Neither Use Nor Ornament (NUNO) is an exhibition of new work that explores the way that we use everyday objects – like bottles, handbags and wool – to store our memories. By keeping collections of precious things, we create histories of love and loss, happiness and grief. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and possessions that hold great meaning for us may look very ordinary to everybody else.
The fourteen artists in NUNO use a wide range of techniques, including live performance, installation, video, sound, textiles, photography, sculpture, assemblage, and the written word. By offering an intimate glimpse of their lives, they invite us to delve into our own personal histories, from the memories that we enjoy, to the darker experiences of trauma and loss. But their pieces draw on wider meanings too: the personal becomes the political, offering commentary on social change; and family pasts point us to the broad sweep of history, in which people are displaced by powers beyond their control. Some of the work is playful and encourages you to join in; other pieces allow you to stand back and reflect. NUNO shows how the things we own can transform us, and how an artist’s hand and eye can transform those objects all over again.
Neil Armstrong and Dave Edwards | Sonia Boué | Dawn Cole | Jenni Dutton | Ruth Geldard | Patrick Goodall | Kruse | Rhi Lloyd-Williams | Katherine May | Naomi Morris | Kate Murdoch | Hugh Pryor | Sonja Zelic
FREE EVENTS PROGRAMME:
-Launch event: Saturday 30 March, 12 – 9pm. Visit the EVENTBRITE page for a full programme of activities and to register.
-Saturday 6 April, 2 – 4pm: 102 Pieces of Glass with Kate Murdoch
-Saturday 13 April, 2 – 4.30pm: Experimental Photography Workshop with Hugh Pryor
-Saturday 20 April, 2 – 4pm: Artists in Conversation and Exhibition Tour with Sonia Bouè, Jenni Dutton, and Dawn Cole.
Exhibition Open:
Thursdays – Sundays, 12 – 6pm
Easter Opening Hours:
Good Friday: 12-6pm
Saturday 20 April: 12-6pm
Easter Sunday: 12-2pm
For updates from the artists, follow the project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using #NUNOproject
NUNO brings together two very different networks of artists to share ideas, influences and ways of interpreting the world around them. It is funded by Arts Council England and Oxford City Council Culture Fund, and presented in partnership with OVADA and Arts at the Old Fire Station.