RE:COLLECTION – Regathering social practice

RE:COLLECTION is an investigation of where social practice sits in contemporary art, and where participatory artworks created by Ellie Shipman over the last 12 years are recollected, regathered and re-presented.

The exhibition was a solo show by Ellie Shipman, Curated by Elita Robertson, In partnership with Bricks.

In recollecting these artworks – often site specific commissions which have never been seen in a gallery space – the exhibition provides a space for these pieces to breathe, to come together and share a conversation for the first time. 

From interactive sculptures such as The Decision Machine (2022), which will answer your questions with the crank of a handle; to How was the Birth? (2023) a quilted medical screen collecting one word birth experiences; to 100 Years of Housing (2022), co-designed archive boxes responding to and now housed in Bath’s housing archives, the artworks remain live and active, awaiting your responses.

“So often participatory works are not presented in gallery contexts, commissions are not given exhibition time and rich, engaging projects are not shared with wider audiences.

RE:COLLECTION provides an opportunity to view works I have created in these contexts to come together, prompting wider questions on the position and role of participatory art in the art world, as well as reflecting on the legacy and significance of the works created at a local level.”

– Ellie Shipman

This exhibition regathered artworks originally created for communities, commissioners and organisations including The University of Bristol and Brigstowe Institute; Knowle West Media Centre; Take A Part; Bath Record Office and Creativity Works amongst others. A bespoke publication of Ellie Shipman’s artworks will be launched alongside the exhibition as an archive of the process and works. 

The show is curated by UWE MA Curating student Elita Robertson as part of her final project and placement at Bricks, building on her background in sociology and interest in the intersection of art and research, alternative documentation and communication methods and navigating social practice in the contemporary gallery space.