Friday, December 6, 2024

Ruth Beale

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Production shot from Their Constructive Materials/Layers, 2016. Courtesy Performance as Publishing

Ruth Beale‘s practice considers the evocative relationships between culture, governance, social discourse and representation. A form of socialised questioning, it includes performance, writing, collecting, drawing and socially-engaged processes. She works on both long-term projects involving extensive archive research, and more spontaneous performances which co-opt audiences, collaborators and participants. 

Her collaboration with Amy Feneck, ‘The Alternative School of Economics‘, uses the practice of self-education to study economics, creating a framework for investigating political, social and cultural issues. They recently completed a major commission with Create London, working with communities in Newham, East London, where they set up Rabbits Road Institute, a new space for community, educational and creative activity.

Ruth is also co-founder of Performance as Publishing with Nicole Bachmann, an active research project into text and writing for performance. 

In 2016 they presented Take One / Take Two / Take Three at Eastside Projects, Birmingham (UK), in partnership with Lux Artists’ Moving Image and this is tomorrow. 

Ruth gained a BA from Edinburgh College of Art and an MFA from Goldsmiths, London, in 2010. Solo exhibitions include The Library of Future Societies as part of Fig.2 at ICA, London (2015), Bookbed at Peckham Platform, London (2014), Bikes, Caves, Raves at Trade, Nottingham (2014), and Lindgren & Langlois: The Archive Paradox at Grand Union, Birmingham (2013). She has performed and exhibited at Whitechapel Gallery, ICA, Turner Contemporary, Basel Kunsthalle, MoMA Ps1, South London Gallery and Modern Art Oxford.

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Ruth Beale, The Library of Future Societies, 2015, utopian and dystopian novels borrowed from London public libraries, Photo: Sylvain Deleu
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Ruth Beale, Their Constructive Materials/Layers, 2016, livestreamed digital video, 19 minutes

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