Beneath The Surface

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Part of Beneath The Surface, ‘The What It Is Rite 01’ (2015) has been developed via walking and bus journeys across Newport (Wales, UK) eavesdropping on conversations. A collection of phrases particular to the local vernacular were collated and edited.

My work is concerned with positive and empathic experiences. In previous works I have collated and exhibited positive affirmation phrases. In delving below the surface of Newport, the word ‘safe’ seemed to have a particular resonance. Its local use as a positive affirmation statement, as a greeting and as an alternative to ‘yes’ , made it a particularly pertinent starting point for a work. Its more usual meaning of security points to the tension between local and non-local perceptions of Newport.