When we first approached the Collection we were intrigued by both the Collection and The Usher Gallery, however were instantly drawn to the clocks and jewelry owned by Henry Usher himself and the history and design behind each object. The idea of time and the cyclical feel to the buildings allowed us to explore both places with our intention in mind and explore the deeper meanings.
We then moved onto looking at the audience’s perspective on the art within the two buildings, seeing how little things can affect their visit to a museum. We were shocked by the room with the dead man on the floor and had already considered how people would react if one of us just sat on the floor.
Would they assume it was art or a piece of performance? Or would they even stop to consider whether someone was ok?..
We also looked at the seating outside the building and how we could play around with the noticeable glass rooms that stick out of the collection.
Whilst outside we noticed an engagement ring circled around a tree. We found out the idea behind it and fell in love with the story of a marriage bond between us and nature! We liked how this piece of art tied in with our ideas of time and therefore the cyclical feel of time going by.
The concept that the ring could only be revealed during winter when the trees are bare, allowed us to run with the theme of revelations and revealing something that isn’t normally noticed!
When standing on the balcony in the Collection building, we realised that this specific space was unnoticed by the general public. We were out of sight yet were able to look at other people without them knowing. This was very powerful and enabled us to play with the public who were oblivious to our presence on the balcony. We ourselves thought that the idea of revealing a space would be a good start to carry out practicals and form ideas for our performance.