Private View RS 2020, performed 2019 as part of ‘Matrescence’ at Richard Saltoun Gallery, London.
Edition of 3 + 1 AP
Details: Private View RS 2020
Private View performed 2002, printed 2006. (Digital C-type on aluminium 80 x 76 cm) Edition of 3 + 1AP
Details: Private View 2006
Documentation of Private View instructions 2002, performed at the Royal College of Art.
Private View as a performance has taken place twice in London (2002, 2019), Poitiers (2002), Oslo (2002) and Manchester (2010). On the night of a private view every person who came to use the toilets were asked if they would take a pregnancy test. If the participants wanted to know their result they would go straight to the bar.The results were relayed live in real-time above or next to the bar. The exception was the Richard Saltoun gallery, where a monitor was placed on the reception desk in the first gallery, because the gallery had roaming hosts serving drinks. The indicating windows of the pregnancy test were the only part to be screened, initially appearing abstract. There wasn’t any sound and the pregnancy tests were broadcast anonymously.
Private View 2006 is a composite print of forty different women’s pregnancy tests, and Private View RS 2020 is a composite of forty-nine different peoples pregnancy test. A photograph of each test has been combined with text written by the participant as they waited to use the toilet. Each test is unique like a fingerprint, presenting different patterns and colours which when displayed together become more apparent.
The pregnancy tests from the 2006 performance were shot on 5 x 4in large format film, printed and then the prints were scanned, and composited to create a digital c-type. The tests from the 2019 performance were captured digitally, composited and outputted as digital c-type.