Author: Susan Merrick

I’ve been rather quiet on my blog, Apologies!

Here is a quick recap from the end of 2017/start of 2018!

After finishing my MA in September I then had a very busy few months including:

September: Spoke at the Nasty Women UK Conference in London.

September/October: the LADA DIY  14 workshops with Bridget Floyer – which were so much fun and our discussion topic ‘what does it mean to be artist in residence of a place?’ gave us a lot of food for thought.

October: Finalised and Exhibited work at Filiart 2017 – work that was the culmination of my residency project with FiLiA ‘Statements in Semaphore’.

November: Performed as part of Hollaback London 16 days of creative action.

December: DIYPicnic – introduced our DIY14 workshop outcomes at LADA.

– Reported on Statements in Semaphore 2017 and wrote a new proposal for ACE funding to take it forward into 2018 with Platform 1 Gallery.

January: Began a two month residency with Floating Island Gallery called Wharf Residency.

February: Exhibited work from Statements in Semaphore at ‘Holloway’ exhibition in Islington. An exhibtion responding to the closed site of Holloway and the women and men who have used it.

Regardless of the above list I feel a little like I have been in hibernation for a few months. I have taken time to really reflect on the work that I have done over the past couple of years and what I want to do with my practice. This year for me it is about that. Developing and reflecting on my art practice and what I want and can do with it/in it. What are my passions? What are the themes that drive me? the processes?

This is also what has driven the 2018 project proposal for Statements in Semaphore. I want to give myself the time and space to create, to collaborate and to consider my expected and unexpected audiences. I am committing myself this year to working with organisations and artists that will help challenge me in this. I want to continue to develop my work on power, gender, space and the languages/communications used in this on live streaming and how this can democratise live art, and what it’s limitations are? I will find collabrations and spaces that allow me to explore this but that also challenge me to think about these things in a different way, opening up dialogue which for me is key to my practice both in terms of process, context and in outcome.

Follow me on FB or Instagram to keep an eye on what I am doing!

FB @Susan-B-Merrick

Insta @susan_merrick

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In November 2017 I was invited by Hollaback London (the anti-street harrassment organisation) to take part in their 16 days of Creative action. Across the 16 days various Artists produced interventions across London, choosing sites of harassment as registered on the Hollaback website. Each Artist was asked to respond to one or more of the stories listed on the website, personal stories of harrassment.

During my Sociology degree 1999 I studied a little about the sociology of Law. We considered at that time the fact that so many harrassment, assault and rape cases were often boiled down to ‘what was the victim wearing?’. The attitude towards what people (especially women) wear and how these clothing choices may be to ‘blame’ in cases of harrasment or assault (rather than blaming the perpetrator) is still incredibly current. This was proven when reading the stories where many of the women had included what they were wearing ‘tracksuit bottoms or jeans’ as ‘evidence’ that they did not expect or deserve harrasment. The bottom line in this is the assumption that prevails that if a woman is wearing fewer or small or tighter clothing, that she should ‘expect’ some form of harrasment.

During this intervention I carried clothing in my shopping bag which had the question ‘well, what were you wearing?’ taped onto it. I moved to various positions around Waterloo train station throughout a 1.5 hour period and added items of clothing as I moved. I began wearing small hot pants and a tight vest and ended wearing large baggy jogging bottoms and a baggy jumper. At each site I also used BSL (British sign Language) to silently spell out the names of the women who had listed their harrassment on the Hollaback website.

The event was listed on FB here.

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The film above was made during my first residency at Platform 1 Gallery in 2017. I had spent time at the station where the gallery is situated and after listening to the same announcements about the yellow line being made hour after hour I wanted to simply walk it. In public spaces like train stations we are surrounded by imagery, signage and announcements for our safety, but also for our control. Where we should go, where we should not. When we should do things, when we should not. What we should do, what we should not.

Can the simple action of walking along a line give us some time to think about this? to challenge it?

This film was first exhibited during the MA Fine Art show in UCA Farnham, where it was projected onto the ground. I painted a yellow line using road marking paint coming away from the projection and leading the audience away from the work and out of the gallery space – perhaps asking them to consider where they should be going?

As an artist I love working in public spaces, these feel like the spaces that are meant to be worked in, not the sometimes sterile spaces of studios and galleries (which do also have their benefits!). As a feminist I also want to perpetuate the work of the artists in the 1970s who challenged the spaces that we as artists work in, that challenge who can access the work and the making process.