Staged

The stage is both a frame and a pedestal; it serves to elevate the importance of the person who steps upon it, just as the frame elevates the status of marks on a canvas, or a pedestal raises a sculpture above the pedestrian floor as if reminding the viewer that this object belongs on a more exalted plane. But in Staged, there is no actor, no performance, no object exalted or narrative to unfold. The stage is bare and free to be populated by the imagination, or even the person, of the viewer. There is no fourth wall, real or imaginary, and nothing to stop impromptu performances springing up, or to prevent someone stepping up to take a little bow. The work is open to any interpretation. By never satisfying the anticipation we feel as ‘audience’ it ultimately frees us to become actors. It debunks the status of artwork in the same way as it mocks itself. It is called ‘Staged’ without title simply because we do not name our own experiences, and because no-one can assert ownership over them.