TITLE WORK: Russian Ballet Riot
AUTHOR: paula roush
MEDIUM: newspaperwork
PAGES: 64
DIMENSIONS: 29 ×38 cm
PAPER: 55gsm newsprint
BINDING: folded
COVER: Bespoke slipcase
PROCESS: digital printing
COLOUR: colour
TEXT: historical outlines of
Russian Ballet Pamphlet
and Pussy Riots
INSERT: 20 pages booklet A5 size
facsimile edition of Russian Ballet
artist’s book by David Bomberg
published in London in 1919
EDITION: 100
PUBLISHER: msdm publications
YEAR: 2015
EXHIBITION:
Photobooks: Objects of collection
commissioned by the Borough Road Gallery
in response to the exhibition
David Bomberg: Objects of Collection,
GALLERY: Digital Gallery
London South Bank University
DATE: Oct - Nov 2015
ABOUT THE WORK
Researching the teaching and learning environment at the Borough Polytechnic “which was to become the centre of the most vanguard and adventurous art education in post-war Britain,” [1] the work is inspired by traces of the former art studios in Borough Road and the University archives. David Bomberg's art studio in Borough road, now converted into the London South Bank University’s School of Arts and Creative Industries lecturer’s offices is where paula meets her photobook publishing students for tutorials. Bomberg’s revolutionary teaching methods, informed by a search for the “spirit in the mass,” [2] that was keenly adapted by the Borough Group (1946-1951) as their modus operandis, precedes current practice-based approaches to art as research and comes alive in the new self-published work.
Bomberg’s early enthusiasm for self-publishing and his involvement with performative aspects of modern culture was evident in his pamphlet-book Russian Ballet (1919) whose reinterpretation is part of the work. Collage brings together the world of the Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (the historical context for Russian Ballet) and the protests in support of Pussy Riot following their 2012 arrest.
Bringing side by side the Borough group’s artwork and the newly commissioned publication completes the circle that started with the radical educational approaches to modern art in post-war Borough Polytechnic and continue with contemporary discursive approaches to art in the University’s photographic arts teaching.
[1] Dominika Buchowska, 2011, Teaching Art In Post-War Britain: The Case Of The Borough Group 1945-1953, Polish-AngloSaxon Studies volume 14-15, pp. 107-129;
[2] C. Holden, History of the Borough Group, date of access: 6 Nov 2012
contact
paula roush ::: paularoush@gmail.com
msdm studio ::: msdm@msdm.org.uk