Artist statement
They Are Here is a collaborative and multi-disciplinary practice steered by Helen Walker and Harun Morrison since 2006.
Each They Are Here project has its own unique collaborative structure and hierarchies that emerge through the contributions of various invitees. These contributions may lie in the development of a work or its delivery. The potential of various models of collaboration is an on-going and foundational concern of They Are Here's practice. We continuously explore group dynamics, divisions of authorship and the effects of temporary engagements with practitioners of other disciplines.
We work as gatherers, editors, assemblers and facilitators to generate work.
They Are Here work across media and types of site, having shown work in theatres, galleries, former warehouses/ shops, online and civic spaces. Institutions we have developed or presented work include: Battersea Arts Centre, Camden Arts Centre, CCA Glasgow, Chisenhale Gallery, Man & Eve Gallery, LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) Tate Modern, South London Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery.
They Are Here invite a high level of engagement on the part of their invitees. We often take populist systems or experiences (Myspace, a film promo launch party, a haunted-house) as a framework for ideas. These events may involve the participants engaging with a narrative external to the event itself to unlock it. Other works use strategies and models of participation derived from 'social gaming'.
Qualifications and training
- 2008 MA Critical Writing & Curatorial Practice, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London (Harun Morrison)
- 2005 MA Communication Art & Design (Moving image), Royal College of Art, London (Helen Walker)
- 2003 Diploma in Theatre Design, Central St Martins, London (Harun Morrison)
- 2003 BA Hons Graphic Design (Moving image), Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design, London (Helen Walker)
- 2000 BTEC Foundation Art & Design, Kingston University, Surrey (Helen Walker)
- 2000 BTEC Foundation Art & Design, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London (Harun Morrison)
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Their Wonderlands curated by They Are Here, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
- 2012 Somersault, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
- 2012 Prince Albert’s Web, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
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