MULBERRY TREE PRESS was a multiplatform exhibition curated by
Nicolas de Oliveira, Jonathan Houlding and Nicola Oxley. Over a two month period Mulberry Tree Press exhibited two installations to run parallel with 9 weekly performances, 2 round table discussions and numerous film screenings.
The ‘Mulberry Tree Press’ is a fictitious publishing house created specifically for this exhibition. The name was inspired by the last remaining tree from a garden in Deptford designed by the diarist John Evelyn.
This exhibition reflects on the relationship between space, object and text, how they exist one in the other, side-by-side, and separate. The focus on liminality, the boundary or threshold between different locations and states of production lie at the heart of the exhibition. It is concerned with the translation or transcription that takes place in order to facilitate this passage from one place to another, from the studio and the gallery to the printed page.
Over two months, the exhibition attempts a transformation, turning spatial artworks situated in the gallery into a form that might function as a publication. It is not intended that this take the shape of a standard catalogue, in which, appearance, structure and content are largely known from the outset. Instead, the publication will bring together artworks, events and writings generated by the project’s process of research, dialogue and display: from one physical state to the next, from space, action, and thing, to text.
The gallery will be turned into a production office that generates and disseminates content on a daily basis. The space is divided into a number of different zones, typified by simple display devices: a table, a set of shelves, two pinboards, a plinth, three cabinets, a monitor. Each of these marks out a territory, a way of showing, indeed, an idea of specific presentation. The table is a place for writing, reading and the centrepiece of a discussion-series with curators, writers and artists.
Shelves provide browsing material through a pamphlet library. Two facing wall-spaces are given over to different artists during the project; their activities will be subsequently gathered and inventoried on a palimpsest in the shape of a pinboard.
Adjacent glass cabinets are organised by different curators, while a monitor shows a curated programme of artists’ films. A number of live performances and events complement the exhibition. Following the conclusion of the project, the exhibition’s inventory will be published as the final exhibit.
Kindly supported by Arts Council England
Artists included:
ANTEPRESS, RUTH BEALE, BECKY BEASLEY, SEAN BORODALE,
ELEANOR VONNE BROWN, RODERICK BUCHANAN, BEN CAIN,
RICHARD DYER, DOUG FISHBONE, HOLLIS FRAMPTON, ALEX FROST,
KATIE GUGGENHEIM, EMMA HART, MIKE HARTE, GARY HILL,
GEORGE HENRY LONGLY, MARIA MARSHALL, ANTHONY MCCALL,
JEREMY MILLAR, ST PIERRE & MIQUELON, TOM CHIVERS,
KATE OWENS, GEORGE QUASHA, MARTHA ROSLER, JAMIE SHOVLIN,
JOHN SMITH, MATTHEW SMITH, ANDREW TYNDALL, GEOPOLYPHONIES
Film screenings and monitor films curated by Gilly Fox.
Cabinets (11 June- 11 July) were curated by Laura McLean-Ferris.
Ruth Beale was selected by Fleur van Muiswinkel.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE :
7th May – Private view 1
Cabinets – Ben Cain
Pinboards – Jeremy Millar
Shelves – Ruth Beale
Event 1 – Doug Fishbone
Archive cabinet – Nicola Oxley
14th May – Event 2 – 6-9pm
6.45 – Round table discussion 1: Nicholas de Oliveira (chair), Jeremy Millar, Eleanor Vonne Brown
followed by:
Film screening – ‘Argument’ – Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall
21st May
Event 2 – Eleanor Vonne Brown
Event 3 – Ruth Beale
4th June
Event 4 – Emma Hart
11th June – Private view 2
Cabinets – Kate Owens, Alex Frost, George Henry Longly, Matthew Smith, Becky Beasley, Mike Harte
(curated by Laura McLean-Ferris)
Pinboards – Jamie Shovlin
Shelves – Ruth Beale
19th June
Film screening – ‘Zorn’s Lemma’ – Hollis Frampton
Round table discussion 2: Nicolas de Oliveira (chair), Gilly Fox and guests
25th June
Event 5: St Pierre & Miquelon
Event 6: Katie Guggenheim
2nd July
Event 7: Readings from Sean Borodale, Richard Dyer and Tom Chivers
9th July
Event 8: Antepress
Event 9: Geopolyphonies
Monitor films:
7-9 May – Roderick Buchanan
14-16 May – Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall
21-23 May – George Quasha (part 1)
28-30 May – George Quasha (part 2)
4-6 June – Martha Rosler
11-13 June – Maria Marshall
18-20 June – John Smith
25-27 June – Gary Hill
2-4 July – Gary Hill
9-11 July – Roderick Buchanan