MANIFEST: Art & Policy with Christopher Samuel, Dryden Goodwin & Semiconductor
30 November - 16 December
Free & open to all
Meet the Artists: Thu 7 December, 4 - 7pm
Christopher Samuel
Dryden Goodwin
Semiconductor
What role can artists play in policymaking? This is the question three artists have been exploring over the last year in a series of embedded placements working with policy teams as part of the MANIFEST programme. See how:
Christopher Samuel brought his practice - rooted in identity and disability politics, often echoing the many facets of his own lived experience – to a policy team working on the Community Ownership Fund;
Dryden Goodwin combined drawings, filming and sound recordings to create works in relation to Changing Futures, a multiyear cross-government programme aiming to improve outcomes for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage;
Semiconductor mapped out multiple historical perspectives of time, working with the team which provides advice on the policy implications of medium-to-long term societal and technological trends.
Together the artists have shed light on the potentiality of art in policy spaces, from bringing out the human elements in the policy system to engaging and communicating more widely on policy issues. MANIFEST has been curated and produced by SRG Bennett, co-head of Policy Lab, a team which seeks to radically improve policy through design, innovation and people-centred approaches. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has funded the artists to spend time in departments and the Civil Service Policy Profession Unit has provided invaluable support to the programme from within government. Our other partners, Kings College London, CVAN England and UAL have provided important connections to artist networks, curatorial support and evaluation approaches.
Documentation images courtesy of Policy Lab.
Christopher Samuel is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in identity and disability politics, often echoing the many facets of his own lived experience. Seeking to interrogate his personal understanding of identity as a disabled person impacted by inequality and marginalisation, Christopher responds with urgency, humour, and poetic subversiveness within his work. This approach aims to make his work accessible to a wider audience, allowing others to identify and relate to a wider spectrum of human experience.
Dryden Goodwin through drawing, film and sound, explores individual and group identities and narratives, the infrastructure of the city and its effect on human dynamics. His work uses still and moving image, sound and installation, in galleries and public spaces, centring on people’s personal, social and working lives. Contexts include transport networks, hospitals, airports and prisons - seeking to capture people’s physical appearances and reflect upon aspects that remain out-of-sight - revealing desires, philosophies, vulnerabilities, experiences and motivations.
Semiconductor is UK artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. Over twenty-five years they have become known for an innovative body of work, which explores the material nature of our world and how we experience it through the lenses of science and technology. They occupy a unique position in the art world, blending, in philosophically compelling ways, experimental moving image techniques, scientific research and digital technologies.