Collaboration with artist Sean Roy Parker, illustrating his essay for Sunlight Doesn't Need a Pipeline, curated by Dani Admiss.

"Vague Decay Now! is a stirring, speculative text by artist Sean Roy Parker exploring the dematerialisation of art production.Thinking through various art world scenarios — white cube gallery, private view, and art installations about the environment — Parker draws our attention to the hypocrisy of infinite material extraction which relies on oppressive labour chains and glaring examples of establishment greenwashing.As an antidote to contemporary production in the Global North, Parker suggests ways artists can have better relationships with the land. Through digestion, fermentation and various material lifecycles he calls for artists to destrategise decarbonisation in their own practice. He asks: Why does art need to exist indefinitely when we don’t have a forever secured?The essay is accompanied by images by British-North Macedonian illustrator Lauren Doughty. Parker posted Doughty a parcel of dried daffodil flower heads, dehydrated pink sauerkraut, powdered beetroot, and floor sweepings he had collected in the Spring. Doughty then made an ink from each — as well as custom paper from studio scraps, egg shells and flower heads — and built up a multi-layered image over time. The images show the different stages of production, becoming more complex as different inks are layered on to create one final image."

You can read the full essay on the SDNAP! website.

Funded by Kingston University @kingstonuniversity, the Stanley Picker Trust and Arts Council England.