Nick Crowe - Getting On

Nick Crowe's new commission for Chisenhale Gallery was a reflection on age, youth and contemporary Britain. Getting On comprised a group of metallic-finish, scarlet mobility scooters and a soundtrack of Deutsche Grammophon classical pieces. The scooters were available for the visitor to try out, and this allowed us an insight into the 4mph existence that awaits all members of our aging population. Getting On explicitly placed the viewer in the position of an elderly person, enabling us to enter into an imaginative relationship with our own future. For Crowe, the work sought to cause a kind of empathy, a sensation that resulted from seeing oneself as part of the west's ominously expanding lifespan. Furthermore, the work observed the proliferation of the mobility buggy on the streets of Britain, caused in part by the gradual disappearance of subsidised, communal modes of transport. Nick Crowe's extensive practice examines the relationship between people and the technology that surrounds them. Part of his body of work looks at the cultural implications of the internet and this includes the production of online interactive films as well as cyber-squatting the domain names of major London galleries. For five years, Crowe was (with Martin Vincent) a director of The Annual Programme, the Manchester-based gallery credited with kick-starting an explosion in contemporary art practice in that city. Crowe was also, with Ian Rawlinson, co-curator of ArtTranspennine 03. Further information on Nick Crowe's projects is available at www.nickcrowe.net Pressetext

Nick Crowe - Getting On