normalife unlimited
6 Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2
10th-22nd January 2006

Art at Carnaby presents normalife unlimited, an exhibition produced by the artist collective normalife©, from 10 - 22 January 2006 at 6 Neals Yard, London WC2.

normalife© - a Newcastle based group - opened the doors of their artist thrift store, normalife unlimited, on the 10 January, 2006 at 11am. Showcasing the work of numerous artists from across the UK and abroad, each artist was sent an object selected by normalife© from charity shops around the UK which, in turn, were reinvented, rediscovered, reinterpreted, rearranged by the artists.

This process of exchange led normalife© to construct their multi-media exhibition. Drawing from the common vernacular of the second-hand shop to infiltrate consumer culture, normalife unlimited presents original works by over 30 emerging and established artists, including Jock Mooney, Monica Cid, Kerri Townsend, Theresa Easton, Phil Marsden, Ant Macari, Rhoda Morrow, Daedalus, Dan Brown, Jessica Watts and Richard Rigg.

The idea stems from a trend in art history which can be traced back to the seminal work of Marcel Duchamp. His ‘ready-mades’ created a dialogue between objects and artists, focusing on issues of authorship, aesthetic sensibilities, value and asserted art market structures. normalife© create a space in which they redress these issues. The result is an exploration of the artist object. Second-hand book shops and charity shops become the inspiration for mechanisms of artistic investigation.

The theme of the show reflects the normalife© remit for facilitating variation and networking within a wider artistic community.

The opening of normalife unlimited will feature music from ‘The Creatures of Conditioned Reflex’ and performances by ‘Discotheque’ and normalife©. The private view will be held on Thursday, 12th January 7:00 - 9:00pm.

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