Statement

I am interested in the 'body intelligent'  - those innate and experiential set of conditions that are understood phenomenologically rather than through a lens of representational intellect and/or schooling relating to art and its contexts. The work often takes the form of solo performances, interactive installations, publications, interventions, sculptures as well as a variety of other strategies to explore these notions. I am not a particularly good artist, but I do have a lot of fun.

I'm not sure if admitting that makes me a better artist, or worse.

My current area of interest is the intersection between an expected physical experience, and the possibility for an alternate reading of that experience – as well as the reassessment of systems that can occur from that shift in perception. In the past, this has taken the form of falling walls, sticky floors, firing myself out of giant catapults, kidnapping city councillors, climbing buildings and blowing things up, to name just a few of my ridiculous projects. The impulse for this type of work comes from an interest in theories related to socially engaged practices and inviting a wide spectrum of the public into a shared cultural debate.

Currently, I am working on a publication that looks at Live Art in all its myriad forms and aims to deconstruct preconceived notions of the genre, as well as inject a critical discourse that hopes to invigorate the ideology and structures behind it. I am also doing several small performances over the year and have been invited to attend an international artist conference in Pakistan.

The artist Nathalie De Brie once referred to my practice as 'Fearless'. My friend Marjie once said: "Anthony has a lot of ideas. Not all of them are good."

Biography

I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in the Middle East, the UK and Canada. Originally, I obtained a degree in Creative Writing in Vancouver, and during my last year of study, the award winning GreenBoatHouse Books published my poetry book Moving Pictures, and my novel was a semi-finalist in the Robertson Davis/Chapters First Novel Competition.

Later, much later, I dropped my writerly façade for something far less difficult and studied photography and sculpture at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, also in Vancouver. This eventually led to me to taking the MFA course at the Glasgow School of Art, and now currently resides in that dark & angry city. I have exhibited/performed in Vancouver, Budapest, New York, Mexico City, Beijing, Norway, Germany, and Iceland as well as across the UK and Ireland. I have recently completed a 6 months residency at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, which culminated in a successful exhibition.

I am currently editing/curating/organizing a publication on Live Art, which is to be published in June (www.itsnothard.eu).