George Barber

Upside Down, Minutiae

George Barber is an established video artist who has exhibited in many group shows and festivals across the world. He was one of three artists commissioned to respond to the theme of Remote Sensing: outlook and observation. The project was devised by South West Media Development Agency, Picture This, Spacex Gallery and Prema and it was funded by the Arts Council of England’s National Touring programme with additional financial support from South West Arts.

In Upside Down, Minutiae three people strung upside down on the back of a truck by means of scaffolding are taken on a short 10 minute drive, each equipped with a microphone in order to describe both what they see and hear, as though on a radio programme giving the listeners a feel for the place they are visiting. At an additional interview, the participants are asked a series of questions about their childhood and other events in their lives that they now see differently compared to years ago. These are brought together so that the viewer not only hears the participants’ immediate reactions to being hung upside, but also gets a sense of changes in outlook and perspective that have been brought about during the participants’ lives.

Exhibition:
19 October 2000, LUX Centre, London
Prema Art Centre, Gloucestershire
12 - 28 October 2000, Spacex Gallery, Exeter