Looking back: LEAN (2018)

This score, devised by myself and Megan Calver was part of LEAN. Made for the Od Arts Festival 2018, LEAN was a series of objects and actions designed to prompt thought and conversation around ideas of rivalry and cooperation. Visit the show of a rival was inspired by a conversation we'd had about objects that get parked or left in gallery spaces. Two of our favourites were an electric organ and a sandwich trolley, but things such as brooms, dustbins, clipboards, clothes, toys and scrawled notes have also appeared in our shows over the years.

Lean (Tools for Rivals) for Od 2018, was a series of everyday leaning objects such as a clothes prop, door wedges, branches and walking sticks that were inserted into displays across the festival. They were identifiable only by subtle markings in fluorescent paint or tape and were used to distract from and disrupt our artistic rivals’ work. Over the following 18 months, we continued to place objects in various south-west galleries and to document them. A forthcoming 12-page publication showcases a few of those actions and invites new ones.

LEAN was originally commissioned by Simon Lee Dicker & Bob Gelsthorpe for The Art of Rivalry, Od Arts Festival 2018.