Spartacus Chetwynd

Is a British artist known for reworking

of iconic moments from cultural history
in improvised performances Marvin
Gaye Chetwynd born Alalia Chetwynd,
1973, best known as Spartacus
Chetwynd) is a British artist known for
reworkings of iconic moments from
cultural history in improvised
performances. In 2012, she was
nominated for the Turner Prize.
Chetwynds practice combines performance, sculpture, painting, installation and
video. Her performances and videos harness elements of folk plays, street
spectacles, literature and multiple other genres. They generally employ troupes
of performers, friends and relatives of the artist and feature handmade
costumes and props. For over a decade, she has also worked on an extensive
series of paintings collectively titled Bat Opera.
Her contribution to the 2006 Tate Triennial was The Fall of Man, a puppet-play
based on The Book of Genesis, Paradise Lost and The German Ideology. In 2009
her work Hermitos Children was included in "Alter modern", the fourth Tate
Triennial. The filmed performance was summarised by Adrian Searle as, "The
young woman who rode to her own death on the dildo see-saw at the Sugar-Tits
Doom Club," and described by Richard Dormant as, "Silly beyond words and
teetered at times on the edge of porn but once you start looking at it I defy you
to tear yourself away.11 Hermitos Children 2 was premiered in 2014 at Studio
Voltaire, London, and Hermitos Children 3 is currently in production. Recent
performances include The King Must Die, Edinburgh Art Festival Listen Up!
Studio Voltaire, London (2014) and The Green Room Nottingham Contemporary,
UK (2014).
Characterised as reworking iconic moments from cultural history, Chetwynd's
performances and installations translate and adapt her source materials
(whether The Canterbury Tales, Doris Lessings novel The Grass is Singing or the
character of the Cat Bus from Hayao Miyazakis cartoon My Neighbor Totoro) into
a distinctive style, marked by improvisation and spontaneity.
This installation consists of Beanbags, 8 headphones and video, 32 flat screens,
colour and sound. I like it because it unique because its displaying a range of tv
screens for people to look at, they contain beanbag which are comfy allowing the
viewers to be fully engaged with the screen. I dont like it because the
installation can distract other people for looking at the different screens and they
are not interactive.
1. Who can watch the installation? A lot of people can watch this installation
because they have set out bean bag so people can watch different tv
shows
2. Is the audience required to respond or interact with the installation? Yes
because of the bean bag because it allows them to watch the shows,
however the screens arent touchscreen so you cant interact with them