DARTER
The Bridge Accademy, Hackney
DARTER is a group of three artists - Chloe Cooper, Phoebe Davies, Louisa Martin - who make art in response to particular social contexts. With a predominantly live or performative approach, DARTER's work aims to playfully interrupt established social codes and conventions that shape or frame how we perceive an event, interaction or architectural space. Working with and responding to specific contexts and audiences, DARTER appropriates and subverts behavioral norms, documentary media and the tools of academia in order to explore how meaning is constructed collectively.
DARTER were Whitechapel Gallery Artists in Residence for the year 2010-11 and as such were based at Bridge Academy, a secondary school in Hackney from September 2010 until July 2011.
DARTER established an active presence within the space and structure of the Bridge Academy with the aim to create a dialogue between contemporary performance art practice and the practice of students studying art. This process produced artworks based on the interests and perceptions of students, some of which were counter to current school art practice or the wider school culture. In keeping with this criticality, the artworks produced seek to question the influence of predetermined outcomes in the art curriculum, the intentions and consequences of placing artists within formal education and the ways in which these situated debates may be played out within the gallery context.
DARTER is concerned with autonomous modes of information sharing, group activity and self-organising. DARTER (formerly Junto:Projects) was formed following their peer led mentoring project Junto:Mentor, developed and delivered with Daniel Oliver, Emma Leach and Jieun Lee.
To see selection of students work made on the residency click here.
