In 2007, Adam Chodzko’s project ‘M-Path’ invited visitors to the Hugh Lane Gallery to swap their shoes for a second-hand pair for the duration of their visit; a form of parade costume for their procession through the gallery viewing the collection on display, as a result ‘M-path’ was remade each time it was exhibited. The project was one of four works collectively entitled ‘THEN’ and was commissioned through ‘Breaking Ground, the Ballymun Per Cent for Art Scheme’, as his work openly subverted expectations of what ‘public art’ is and who it is for.
The 300 pairs of shoes were donated through door to door collections as a result of distributing flyers in Ballymun and the Rathmines area, and at the end of the exhibition the donated shoes went to Oxfam Ireland. Chodzko explains:
“We leave our shoes at the entrance to a mosque, a Japanese temple or even to a friend’s house who has ‘special’ floors. We swap our shoes in bowling alleys and ice-skating rinks. So what happens when people from across Dublin donate their shoes, which visitors to the gallery will then wear? Will the unfamiliar footwear influence the way you’re looked at by others or the way you actually walk through the gallery? How will anyone know whether the shoes you’re wearing are your own or someone else’s? ‘M-Path’ is how you end up walking when you’re in someone else’s shoes!”
Chodzko’s artworks explore the interactions and possibilities of human behaviour and speculates how, through the visual, we might best connect with others, which now, more than ever, is incredibly important to reflect on. In order for work to continue within the Arts, we are becoming increasingly dependent on how we interact online and reach out to communities, while we adjust to these new environments and the effects on our wellbeing and behaviour to others.
A lecture titled, ‘THEN, Before THEN and Next’ was held at the Hugh Lane Gallery in January 2008.
A catalogue for ‘THEN’ was produced and included essays by Caoimhin Mac Giolla Leith, Andrew Wilson and Jaki Irvine available on http://www.adamchodzko.com/publications/.
-
Profile
Adam Chodzko (b.1965) lives and works in Whitstable, Kent, UK, working across media, exploring our conscious and unconscious behaviour, social relations and collective imaginations through artworks that are propositions for alternative forms of ‘social media.’ Since 1991 Chodzko has exhibited extensively world-wide with works included in international and private collections, and most recently received the DACS Art360 award.
Adam Chodzko: M-PATH, 2007.
Adam Chodzko: M-PATH, 2007.
Adam Chodzko: M-PATH, 2007.
Adam Chodzko: M-PATH, 2007.
