Moving into new territory

Preston Street Union with Pete Kingston | Galleries R Us | 2018 | Photo: Jonathan Price

I'm delighted to announce that Preston Street Union (PSU), of which I'm a founding associate, has been commissioned by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter to make new contemporary work inspired by RAMM’s 2019 theme ‘migration’. Ten core associates from the group will be working collectively, in collaboration with the museum's curators, to create two linked pieces: one to be presented off-site in May and one inside the museum in November.

Having always worked on an informal, DIY basis with extremely limited resources, this is a new venture for PSU (although several associates have previously delivered professional commissions within their own practices). I think it's fair to say that, for many of us, PSU and its simple, improvisational approach plays a vital role in feeding and challenging our separate, independent practices as artists.

We were previously backed by Spacex (as a legacy of Trevor Pitt's residency there) and, since that organisation closed, have been associate artists at Exeter Phoenix. However, this is the first time a major institution has offered us actual funding rather than in-kind support. It's already meant certain changes to the way we work, such as opening a bank account and appointing project managers.

With this in mind, we've invited artist and coach Sovay Berriman to work with us over a couple of days during our initial research and development phase. We hope to work out how to nurture our spirit of fun and experimentation while collectively making the transition to a more organised way of working.

The RAMM commission is a very welcome development, not only because it validates the work we've done to date together, but because artist-led organisations can die on their feet with no disruption or forward momentum. However, there is also a chance that professional formalities and expectations will have an impact on the playful, open-ended nature of our interactions with each other and our audiences.

We want to hang on to the things we all value about PSU, while taking the opportunity to make more ambitious work. It's a calculated risk (for RAMM as much as us) - and one I'm glad we're taking.

RAMM press release