THE SUNSET LEXICON
Pentagonal table with lights and acrylic inserts (1.8 x 1.8 x .5 metres). Assorted other ephemeral. Books, Catalogue, tin shapes.
As one of seven winners of the Bath Spa University's Porthleven prize, I was tasked with making a piece of work on the subject of Provenance. This became a set of 85 icons, titled the Sunset Lexicon, split into 5 groups of 17, which were produced as playing cards, in book form and as the Sunset Lexicon table. Visitors to the gallery were enouraged to spin number wheels, make 5 pencil rubbings and then send a photo of the paper to @sunset_lexicon on instagram, where the selection was decoded and a report presented. While the outcomes of this aleatory process and the arbitrary readings were not to be considered seriously, they were worked on as though they were real, and during the exhibition a number of truths were revealed, as well as a number (probably more) as a lie.
The project was inspired by an earlier book, The Unearned Increment, which was thrown into the sea from the end of the pier during the first residency. This book, describing some fairly unpleasant circumstances and an 80 mile walk across southern England, mostly on all fours, begat the Sunset Lexicon. The results of that sacrifice provided the mulch for this project, which while attempting to be encyclopedic and learned, frequently existed in a hysteric and manic space. More photographs to follow. A6 copies of the book are available available in the shop.
