Art Across - live

Art Across at FaB18

'Live voices of timeless lives'

2^nd - 3^rd June 2018

Some of our events develop as a direct response to stimuli provided by other creatives, usually artists or curators, not only in their content but also in their format. This has been the case for this event, that has been presented in connection with one of the curated exhibitions making up FaB18, or Fringe Arts Bath 2018, the eleventh edition of Bath's only annual contemporary visual arts festival.

The exhibition, titled 'live' and curated by Geoff Dunlop, has been presented by the curator as follows: "The word live has two meanings. It refers to existence itself -- the perpetual process of growth and decay -- and to the most vivid of performances -- spontaneous and in the moment. This exhibition and its associated events bring both definitions together." Conversations and exchange between Geoff and Sara inspired her to create her own response to the concept of the exhibition, using her role as an art historian as a starting point: through research and reflection on past figures of artists, whose physical lives have now ended, Sara has selected some excerpts from writings by artists, and has presented them in a performative recital, held in the exhibition venue.

The direct voices of those past artists have joined the dialogue created by the pieces in the exhibition by present-day artists, but unlike other types of events, Sara has in this case only lent her voice to let their words get expressed once more, without the filter of her art-historical interpretation. From Gauguin's reflections on his ageing body finding a new life in Tahiti to Leonardo's advice of finding companionship in one's studio, the public present in the chapel during the recitals has enjoyed hearing those great masters' take on the themes that the exhibition explored.