Gerry Bibby. Passing Place

Scott Cameron Weaver reads from THE DRUMHEAD by Gerry Bibby

Over the past half-decade, artist Gerry Bibby has inserted narratives and instructional texts into his artworks as acts of tactical withdrawal. The Drumhead is Bibby’s first publication, and includes a series of his ‘Language Costumes’ or fragmentary texts which, like the Burroughsian ‘routine’ or Walserian ‘microscript,’ attest to an offended intelligence.

Gerry Bibby’s artworks move across performance, sculpture and writing, taking form at the uncomfortable fissures between the three. His ‘Language Costumes’ arrive at these junctions as self-styled instructional texts, photocopy machine manuals, drinks menus and poetic passages. His captivating passages brim with wit, wry observation and occasionally with disgust, offering viewers ‘ways out’ even if only at the time of reading.