#spagettiset
Eddy Robinson
04.05.2017–19.05.2017

#spagettiset is an ongoing project focussed on the mechanisms of archiving a body of work and the surrounding ethical issues raised by mass documentation. Drawing on techniques developed by early Hollywood set designers and 19th century naturalists, the underlying theme of deliberate misinterpretation is utilised rather than covered up to draw the collection of work together.

Initially conceived to purely document Robinson’s studio practice, #spagettiset has transformed into a space where failed or unsuccessful ideas can be revisited to generate new lines of inquiry and in doing so produce a huge amount of material. By repurposing individual components, the archive grows steadily more unreliable as it expands in scale. This snowballing effect has also created another layer of uncertainty when viewing the project as a ‘whole’ through its original platform on Instagram. Once recorded digitally, the archive’s contents become impossible to exist simultaneously and is subject to further manipulation, mislabelling and editing.

In this exhibition, the gallery space has been used to display and document various works that feature heavily within the archive, displayed in a public setting for the first time. Individual elements have been grouped together and staged if to be photographed, recalling previous compositions and pairings to provide some sort of reference point to the project at large. Cropped images will be taken from these and uploaded on Instagram throughout the course of the exhibition, providing further material and again disrupting the continuity of the research.

Included in the show is a ceramic bust, obtained from the Hatton Gallery’s collection of African artefacts in 2016. This work, which originates from Cameroon (circa 18th century) has no recorded maker, and has been in storage for the best part of 25 years. Here it is situated alongside new work, and so is partially revived by transitioning from one archival body to another, which will ultimately make up part of Slugtown’s own records in the future.

Eddy Robinson (b. 1990) Recent exhibitions and projects include: inhabit, online residency, i o u a e; Corridor Plateau IV, Northern Charter, Newcastle; Without Lines, Globe Gallery, Newcastle; Populace, 36 Lime St, Newcastle; Calm in the Knackers Yard, NewBridge Project, Newcastle. Eddy is also director of Musee Imaginaire, an ongoing curatorial project.