Summerhall

Tamsyn Challenger: Monoculture

1 August – 26 September 2014

Monoculture is derived from an agricultural term that identifies the industrial farming of a large scale single crop. 

During 2012 and early 2013, political artist Tamsyn Challenger created a series of works whilst in residence at Beaconsfield Space, Vauxhall, which comprised elements of habitual performance, viral infiltration, a small farm, feminine identity and the impacts of social media; drawing parallels with historical modes of control and mass cultivation.

These themes informed an installation premiered in February 2013 that sought to link earlier forms of human suppression by pseudo-sexual torture (predominantly exacted upon women who asserted their individuality) with cultural homogenisation on a global scale. The sculpture is highly coloured, using the trademark blues of Facebook and Twitter, and some of the objects are decorated with text taken from social networks. 

Mon-Sun, 11am-9pm 

Outside August: Mon-Sun, 11am-6pm