Tenth Anniversary Short Films – Susannah Hewlett

Watch February’s film

The Live Art Generation Game by Susannah Hewlett

“Live Art is the name of the game and I wanna play the game with you……”

Credits:
Filmed by Kim Noble.
Voice over: Peter Beck.
Music: Robin Forrest.
Sound mix: Simon Keep.
Set and Technical Assistant: Gino Saccone.
With thanks to Carmen Saccone and Tom Johnson.

Film Description:

Like much of Hewlett’s work the The Live Art Generation Game subverts an emblematic moment from popular culture.

It hijacks the climactic challenge from the bygone Saturday night television game-show – The Generation Game  – where the contestant must memorise as many prizes as possible seen passing before them on a conveyer belt.

In this version there is an abrupt substitution. Potential prizes are replaced with a distilled selection of stereotypical opportunities that mirror what live artists might hope to attain at some point in their career; some of the prizes reflecting the support and resources available from The Live Art Development Agency.

The prizes range from high status achievements to more fantastical daydreams – each with their own visual representation.  For example, “Life long support from a mystery benefactor” is symbolised by a framed photo of what appears to be Peter Stringfellow with his eyes blacked out. “A two-year Grants for the Arts award from Arts Council England, London” sees a wad of cash perched on top of a gold satin mound.

All the prizes balance crudely on plastic trays – satin display stands offering some sort of token grandeur to the low budget set. An accompanying voice-over lists the items while a female artist tries her best to memorise as many as possible, knowing that her career depends on it.

“Everything you remember you will take home with you tonight….”

Hewlett’s practise traverses gallery, theatre and other performance contexts working in live art to create multi-faceted live, video, installation and audio works. She has been commissioned by S1 Artspace , Beaconsfield Gallery, and Duckie. In 2008 she was selected to make new work for the Live Art UK Touring Commission and is an Artsadmin bursary recipient.

www.susannahhewlett.com

In 2005 Susannah’s work was shown as part of East End Collaborations and she has continued her relationship with The Live Art Development Agency since then.  She was particularly supported by the Agency throughout the Live Art UK Touring Commission in 2008.