by Panicattack Duo for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018, South London Gallery, London, UK, 2018- 2019, Photography by Ekin Tumer
Nothing Really Mattress (NRM) was conceived as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries (BNC) 2018 in order to expose our collaboration as a record of a learning environment and a case study of collective activity. More than just a physical representation of the millennial lifestyle and how we make work as a duo, NRM is a place for exchange, collaboration and conversation.
The lack of a studio space took us to create NRM which started as a durational performance piece taking place on our mobile studio (a double mattress). The live activity was composed of research, thoughts, personal and political worries. The conversations then peaked into intensity of experimental spoken word, sound and movement. Soon after, though, we realised we needed more involvement, opinions, contact and friction.
As a result, we took the opportunity to curate a programme of workshops, conversations and performances on our mattress, where we touched upon various current social issues with other emerging minds. NRM turned into a public backdoor which promoted and showcased 35 cultural producers who were not part of the selected 57 artists for BNC18; an exhibition that requires certain credentials to be able to apply. Since public spaces for critical-cultural citizenship have been shrinking, we intend for the mattress to be a travelling intimate public space; within and out of institutions.
The mattress continues to facilitate a rotating programme of debates and art-making activities with other cultural producers and audiences. After BNC, the mattress has travelled to the Mander Centre, a shopping mall in Wolverhampton for Disorder Live Art Festival in July, 2019.
‘I feel that Panicattack Duo’s message is a strong one: Today, we shouldn’t feel like we are alone and confined to the walls we build for ourselves. There are kindred spirits out there, in intimate public spaces, if only we dare to explore.’
Photography by Andy Stagg
Photography by Manuela Barczewski
by Panicattack Duo for BNC2018, Installation Image, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK, 2018. Courtesy New Contemporaries, Photography by Rob Battersby
by Panicattack Duo for Disorder Live Art Festival, The Mander Centre, Wolverhampton, UK, 2019, Photography by Jakob Buraczewski