Blom & Ramsay

Private View: Code of Conduct

Thanks to S.E. Barnet, our Art Guru

and to Kaori Homma throughout Foundation

Blom & Ramsay are a duo based in London, made up of Josh Blom and Zara Ramsay.

Formed in 2011, initial areas of interest included site specifity, repeti-tion and difference and institutional critique. These themes play out in the roles and site of Gary & Kim Hobs, siblings who are desperate to be part of a glamorous art industry. These characters exist as physical copies of Blom & Ramsay however exist as a different entity altogether. Making their debut at The Saatchi Gallery, London in 2011; the Hobs stood in Gallery space 2, wearing Saatchi T-shirts for 30 minutes and were treated like Gallery staff by the visitor. The employees were less accepting and after a meeting with the Gallery manager the pair were forced to leave. Gary and Kim Hobs remain unemployed by any art fac-ulty despite their efforts. Through these characters a somewhat imperial practice formed, acting as a catalyst to unveil where institutional critique stands today.

Displacement forms an important part of Blom & Ramsay’s practice, us-ing the site as material to play with, exploring and sometimes challeng-ing it’s structural framework, agenda and context. Through their inves-tigation of re-siting the duo consider the definition of the site and how it can be recontextualised through intervention. This break down of the site also links to their interest in branding and how it has come to be constructed.

A thread of satire runs through their work which oftens engages the audi-ence in an ambiguous interactivity; in their displacement they shift ones perception of the site.

Gold Dolly DeliveryPerformance

Photographed by Alice Watts-Jones

Private View: Code of Conduct

This series of works began with an engagement with the opening event within an art context, looking into how this is executed coupled with the modes of presentation. Following on from a visit to Amsterdam, our in-terests chanelled into the relationship between the show and the site through the recontextualisation of the Red Light District; the girls’ as cu-rators of their own ‘show’ objectified themselves to be sold. In our dis-placement we pose questions regarding value and what you get for your money, drawing parralels with donations to the art institution and how this money is invested. Our re-coding and de-coding of the site investi-gates how a structure can mould art’s meaning to modulate it’s cultural and economic value.

Your Money Makes It Happen

A window illuminated in red on the second floor of the gallery space is how the work is seen from street view. Behind the window hang red curtains coupled with a donation box which sits in the corridor outside of the space.

The Red Light District is re-sited in a gallery context with the red lights referencing the booths found in Amsterdam. Inside the space, the booths however are empty, stripped down to minimalist display with only a haze left emitting through the curtain. These signifiers of the Red Light District are reinforced by the absence of any ‘room-scape’. Instead stands a donation box outside the room creating an ambiguty between the miss-ing girl and the exchange for money, which also makes one consider the private nature of funding within the institution. By re-contextualizing this exchange, the structures of the two sites are played upon.

Please donate?

7 minutes Performance

Photographed by S.E. Barnet

*duration of purchase upon collection lasts maximum of 20 minutes

Gary and Kim Hobs Silent Auction All proceeds to Now & Future: Japan, Christies Auction House

05/03/2012 Contemporary Art Closing Time: 21.30

Gary and Kim Hobs - XXX

Item #[22]

Lot Description:

Gary and Kim Hobs (2011 – present) Performative Sculpture*, circa 2012 76.8 x 59 x 78.7 in. (195 x 150 x 200cm) Detail #1: White, Tall, Skinny, Blonde Value: €50 [41.71 GBP] Minimum bid: €40 [33.37 GBP] Minimum bid increase: €10 [8.34 GBP]

Donated by: Gary and Kim Hobs

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Guaranteed Purchase

Name Address Phone Number Bid Amount

Now & Future: Japan

24 Hr Sculpture

Showtime!Sculpture with light installation

Works

Your Money Makes It HappenDetail 1 - Donation box*£1,003

Detail 2 - Red lights(Commissioned)

Showtime!Bucket & mop£150

24 HrStand, rope barrier, wig£240

Gold Dolly£170

*Contents included

For sales or any other enquiriesBlomRamsay@gmail.com

Thanks to Kev

Water Jet Cuttingwww.onestopsealing.com