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The Making of Us. (Installation/Performance). Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. Tramway, Glasgow. 20 April – 7 May 2012.

The Making of Us was a collaborative research project with visual artist Graham Fagen and theatre director Graham Eatough. It looked at public behavior when viewing or taking part in visual art, theatre and film. The project focused on perception and preconception when viewing each discipline. The Making of Us established a unique event, functioning in the space between the disciplines.

This was achieved by combining elements of installation art and promenade theatre performance around a unique approach to the role of film in a live event and its future representation. By creating a formal and conceptual soundstage, the public are invited to become “extras” participating in the making of a film, free to move around the stage sets installed within the space.

The unwritten rules of viewing for each discipline become confused and uncertain, leaving the audience to question where their physical place should be, while at the same time realizing that they, as viewers, are influencing the aesthetic and meaning of the artwork.

This project was the result of an invitation to exhibit at the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art (GI). To achieve the ambition of the project GI and the National Theatre of Scotland joined forces for the first time to co-produce and present The Making of Us.

A prestigious Creative Scotland Vital Spark award also supported the project. The Vital Spark programme is made possible through Scottish Government’s Innovation Fund. Its aim is to encourage new innovative and interdisciplinary creative collaborations and innovative approaches to engaging with audiences.

The Making of Us advances research themes established through a previous collaboration titled Killing Time, exhibited at Dundee Contemporary Arts 9th September – 5th November 2006 and the publication Killing Time published by Dundee Contemporary Arts. ISBN 0-9542026-8-6