Amy Sharrocks
{{Short description|British artist}}
Amy Sharrocks (nee Norman) is a British live artist, sculptor, filmmaker and curator. Sharrocks's work focuses on collaboration and exchange, inviting people on journeys that they also help to create. She is known for large scale, live artworks in public places that use everyday activities, such as swimming or walking, in spectacular ways. Many of her artworks investigate the nature of cities, explore the importance of fluidity as a way of thinking, and question our constructs of city life. Her work has been supported by Arts Council England, The Live Art Development Agency and Artsadmin. Major works include SWIM (2007), a 50-person swim across London, and the ongoing Museum of Water (2013-Ongoing),{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumofwater.co.uk/|title=Museum of Water by Amy Sharrocks, London UK|website=Museum of Water, London UK|access-date=24 January 2019}} a collection of over one thousand bottles of water from around the world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/artists/amy-sharrocks|title=Amy Sharrocks|website=Artsadmin|access-date=5 July 2016}}
Early life and education
Sharrocks grew up in Camden and was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, the University of Bristol, where she studied English and French, and in Fine Art at Camberwell College of Arts. She is the daughter of Anne Norman, a painter, and Torquil Norman, founder of the Roundhouse Trust.
Selected works
Since 2005, Sharrocks has made live artworks about people and water.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/amy-sharrocks-the-woman-with-the-key-to-london-s-water-8534583.html|title=Amy Sharrocks: the woman with the key to London's water|date=14 March 2013|website=Evening Standard|language=en-GB|access-date=5 July 2016}} Her work often involves walking,{{Citation|last=Myers|first=Misha|title=Enduring Gravity: Footnotes of Walking and Duration|date=2014|url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385673_3|work=Choreographic Dwellings: Practising Place|pages=27–44|editor-last=Schiller|editor-first=Gretchen|series=New World Choreographies|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/9781137385673_3|isbn=978-1-137-38567-3|access-date=30 November 2020|editor2-last=Rubidge|editor2-first=Sarah}} swimming and other everyday frameworks to create 'new avenues for exploration and fantastic visions within the everyday'.{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumofwater.co.uk/|title=Museum of Water by Amy Sharrocks, London UK|website=Museum of Water by Amy Sharrocks, London UK|language=en-US|access-date=11 July 2016}} She is currently organising Swim the Thames a proposal for an annual mass swim across the Thames as a live-art event.{{Cite web|url=http://www.swimthethames.co.uk|title=Swim the Thames {{!}} Thames swimming London, UK|last=Sharrocks|first=Amy|website=www.swimthethames.co.uk|access-date=28 July 2017}} Sharrocks is a member of the Walking Artists Network,{{Cite book|last=Morris|first=Blake|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kiy7DwAAQBAJ|title=Walking Networks: The Development of an Artistic Medium|date=5 November 2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield International|isbn=978-1-78661-022-5|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and has been interviewed by Andrew Stuck for the Talking Walking podcast.{{Cite web|url=http://www.talkingwalking.net/amy-sharrocks-talking-walking/|title=Amy Sharrocks talking walking|date=25 May 2013|access-date=11 July 2016}}
= ''pause'' (2005–2010) =
A film shot on Oxford Street in which Sharrocks asked passers-by to hold their breath. It has been exhibited in London, Cambridge, Newcastle, France, Israel.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplace.org.uk/whats-on/forest-fringe|title=Forest Fringe {{!}} The Place|website=www.theplace.org.uk|access-date=6 July 2016}}
= ''SWIM'' (2007) =
Inspired by Frank Perry's film The Swimmer, Sharrocks invited people to 'swim across London from Tooting Bec Lido to Hampstead Heath ponds'. It has been referred to as a 'flesh mobbing'.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/free-for-all-by-amy-sharrocks/|title=Free for all by Amy Sharrocks – Live Art Development Agency|website=Live Art Development Agency|language=en|access-date=22 November 2017}}
= ''drift'' (2009–2010, 2015) =
drift (2009–2010, 2015) saw Sharrocks take participants one at a time for a drift on a boat in swimming pools throughout the United Kingdom, including an overnight drift in the London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.{{Cite web|url=http://queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/drift-competition|title=DRIFT COMPETITION {{!}} Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park|website=queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk|access-date=11 July 2016}}
= ''London is a River City (2009)'' =
London is a River City was a series of public walks exploring London's underground rivers through dowsing and re-mapping. The largest of these was Walbrook.
== ''Walbrook'' (2009) ==
Walbrook saw 65 people walk silently through London at rush-hour, along the surface route of the subterranean Walbrook.{{Cite journal|last=Gratza|first=Agnieszka|date=17 August 2011|title=London Waterworks|journal=PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art|volume=33|issue=3|pages=89–93|doi=10.1162/PAJJ_a_00059|s2cid=57561231|issn=1520-281X}} The walk took place as part of Artsadmin's Two Degrees 2009.
= ''Season for Falling'' and ''Invitation to Fall'' (2013) =
Sharrocks makes work about falling, exploring the trips and stumbles of everyday life.{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Phil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9tD5DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Amy+Sharrocks%22|title=Walking's New Movement|date=18 March 2015|publisher=Triarchy Press|isbn=978-1-909470-71-2|language=en}}:91 She focuses not only on the physical act of falling, but also the conceptual framework around the experience and meaning of falling.{{Cite journal|last=Sharrocks|first=Amy|date=1 August 2013|title=An Anatomy of Falling|journal=Performance Research|volume=18|issue=4|pages=48–55|doi=10.1080/13528165.2013.814368|s2cid=192112064|issn=1352-8165}} Sharrocks won the Sculpture Shock Award from the Royal British Society of Sculptors, which resulted in the exhibition Season for Falling.{{Cite web|url=http://rbs.org.uk/exhibitions/a-season-for-falling|title=Sculpture Shock: Ambulatory—Season for Falling » Exhibitions » Royal British Society of Sculptors|website=rbs.org.uk|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819000552/http://rbs.org.uk/exhibitions/a-season-for-falling|archive-date=19 August 2016|url-status=dead}} She also created An Invitation to Fall on the King's Road with the Museum of London. The work was an open invitation for participants to fall, and questioned notions of risk and shame, and explored the complicity of acts of witness. In 2012, Sharrocks hosted a Study Room Event at the Live Art Development Agency called A Guide to Falling; a full slide show is available at the LADA Study Room.{{Cite book|url=http://sculptureshock.rbs.org.uk/docs/general/study_room_guide_on_falling,_19_April_AS.pdf|title=A Study Guide to Falling|last=Sharrocks|first=Amy|year=2012|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818224643/http://sculptureshock.rbs.org.uk/docs/general/study_room_guide_on_falling,_19_April_AS.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2016|url-status=dead}} She has recently written about the work for the journal Performance Research, in a long form essay titled 'An Anatomy of Falling', which was subsequently reproduced in the Live Art Almanac.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTI2DwAAQBAJ&q=amy+sharrocks+live+art+almanac&pg=PT182|title=The Live Art Almanac|last1=Keidan|first1=Lois|last2=Wright|first2=Aaron|last3=Curtis|first3=Harriet|date=9 June 2016|publisher=Oberon Books|isbn=9781783193233|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
= ''Museum of Water'' (2013–Ongoing) =
The Museum of Water is 'a collection of publicly donated water and accompanying stories', in which the public is invited to browse the collection and add their own water samples and stories.{{Cite web|url=https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/museum-of-water|title=Museum of Water: A live artwork by Amy Sharrocks, 6 – 29 June 2014|website=Somerset House|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715025249/http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/museum-of-water|archive-date=15 July 2016|url-status=dead}} As of 2017, the collection includes over 1000 bottles.{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumofwater.co.uk/water-museum-collection/|title=The Collection – Museum of Water by Amy Sharrocks, London UK|language=en-US|access-date=11 July 2016}} The piece was featured at London's Somerset House in 2014 before touring the UK for three years. It has also toured across Europe and was nominated for European Museum of the Year 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liftfestival.com/european-museum-of-the-year-award-nomination-for-museum-of-water|title=European Museum of the Year Award nomination for Museum of Water {{!}} LIFT|website=www.liftfestival.com|access-date=5 July 2016}} It spent 18 months in the Netherlands 2016–7, and from 2018 the Australian collection will be permanently housed at the Western Australian Museum.
Curation
= ''WALKING WOMEN'' (2016) =
Sharrocks and Clare Qualmann co-curated WALKING WOMEN at Somerset House, London and the Edinburgh Art Festival. The exhibition 'featured over forty women artists working with walking in a variety of media',:89 including Kubra Khademi, Deirdre Heddon and Misha Myers and Mona Hatoum among others. Qualmann and Sharrocks conceived the exhibition in response to their 'growing concern that walking is perceived as a male domain of practice', and it 'created a space for women walking artists to come together and share their practice, experiences and ideas, and learn about the diversity of women working in the field.':98 They also produced a Study Room Guide for the Live Art Development Agency as part of an ongoing effort to reshape the canon of walking to reflect the practices of walking women.Qualmann, C. and A. Sharrocks (2017) WALKING WOMEN: A Study Room Guide on women using walking in their practice. Available at:http://roar.uel.ac.uk/5875/1/Qualmann-WALKING-WOMEN-A-Study-Room-Guide-on-women-using-walking-in-their-practice.pdf (Accessed 28 July 2017)
= ''Do Rivers Dream of Oceans?'' (2016) =
Sharrocks curated Do Rivers Dream of Oceans? as part of WaterFest 2017 in Reading, England as part of the Reading Year of Culture.{{Cite web|url=http://readingplaceofculture.org/2016/05/12/do-rivers-dream-of-oceans-11-june/|title=Do Rivers Dream of Oceans?|date=12 May 2016|website=Reading: Place of Culture|access-date=28 July 2017}} Also in Reading 2017 she organised the Fry's Island Swim, accompanied by the curated programme, What's the point of rivers, anyway?.{{Cite web|title=Reading On Thames Festival Programme|url=https://issuu.com/readingonthamesfestival/docs/rotf_brochure_single_pages|access-date=7 April 2021|website=Issuu|language=en}}
Institutional Critique
In 2020, Sharrocks, with her collaborators, Madeleine Collie and Jade Montserrat, sued Tate for discrimination, victimisation and breach of contract, after she was denied the opportunity to work with Montserrat on the fifth year Tate Exchange{{Cite web |title=The Tate 'Banned' a Black Artist After She Called Out an Art Dealer's Sexual Abuse |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7vxqx/tate-antho |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=www.vice.com |language=en}} programme on Love.{{Cite web |date=31 August 2022 |title=Fair or not, Tate's discrimination row has damaged its reputation among the very artists it needs to attract |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/31/the-tate-on-the-back-foot-in-its-row-with-artist-amy-sharrocks |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=The Art Newspaper – International art news and events}} “Tate's job is to support artists, not donors,” said Sharrocks. “Tate forgot this when they insisted on excluding Jade from a programme she had helped to develop." Tate never admitted liability, but did offer a six-figure settlement after the claim was lodged in the central London county court in January 2022.{{Cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=7 August 2022 |title=‘They moved to silence and erase’: artists who sued Tate speak out |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/aug/07/artists-who-sued-tate-speak-out |access-date=16 March 2023 |issn=0261-3077}} As part of the settlement agreement, Tate insisted the artists drop their Freedom of Information requests. Tate Exchange was subsequently dismantled.
Between 2020 and 2022, the "Um of Water" – an adaptation of Sharrocks's Museum of Water – was developed with a collective of indigenous artists and curators Sara Roque, Leslie McCue, and Elwood Jimmy. Originally slated to premiere at Luminato Festival, Toronto, in June 2022, the "Um of Water" was abruptly cancelled.{{Cite web |date=13 August 2022 |title=Luminato Festival abruptly cancelled an exhibit by an Indigenous collective. Here’s the story behind the controversial decision |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2022/08/13/luminato-festival-abruptly-cancelled-an-exhibit-by-an-indigenous-collective-heres-the-story-behind-the-controversial-decision.html |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=thestar.com |language=en}} The cancellation followed "many mistakes" by Luminato, which they ascribe, in part, to "internalized colonial systems and perspectives".{{Cite web |title=Um of Water – Cancelled |url=https://luminatofestival.com/event/um-of-water-2/ |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=Luminato Festival Toronto |language=en-US}}
In 2024 Sharrocks shared the results of freedom of information requests regarding reports of sexual offences committed at the Reading and Leeds music festivals in an effort to draw attention to their prevalence.{{cite | url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/17/appalling-conviction-rate-for-over-100-sexual-offences-at-leeds-and-reading-festivals | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=‘Appalling’ conviction rate for over 100 sexual offences at Leeds and Reading festivals | first=Chaminda | last=Jayanetti | date=17 August 2024 | access-date=17 August 2024 }}
Awards
- Museum Oskar, Museum of Water, best temporary exhibition, Somerset House, London (2014){{Cite web|url=http://www.museum140.com/2015/02/02/the-museum-oskars-2015-winners-part-1/|title=The Museum Oskars 2015: Winners Part 1 {{!}} Museum140|access-date=6 July 2016}}
- Sculpture Shock award, Royal British Society of Sculptors (2013){{Cite web|url=http://rbs.org.uk/exhibitions/a-season-for-falling|title=Sculpture Shock: Ambulatory—SEASON FOR FALLING » Exhibitions » Royal British Society of Sculptors|website=rbs.org.uk|access-date=5 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819000552/http://rbs.org.uk/exhibitions/a-season-for-falling|archive-date=19 August 2016|url-status=dead}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/profiles/amy-sharrocks/ Biography at ArtsAdmin]
- [https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/resources/catalogue/walking-women-a-study-room-guide-on-women-using-walking-in-their-practice/ WALKING WOMEN: A Study Room Guide on women using walking in their practice (2016)]
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Category:21st-century British artists
Category:Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol
Category:British women artists
Category:University of Paris alumni