Walk the Line
For Art Hub, Susan Mortimer performs Walk the Line. The performance is a live cast actuation work, which questions the role of the body in society.
In the performance the artist will walk repeatedly around a taped blue line, which forms a square on the floor of her studio. Through the inexpressive action of walking, Mortimer questions the function of the body as site for social inscription and its significance in the development of 'the self'. The artist's concerns are reflective of contemporary society, where advancing technologies are impacting on the lived experience of the physical body and the construction of identities.
The taped blue line is representative of society's boundaries which aim to achieve social cohesion through dictating our adherence to taboos, moral codes and expectations of behaviour. As an example of popular expression of such social customs, Mortimer chose the Johnny Cash song 'I Walk The Line' as a starting point to her work.
Summary of Practice
Susan Mortimer's practice examines connections between impassive movements such as walking, the body as site of social inscription, and the construction of identities.
Mortimer works with the mediums of video, live broadcast and photography; exploring the responsibilities of the artist as she performs in front of the lens, and investigating the expression of the body through the languages of these mediums.
Actions such as walking signify embodiment and engagement of the physical body, examining its role in the digital age. Mortimer is concerned with the impacts of digital technologies on social communication and the effects, which the absence of the body in such interactions will have on the coherence of social structures.
Biography
Current:
MA Digital Arts, Camberwell College, University of the Arts, London
Ongoing:
Mail Art One Zine, distributed through Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, DLI Gallery Durham, Northern Print Studios, London, LPS London
Exhibitions:
Act Art Censored, London, July 2010
Glasgow International Book Fair, April 2010
Oxhouse Online Alphabet, 2010
Mail Art Exhibition, Long Gallery, Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 2010
(Curated by Alison Stockwell and Susan Mortimer)
Salon, Open exhibition at the Temporary Art Space, Halifax, Yorkshire, 2009
Steps August 2009, Peep Warbrobe Gallery, Halifax, 2009
Field Show, Emptyshop Gallery, Durham, 2009
Interim Show, Camberwell College, University of the Arts, London, 2008
Links
Artist Website
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