Myself and Others

Neville Gabie Myself and Others

A film for Yappi 2014 video

19 September - 25 October 2015

Neville Gabie’s practice is frequently inspired by a response to specific locations or situations, working in a range of media from sculpture to film and photography. From highly urbanised to distantly remote landscapes, his work is a response to the vulnerability of place. His interest is in establishing a working relationship within a particular community as a means of considering its physical, cultural or emotional geography.

Myself and Others brings together several of Neville’s recent works made in response to people and place. What holds the work together is the idea of ‘performing a task’ whether that is swimming, boat-building or simply standing on a block of ice.

The exhibition includes works that are personal performative responses to different situations. Three different films will be screened over the course of the exhibition, involving the active participation of others.

Semra (2015) - Originally filmed in the Aquatics Centre during the construction of the Olympic Park, the footage has been recut with new material, revealing the personal story of Semra. A bus driver on the Olympic Park, whilst it was being built, Semra swam the distance of her bus route in the Olympic Pool, one year before the Games. The first ever timed distance swam in the Olympic Pool.

Afloat (2014) - Using the boat as the main focus, the film chronicles the construction and competitive rowing of a seaworthy skiff. Commissioned by IOTA (Inverness Old Town Arts) to work with the community of tiny crofting township of Achiltibuie, North West Scotland, Neville creates a microcosm of a world. Whilst outward looking, it explores remoteness and redefines the boundaries between sea and land.

Cabot Circus Cantata (2008) - Commissioned by InSite Arts to be artist in residence for three years on a huge city centre redevelopment, Cabot Circus in Bristol. Neville developed a series of works of which the Cabot Circus Cantata is one. Based on recordings of songs drawn from some of the sixty-two different nationalities represented through working on this site, Neville collaborated with David Ogden from the City of Bristol choir to compose a cantata for 100 voices to be sung on the construction site as a tribute to this international workforce.

An accompanying essay by Moira Jeffrey will be available during the exhibition and on the website.

Friday 25 September 6.30pm - Sarah Weir will introduce Neville Gabie's film Semra (2015).

Sarah Weir is Chief Executive of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Sarah’s previous roles include Chief Executive of The Legacy List, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park charity; Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy for Olympic Delivery Authority; Executive Director, Arts Council England; London and Executive Director of the Almeida Theatre.

Sunday 4 October 4pm - Moira Jeffrey and Susan Christie will introduce Neville Gabie's film Afloat (2014).

Moira Jeffrey is a writer and journalist based in Glasgow. She is currently art critic for the Scotsman newspaper. She has written extensively on visual arts for the specialist and general press. Last year she developed and edited the publications for Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, a nationwide exhibition programme that was visited by over 1.1 million people in 60 venues across the country.
Moira also wrote the accompanying essay for the exhibition Myself and Others.

Susan Christie is an independent curator and producer based in the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands with a specific interest in navigating rural/urban contexts. Susan initiated IOTA (Inverness Old Town Arts) with visual artist Matt Baker in 2006 which heralded a new way of working within a regeneration context with a strong emphasis on participative collaborations.
She produced SUBLIME, an 18 month programme with new work and artistic interventions which attracted new audiences to a diverse range of unusual spaces including a multi-story carpark and a lighthouse.
Susan works in an advisory capacity to a number of national organisations and serves on the Board of Scottish Sculpture Workshop.

Saturday 17 October 4pm - Sam Wilkinson will introduce Neville Gebie's film Cabot Circus Cantata (2008).

Sam Wilkinson is Director of InSite Arts and has been commissioning artist working in the public realm for over 20 years. Past projects have included large scale regeneration projects to specific commissions for new buildings such as a recent work by Mark Titchner for Glenn Howells Architects' new building, One St Peter's Square in Manchester. A primary area of interest is socially engaged practice and facilitating opportunities for artists to work with diverse communities to raise debate and give people a voice in their changing environments.