Merlyn Riggs
I have a socially engaged, collaborative art practice, focusing on public participatory art works. It can be termed as Dialogical Art , Anthropological Art or Social Sculpture and takes the form of events, performances, installations or happenings but essentially they are not just artworks concerning passive observation, but active participation- the art relies totally on the viewer to bring it alive.
I identify relevant, common issues which deal with reality and produce pieces which stimulate dialogue and may provide a platform for further action.
Physically my work takes the form of installations using easily recognisable everyday found objects and social situations, culminating in work that emerges from wardrobes, appears in the context of a museum, poses as a Coffee Morning or on the pages of a cookbook. I also use the invisible materials that are available to everyone- feelings, thoughts, speech and conversation, giving them substance and form. Through audience participation, I hope to provoke more active and effective engagement with wider socio-cultural contexts. I bring together groups of people with a common interest creating a temporary community to generate relationships and communication. Food is a key element in my artwork I create social occasions built around hospitality . All of my artworks are peripatetic and can be set up in gallery and non-gallery spaces.
I create Contexts, provide specific Content and open Conversation.
My primary resource is the public, to participate, interact and collaborate with my work. I initiate non-threatening pieces to challenge convention and stereotypes, hand it over to the participants and work with whatever I get back. The participants become the authors of the work. The outcome is unpredictable and very exciting.
found at http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=13977
Merlyn Riggs, The Peripatetic Tearoom - Talking Tearooms, 2009, Tearoom in action food
Merlyn Riggs
Afternoon Tea, 2008, 'Afternoon Tea' is a peripatetic tearoom which is loadeded into the artist's van and set up wherever it is required. The image here is of the work installed as part of Retard This, Missexhibition at Corse School in Aberdeenshire.
The artist wrote 'Afternoon Tea Guidelines for Novices' to accompany the piece which reads as follows: 'The main issue is one of conformity. There is an institution of tradition which has laid down the basic rules which must be upheld. It would be wise to stick to these rules for your first attempt. I have provided a classic menu. If any recipes are needed please contact me well in advance. You will find there is room for individualism and flexibility within the sacrosanct boundaries of Afternoon Tea, but large deviations would alter the whole concept. Please feel free to bring your own personal stamp to the tradition. There is still considerable scope for creativity. My art deals not only with the everyday and the ordinary, but also with perception and recognition of the self. I challenge convention and stereotypes with individualism and flexibility. I am a social artist; I invite audience participation. Please, come along and have Afternoon Tea with me'.
this seems to be an artist up my street, she uses the everday to create temproy structure for conversation to form around, tho to me it seems too un structure, i'm not sure if i could reliqunisch conrol in the same way she has.
Merlyn Riggs
Afternoon Tea, 2008, 'Afternoon Tea' is a peripatetic tearoom which is loadeded into the artist's van and set up wherever it is required. The image here is of the work installed as part of Retard This, Missexhibition at Corse School in Aberdeenshire.
The artist wrote 'Afternoon Tea Guidelines for Novices' to accompany the piece which reads as follows: 'The main issue is one of conformity. There is an institution of tradition which has laid down the basic rules which must be upheld. It would be wise to stick to these rules for your first attempt. I have provided a classic menu. If any recipes are needed please contact me well in advance. You will find there is room for individualism and flexibility within the sacrosanct boundaries of Afternoon Tea, but large deviations would alter the whole concept. Please feel free to bring your own personal stamp to the tradition. There is still considerable scope for creativity. My art deals not only with the everyday and the ordinary, but also with perception and recognition of the self. I challenge convention and stereotypes with individualism and flexibility. I am a social artist; I invite audience participation. Please, come along and have Afternoon Tea with me'.
this seems to be an artist up my street, she uses the everday to create temproy structure for conversation to form around, tho to me it seems too un structure, i'm not sure if i could reliqunisch conrol in the same way she has.
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