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phil collins: assume freedom
January 24 - April 14, 2006Including both recent photography and video work, phil collins: assume freedom captures the artist’s curiosity about human behavior and interactions. Born in England, Collins takes temporary residence in areas of the world beset by conflict such as Belfast, Palestine, Serbia, and Iraq, and photographs individuals marked by social circumstances and destinies different from his own. Unlike photojournalism, Collins’s images do not record observations of a place from a distance, but instead reveal the relationships he develops by interacting with other cultures. Social connection is thus the core of the work. The key work in the exhibition is they shoot horses, which alludes to the Depression-era dance marathon from the novel and film, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? For this piece, Collins asked Palestinian teens to participate in a two-day dance marathon. Dressed indiscernibly and placed against a pink wall, the teens danced and sang to contemporary Western music over the course of eight hours for two days. Set in real time, the films do not reveal their location until there is a call for prayer or the power unexpectedly shuts out. The viewer is asked to contemplate our perception of Palestine: how did the teens come to recognize the music in a place we often assume is out of touch? they shoot horses and Collins’s portraitist works find a sense of heroism and beauty among people residing in conflicted places that are impossible to leave.
This exhibition was co-curated by Mary-Kay Lombino, former Curator of Exhibitions, University Art Museum and Sheryl Conkelton, Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs, Tyler School of Art. It incorporates Phil Collins: they shoot horses, an exhibition organized by Bill Horrigan for the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, with support from the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation. The Wexner Center exhibition was presented January 29-May 1, 2005; and this exhibition was on view at Temple Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia, September 9-November 5, 2005.
Image Credit: Phil Collins, detail of el mundo no escuchará, 2004, Single channel color video projection with sound, posters; 69 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin.
