Research Centre
Art and Design Research Centre

Date
2013

A representation of an ongoing enquiry into the politics and economics of commodified labour in a global economy

This a key work representing an ongoing enquiry into the politics and economics of commodified labour in a global economy. 20 Euros per kilo (2011) was commissioned by Static Gallery Liverpool, and Peter Gorschlüter, Deputy Director Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, for the exhibition and conference 'Terminal Convention'. Shaw develops a critically engaged enquiry into the language of sculpture, narrative and exhibition that chronicles the life of an object and its concealed modes of production. The investigation underpinning this work started during a research fellowship at University of Bath (2006) and explores the relation between material form and human endeavour. Works resulting from this enquiry include installations and interventions between 2008 and 2012.

These include: the conference 'Just In Time', exploring the gallery as site of manufacture (Site Gallery, 2008); 'ILVA Tree' (Manchester International Festival, 2009) which proposed the use of abandoned shopping centre trees as material; The Plastic Family, a chap-book considering the life of plastic, made with artist Melanie Jackson (Artwords, 2009); 'Galena' ('The Politics of Utopia: Marxism, Myth and Religion’ conference, 2010), a work developed while in residence in Gemmology, Kingston University, which broadcast sound recordings of the process of drawing galena, a mineral able to receive radio waves; and 20 Euros per kilo.

The work involved transporting seventy kilos of Texan Holey rock from terrariums in the decommissioned Cork Airport baggage hall on flights from Cork to London. The exhibition included Imogen Stidworthy, Rosa Barba and Douglas Gordon. The ‘Terminal Convention' conference included presentations by Shaw, Charles Esche, Stephen Wright, and George Yudice on oppositional practices. The stone is being explored as a source of new value, as a print pigment. A 'Holey rock' font is under development with Secondary Modern design.

Researchers involved

Dr Becky Shaw - Post Graduate Research Tutor in Art and Design

Related projects

'A'. The Christmas Party - Becky Shaw has been making work that explores dementia since 2005, when she...

Getting Real - Fascinated by the way social life is embedded in material form, Becky Shaw...

Local Colour - Becky Shaw was commissioned by IncertainPlaces Preston to explore the impact...

Monument - Becky Shaw been selected to make new work for the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich...

Moving Mountains - Becky Shaw currently holds an AIR Cocheme Fellowship at Central St Martins....

The Manufacture of Ultramarine Blue - In the work, ultramarine blue (an artificial lapis lazuli once made in...

Transfer - The process of making work is like a large-scale act of reverse engineering...