Unrealised: Projects 1997 - 2002

Cornford & Cross were invited by Mary Jane Aladren to hold a solo exhibition at Nylon Gallery, London. The resulting exhibition, Unrealized, made visible in the private gallery projects originally intended for public spaces. The exhibition consisted of drawings, photographs, objects and texts for seven project proposals evidencing the research for site specific installations. Cornford & Cross originally produced these works in response to invitations extended by arts organizations, or to published calls for proposals.

The issues raised by the exhibition were further explored through a public colloquium held in the gallery, with a panel including the artists, curator Lynda Morris, artist and writer Edgar Schmitz and artist John Timberlake. A number of the related texts and images formed the basis for a chapter published in a book titled New Practices/New Pedagogies.

Unrealized advanced knowledge in a number of ways: firstly, the exhibition and colloquium focused public debate on projects, which are instances of where conceptual and institutional limitations on art practice lie. Secondly, the exhibition and colloquium tested the proposition that for a site-specific installation to function as a stimulus to reflection and debate it must be realized in material form. Thirdly, Unrealized self-consciously explored the possibilities of transforming a commercial gallery into a forum for critical public dialogue.

Cornford & Cross have worked in artistic collaboration since 1987. Engaging in adversarial dialogue, their projects articulate propositions which stimulate reflection and debate on issues that connect art with social and political concerns.

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