The Fair

The Fair was installed as part of a group show at The Nunnery; Bow Arts, London. It formed part of a showcase of moving image and performance and featured works by artists Dryden Goodwin, Marina Abramovic, Ori Gersht, Mikhail Karikis and Richard Layzell. Filmed from the quiet edges of a city centre car park a fairground rides appears and then disappears behind old industrial buildings and the John Lewis department store. As the arm of the fairground ride appears we hear screming which disappears when the arm of the ride is out of sight. At first this is amusing but as the screams intensify and the passengers are subjected to an eternal flight, the work begins to feel uncomfortable. The film evokes questions of escape, control, voyeurism, immersion and complicity. In the context of the European refugee crisis the work takes on a more sinister reading.. This single screen work was the basis for the new dual screen version The Fairs 2016.