PAINTBALL FIELD photobookworks
by paula roush
printed with a Monochrome Océ Laser on Xerox Bond paper
shot with paintball gun (two tones) by GBH
84.1 x 118.9 cm each poster, installed on metal structures
118.9 x 84.1 cm each book folio
installed on metal table with chipboard top
msdm UN8 gallery London 2018
Paintball Field was made during a residency in the ‘schist’ mountain villages of Portugal. The area has become depopulated and is now being developed as a destination for tourists. The title of the work refers to a local recreation area where visiting families come with their children to play war games using guns firing balls of paint. The photographs conjure up a hunting scene in which a female figure wearing a cork mask – resembling those that were used by the original villagers during carnival – is being pursued. More than a simple ironic take on violence and war, the work draws on ethnographic connotations, evoking a dramatic encounter between the rural traditions of the past and present-day cultural practices.
contact
paula roush ::: paularoush@gmail.com
msdm studio ::: msdm@msdm.org.uk