nettime: The Institution Of Rot

[t_mould@irational.org]

The Institution Of Rot

"In history, as in nature, the rotten is the laboratory of life"

The Institution of Rot (IOR) was founded in 1992 br Richard Crow
(sculptor, installation and performance artist) and Nick Couldry
(writer and sound artist) and was concerned with objects and processes
'born' out of the destruction/transformation taking place within Crow's
private living/
working space.
The first public performances and installations at the Institution of Rot
were in June 1993.
In 1996 IOR curated the Noisiness Of Bodies - a series of site-specific
work and
performances (funded by the London Arts Board) that revealed multiple
imaginary histories of a single private space.

"We aim to confront the paradox faced by all LiveArt/Performance - how to
reconcile the privacy of its material and its processes with the exposure
of public space, for 'if the age of transparency may need a theatre of
secrets',
so too must critical performance and installation open secret spaces,
narratives of the private  and the inadmissable."

The curators presented work alongside artists working across a range of
media - sound, text, video, objects and movement. Their affinity lay with
the specific concerns of the IOR- the privacy of the human body and its
public transformations (ingestion, expulsion, cleansing, confessions,
rituals and taboos).

Admission was by invitation/membership only

Whilst Crow flies south Trina Mould is currently resident at the IOR,
hosting private conferences and opening Crows mail. (TM can reveal that
Crow is the recipient of much direct mail from marketing/catalogue
companies and from Islington Council and uses many pseudonyms)

The IOR remains open as a point of contact, and is interested in
international collaborations.

To this end TM Exchange has been created at the IOR.
The 'artist in residence' is a  customary commission system whereby a
public gallery will host an artist living and working on behalf of the
gallery's  programme.
In this case TM exchange  acts as an agency for artists willing to exchange
their private homes in a straight swap for a short period.  Projects are
commisioned by TM Exchange/IOR and resultant work is exhibited at the homes
involved and/or through Internet using WWW and email.

"private i / public i" is the title of the first commision - please contact
Trina Mould for details

email t_mould@irational.org

institution of rot
109 corbyn st
finsbury park

tel/fax  44 (0) 171 272 5816
email t_mould@irational.org


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