The Gift  2016  production still

17 September - 23 October 2016

et al is Simon Pope’s third solo-exhibition at Danielle Arnaud, gathering together a series of participatory artworks produced between 2013 and 2016. As in A Common Third (2010) sociality, taking-part, and dialogue are recurrent themes; a further preoccupation being the human relation to the ‘more-than-human’, introduced in Join-up (2012). Here, emphasis is placed on the kinships and solidarities of more-than-human communities, made apparent through tracing the material relations of a coal-sample, tin deposits, a glacial erratic, a scrap of bronze-age linen, and the charred remains of a fibreglass sculpture. This new body of work promotes an 'ever closer union' and the possibility of politics between heterogenous participants, even in the face of increasing isolationism and withdrawal.

Work includes Forward Back Together (2013), Primary Agents Of A Social World (2014), A Song, A Dance, And A New Stannary Parliament (2014), The Outlier (2015), and The Gift (2016), presented here through video-documentation, transcripts, books, and song.

Simon Pope's recent art practice is preoccupied with participatory art's engagement with new materialism and concepts of the more-than-human, asking 'who else takes part?' This question formed the basis of his doctoral study at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford (2012-2015). Formerly a member of the net.art group I/O/D, he represented Wales at the Venice Biennale in 2003. Pope was a NESTA Fellowship awardee (2002-05), a Reader in Fine Art (2005-10) and is currently an Associate Research Fellow of Queen Mary, University of London (2014-) and visiting faculty member and supervisor for Transart Institute's MFA & PhD programs in New York City and Berlin, where he convenes the Art After The Anthropocene seminar.

The exhibition includes an essay written by Nina Wakeford.

Simon Pope  Pride of the Moor – songwriting session with Jim Causley and Bill Murray
at King’s Arms, South Zeal, Devon, UK  2014  audio recording  10’1 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Diamond Cubic Crystal   2014  recycled tin  edition of 45  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Forward Back Together - Transcription of Workshop Proceedings   2013  inkjet print on paper  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Forward Back Together   2013  inkjet print on paper  84.1 x 118.9cm  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Primary Agents Of A Social World  2014  HD video  38’51 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Primary Agents Of A Social World  2014  HD video  38’51 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Primary Agents Of A Social World  2014  HD video  38’51 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  A Splendid Kindred Soul  2015  inkjet print on paper; wooden frame   25.5 x 31cm  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  The Gift – Whanganui Beach version 2013  2013  HD video  4’11 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  The Gift – Whanganui Beach version  2013  HD video  4’11 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  The Outlier  2015  HD video  13’35 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  The Outlier  2015  HD video  13’35 minutes  photograph by Oskar Proctor

Simon Pope  Steam coal from “The Big” seam, Ffos-y-Fran, South Wales, UK  2016  steam coal  photograph by Oskar Proctor