University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Dark Globe (enclosed systems) Francis Elliott - Foundry
6th - 16th July 2009
An exhibition to accompany Traditional and emerging formats of artists’ books: Where do we go from here?
A two-day conference at the School of Creative Arts, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Thursday 9th and Friday 10th July 2009.
The artist's book Dark Globe, by Francis Elliott, comes in 2 halves; the first comprises a form which lists every country in the world. The prospective recipient is then required to answer a series of questions about where they have, and haven't, travelled to (spending at least 24 hours in the relevant country).
Francis Elliott then uses the information given to create the second part; a unique record of the owner's personal experiences of the world by blacking out every country that he/she has no direct experience of.
The work comes in the choice of three formats; atlas, large-scale map, or globe.
For the artist’s book conference at UWE, Francis Elliott asked every member of staff at the art college to record their own travels for a group show in which each person's experiences will be represented by a globe. 41 respondents' pieces will be hung from the ceiling, forming a galaxy in the gallery.
Rather than the more normal use of the globe as a classroom teaching aid, Dark Globe (enclosed systems) allows the viewer to consider the extent of each teacher's experience of the world.
Intended as a way of visualising the recipient's travels, as well as avoiding the usual self-revelation usually expected of the artist, dark globe is published by the foundry, London.
The first half of the work can be downloaded for free at www.franciselliott.com/darkGlobe2008.pdf
The second half currently costs £60 for a bespoke edition in the format of your choice.
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