Marling Sixth Form students Natasha Richardson and Gabrielle Oyolu took a trip to SVA’s John Street Gallery to see an exhibit by former Marling student Dan Guthrie. They talked to him about his work Empty Alcove and about the educational journey he has been on.
Q: What is Empty Alcove about?
A: It’s a video that imagines the removal of the Blackboy Clock figure. It’s meant to be quite relaxing on purpose as it gives time to imagine a world where this is no longer on display and how little impact that really has on our world. A lot of the response to this piece has been that it must stay up as it’s a part of history and if we remove it, we are losing part of Stroud’s character, but it’s actually just a very peaceful video. This piece is an imagining of a potential future, one that feels like we are within grasp of but we’re just not quite there yet.
Q: What does the Blackboy Clock mean to you?
A: It’s something that I’ve seen pretty much every day that I’ve lived in Stroud – it’s just something that’s always been there. I know that it’s just a symbolic object and removing it isn’t going to change everything in the world, but it’s a sign that if you can change one thing then you can change a lot of other things.
Q: What is your theory about radical un-conservation?
A: It’s a phrase that I made up that asks: what if we take an offensive object into our care in order to destroy it, and that destruction is a caring act? It was inspired by some of the recent events in the UK as well as around the world, such as the removal of the Colston statue from Bristol harbourside.
I think that the Colston statue is a really good example of how people took it into their own hands to destroy it and throw it into the river but then it got fished out by the council and put into the museum. The concept of radical un-conservation is that we could take that one step further by just letting this object go forever.
Q: The Colston statue is currently on display in the MShed Museum in Bristol with several placards explaining the history of the statue. Do you think that this is the best place for this statue?
A: I think that it was better left in the river, I mean it wasn’t doing any harm there and it was something that people wanted gone. With the Colston statue specifically, there had been years of petitions for new signage or to have it removed by loads of amazing campaigners before that moment in June 2020 which was just like the most visible moment for most people.
Q: You grew up in Stroud, are there any other aspects of about Stroud that really inspired you?
A: Stroud has a great history of radical thinking. With previous films I have made, it’s been more about my family’s experiences in Stroud, but this was me making a work that was more about the town in general as opposed to specific people.
Q: What inspired you to be an artist?
A: I got into art when I was at Marling School. I took part in a young people’s film making scheme where I made a film that was a drag king performing Shakespeare in a working men’s club. I feel like I’ve always been interested in telling stories, sometimes writing and sometimes artwork, but I never thought I’d be a proper artist. I’m just going with the flow!
Q: You attended Marling Sixth Form a few years ago. Do you think that your experience here prepared you for what you do now?
A: A lot of the art I make has a lot of research behind it and Marling definitely helped me to develop my research and thinking. A lot of what I do is inspired by the time I spent in Stroud, and Marling is a really important part of that wider experience. By doing English A-Level at Marling, words became a really important part of what I do in my artwork. More explicitly, in this piece there are subtitles describing what can be heard and felt. I think having these two perspectives is really important as it reflects the different perspectives in the debate around this object.
Q: When did you develop your interest in moving art specifically?
A: When I was studying at Marling I had the opportunity to make a film. I really enjoyed it and so I got more involved. I used to work as a film programmer for film festivals and other arty films, and it really snowballed from there.
I eventually moved from having to apply to do projects to being asked by people to do things which really was a bit of an ‘I’ve made it’ moment.
Q: So why did you make Empty Alcove a film and not just a still figure?
A: Originally, this was just going to just be a still image but the reason why it is a video is because I wanted to show that this could be 5 minutes of real life.
The fact that time moves on alongside this still and peaceful image I thought was really important. It was also a conscious decision to make the video without a distinct start and end point as I think it makes it more welcoming.
Doing this in Stroud specifically, it’s facilitated conversations about this object and it’s also created a space where lots of people have just been able to come to relax.
Empty Alcove imagines the removal of the Blackboy Clock, an object still on display on the front of Blackboy House in Stroud. The clock was made by a local watchmaker in 1774 at the height of the transatlantic slave trade. It has been restored twice. In a 2021 Stroud District Council consultation, a majority of respondents supported the removal of the clock.
Dan Guthrie’s work is on display in East London’s Chisenhale Gallery this summer. Detailed information about the Blackboy Clock project is available via earf.info
