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The Ornamental Hermit

Date uploaded: February 26, 2014

As part of the Haystacks series of events organised by Kathrin Böhm, British artist Barnaby Hosking will be discussing a body of work inspired by a self-imposed hermit like residency entitled 'The Ornamental Hermit'.

In the late Spring of 2013 the artist constructed a Yurt in the grounds of the Houghton Hall Estate in Norfolk, where he would live until the Winter. Here, the artist presented himself as a modern-day hermit, ensconced in his mobile dwelling. During this period of solitude, he was not especially concerned with representing his surroundings, preferring to show the evidence of the individual’s actions within it through experimental paintings, photographs and field recordings. Instead, the true subject of the adventure was the artist ‘s presence, his embodiment of spatio-temporal perception.

Talk: Thursday 6 March 2014, 7-9pm
SE8 Gallery, London.

This work has inspired a new exhibition by the artist called 'Habitat', which runs from the 1st March to the 5th April.  The new works include a full-sized Kazakh Yurt built outside SE8 Gallery on Deptford High Street, and an installation in the gallery that features a sound score of field recordings.

Both internal and external spaces function as immersive, hermetic environments and underscore Hosking’s concern with space as lived experience, when ‘no apparent form ever becomes complete but is in a constant process of movement’.

The installations at SE8 Gallery are a direct result of the artist’s embedded experience in the landscape, and comment on the problematic of mobility: from studio – to site – to gallery.

Show Runs: 1st March – 5th April 2014
Opening Hours: Fridays and Saturdays 2-6pm

For more information about this project please click here.