partially dismantled each time one of the boxes is purchased. Cake and Neave use the idea of visual merchandising and the context of the shop to question the way in which people interact with art. They have worked closely with Mr Fothergills to get the best seeds for this concept, ensuring that they are easy to grow, will flower throughout the season and, of course, are the ‘right’ blue and orange!
The Little Artists have planted their own Lobelias and Marigolds in urns in the Orchard, encircling the pool at its centre. These planters, working in direct opposition to the muted tones and highly ordered fruit tress that surround them, produce a riot of garish, fanciful colour in an area dedicated not so much to personal expression as to the serious art of fruit production.
Left: Institutional Survival Strategy Dispersion Unit ; Right: Detail
Flower seeds and packaging
Institutional Survival Strategy Potential Situation
Flowered seeds, compost and pots, dimensions variable
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Biography
The Little Artists aka John Cake and Darren Neave have worked together for several years, achieving notoriety for their Lego reconstructions of iconic modern art masterpieces. Recent solo exhibitions include The Walker Gallery, Liverpool and Kulczyk Foundation, Poznan. They have also featured in group shows across Europe including Space/Galerie Priestor, Bratislava, Galerie Good Friday, Brussels and Krinzinger, Vienna. A large-scale solo show at the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe is scheduled for 2009.
