John Hansard Gallery presents two new digital works by artist David Blandy, especially commissioned to reflect on the uncertain times that we currently find ourselves in. These new works show the audience How to Fly and How to Live, obliquely referencing our present moment, while also pointing to new potentials.
The first of Blandy’s two new digital videos, How to Fly (2020) is available to stream throughout May, with the second film, How to Live (2020) subsequently showing throughout June. These two newly commissioned works build on a series which uses the form of online video tutorials to explore ideas around patterns in nature and existence. Each of them begins with Blandy giving a step-by-step tutorial explaining how to make a short video about a specific subject, only using the tools available via a computer – through the Internet and video editing software to video games.
Through his diverse practice, David Blandy (b.1976, London, UK) questions our relationship to the culture that surrounds us, reflecting on the imaginary spaces that form our identity. Delving deep into video gaming, genre fantasy and Internet culture, he is fascinated by each form’s potential for communality and finding new forms of kinship.
How to Fly is a John Hansard Gallery online exhibition as part of the Digital Array programme that is supported by the Barker-Mill Foundation.
David Blandy’s films are distributed through LUX and he is represented by Seventeen Gallery, London, UK.