Tatton Park Biennial: Flights of Fancy

Co-exhibitors:

Charbel Ackermann, Brass Art, Tom Dale, Simon Faithfull, Tessa Farmer, Jem Finer, Olivier Grossetete, Hilary Jack, Juneau Projects, Dinu Li, Pointfive, Aura Satz, Cherry Smyth, Ultimate Holding Company and Sarah Woodfine.

The inaugural exhibition in 2008 set the scene for future Biennials in 2010 and 2012, with a commitment to place, site and multiple histories encapsulated in the themes of each Biennial year.

Danielle Arnaud & Jordan Kaplan are the Biennial curators for 2008-2012, bringing together a trilogy of events committed to the production of new, site-specific works that address time in a non-linear manner - future, past, present - to breathe new life into old debates and old ideas into new contexts.

The Biennial in the first three editions begins with the site itself, with each edition producing works that, necessarily, move from the local to a more universal understanding of context and site-specificity. The 2008 Biennial focussed on the collections held at Tatton Park; the 2010 Biennial examined ideas about identity, its inherent politics and placement on a fluctuating planet.

2012 explores flight in its most dynamic and cerebral sense - what we dream of, what we are capable of and the flourishing of the imagination in a shrinking world view. This third edition of the Biennial considers the human urge to fly, to accomplish the impossible in fragile times. Its artists are exploring the impact of experimentation on delicate eco-systems, looking backward and forward for guidance, wisdom and/or humour. Their resulting works are experiments in time and space.

Tatton Park Biennial is dedicated to experimentation and evolution. The works commissioned are never known quantities at the point of commissioning. The Biennial offers itself up as a creative laboratory for artistic experimentation within the confines of an historically loaded setting.