msdm a nomadic house-studio-gallery for photographic art and curatorial research, an expanded practice of the artist's book, photobook publishing and peer-to-peer collaboration created by contemporary artist paula roush
News from NowhereLockdown (or An Epoch of Unrest)
A cross – disciplinary collaboration involving performance,
photography, fashion, set design and AI, revisits William Morris utopian romance 'News from Nowhere' in the
context of London’s lockdown.
Photographer paula roush worked with stylist Hugo Santos and fashion designer Robert George Sanders to explore the codes of still-life painting through body art and performance for the camera. Scenes staged in the decadent three-storey building where msdm studio is based, were filtered through the latest artificial intelligence features, currently being added to photography software. The work was created during London’s first lockdown and the play with both flesh and virtual masquerade, offers a deconstructive critique of the ubiquitous introduction of state police surveillance tech as part of creatives' toolkit, at a time of social breakdown.
News from NowhereLockdown (or An Epoch of Unrest)
Photography and artwork: paula roush
Production and styling: Hugo Santos
Garments and make-up: Robert George Sanders
Performers: Hugo Santos, Robert George Sanders,
Claudiu Panaite, Josef Abela and Lena Cantarellas
Sculpture (Domenest): Natercia Caneira
Table (Wood Library): Anna Odrich
Musical instruments: Gem Milsom
Mural (Animal Ally): msdm + GBH
Text design: The Modern Designer
Commission: Carpark magazine 14
MEDIUM: newspaperwork
PAGES: 40
DIMENSIONS: 50 × 35 cm
PAPER: 55gsm newsprint
BINDING: Endorse folded not stapled
in white burlap sac with handwritten title
PROCESS: Digital
COLOUR: Colour
TEXT: Hommage to News from Nowhere
(or An Epoch of rest) Being Some Chapters
from a Utopian Romance by William Morris
[read here]
PUBLISHER: msdm publications
YEAR: 2021
News from NowhereLockdown (or An Epoch of Unrest)
has been published as a stand-alone broadsheet
(newspaper work) and hardcover book,
alongside the editorial of the same name published in
CarPark magazine issue 14, curated by Dino Tsapaliras
and launched January 2021.
For more information on Carpark issue 14 see here