artist projects

curator projects

Re~Construction Signs

Re~construction Signs (install detail), 2020. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Will Alcock.

Re~construction Signs (2020~) is an ongoing project that first arose during the Covid~19 national lockdowns, within a year of global pandemic, climate emergency, racial injustice, heightened inequality and division.

On my allotted daily walks, I began creating miniature interventions around my neighbourhood, signposting plant growth in unlikely places. Referencing yellow safety signs, the works became tiny protest placards: the earth itself calling for change, or announcing change is coming, or perhaps that it is already here in ways unseen and unexpected.

Date
2020 ~ Ongoing
Role
Artist, Curator
Practice
Installation, Site~Specific Intervention, Community Engagement, Participation
Partners

UK New Artists, gal~dem, V&A East Museum, East Bank

Re~construction Signs (install detail), 2020. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Will Alcock.

Re~Construction Signs ~ In the Neighbourhood

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  1. Re~Construction Signs: Recovery in Process, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  2. Re~Construction Signs: Renewal in Progress, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  3. Re~Construction Signs: Renewal in Progress, 2021. Site~specific intervention.
  4. Re~Construction Signs: Life Coming Soon, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  5. Re~Construction Signs: Resilience in Operation, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  6. Re~Construction Signs: Life Coming Soon, 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  7. Re~Construction Signs: Resilience in Operation, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  8. Re~Construction Signs: Resilience in Operation, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  9. Re~Construction Signs: Life Coming Soon, 2021. Site~specific intervention.
  10. Re~Construction Signs: Life Coming Soon, 2020. Site~specific intervention.
  11. Re~Construction Signs: Recovery in Process, 2021. Site~specific intervention.
  12. Re~Construction Signs: Growth Coming Soon, 2021. Site~specific intervention.
  13. Re~Construction Signs: Renewal in Progress, 2021. Site~specific intervention.
  14. Re~Construction Signs: Renewal in Progress, 2021. Site~specific intervention.

Re~Construction Signs ~ Leicester City Centre

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  1. Re~Construction Signs: Recovery in Process, 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Tom Morley.
  2. Re~Construction Signs: Renewal in Progress, 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Tom Morley.
  3. Re~Construction Signs: Life Coming Soon, 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Tom Morley.
  4. Re~Construction Signs: Growth Coming Soon, 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Tom Morley.

The project was selected for the UK New Artists: City Takeover in February 2022. Taking place in Leicester ~ the first area to go into local lockdown ~ and on the cusp of Spring, this iteration became a way of exploring an unfamiliar place for signs of life and potential. Throughout the festival, residents and visitors were encouraged to see the city in new ways and share signs of hope encountered.

Re~Construction Signs ~ Olympic Park

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  1. Installing Re~Construction Signs (2022) in the Olympic Park, Newham, in languages spoken by local communities. Photo by Hallie Primus/ Primrose Films.
  2. Re~Construction Signs: नवीनीकरण जारी है (Renewal in progress ~ Hindi), 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Hallie Primus/ Primrose Films.‍
  3. Re~Construction Signs: কার্যক্রমে সংনম্যতা সম্পৃক্ত (Resilience in Operation ~ Bengali), 2022. Site~specific intervention.‍
  4. Re~Construction Signs: Kalasi gyvybė (Life Coming Soon ~ Lithuanian), 2022. Site~specific intervention.‍
  5. Re~Construction Signs: Vyksta atsinaujinimas (Renewal in Progress ~ Lithuanian), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  6. ‍Re~Construction Signs: সত্বর জীবন ফিরে আসছে (Life Coming Soon ~ Bengali), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  7. ‍Re~Construction Signs: Regeneracja w toku (Recovery in process ~ Polish), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  8. ‍Re~Construction Signs: Regeneracja w toku (Recovery in process ~ Polish), 2022. Site~specific intervention.‍
  9. Re~Construction Signs: नवीनीकरण जारी है (Renewal in progress ~ Hindi), 2022. Site~specific intervention.‍
  10. Re~Construction Signs: વૃદ્ઘિ ટૂંક સમયમાં આવી રહી છે (Growth coming soon ~ Gujarati), 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Hallie Primus/ Primrose Films.‍
  11. Re~Construction Signs: नवीनीकरण जारी है (Renewal in progress ~ Hindi), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  12. ‍Re~Construction Signs: नवीनीकरण जारी है (Renewal in progress ~ Hindi), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  13. ‍Re~Construction Signs: વૃદ્ઘિ ટૂંક સમયમાં આવી રહી છે (Growth coming soon ~ Gujarati), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  14. ‍Re~Construction Signs: नवीनीकरण जारी है (Renewal in progress ~ Hindi), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  15. ‍Re~Construction Signs: વૃદ્ઘિ ટૂંક સમયમાં આવી રહી છે (Growth coming soon ~ Gujarati), 2022. Site~specific intervention.
  16. ‍Re~Construction Signs: Recovery in Process, 2022. Site~specific intervention. Photo by Hallie Primus/ Primrose Films.

In Summer 2022, the project was developed for Utopia/ Dystopia: Getting Back to Normal, commissioned by gal~dem and V&A East for the new East Bank. Situated in the Olympic Park, Newham, signs were placed in languages spoken by local communities. Against a backdrop of large~scale redevelopment, the artworks were subversive in their smallness, questioning which legacies are visible, whose voices are heard, how organic change happens, and who decides what the future looks like.

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Participation and Workshops

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  1. Re~construction Signs translated into languages spoken by local communities, for the Olympic Park, Newham, 2022.
  2. Re~construction Signs in locally~spoken languages, available for the public to plant at the Olympic Park, Newham, 2022.
  3. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  4. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  5. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  6. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  7. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  8. Renewal in Paradise, sign~making workshop for local residents in Paradise Gardens, East London, 2020.
  9. Drawing Connections, mapping and planting workshop for young people at Attenborough Arts Centre, UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022. Photo by Katie Franklin.
  10. Drawing Connections, mapping and planting workshop for young people at Attenborough Arts Centre, UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022. Photo by Katie Franklin.
  11. Drawing Connections, mapping and planting workshop for young people at Attenborough Arts Centre, UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.
  12. Seed~bomb and sign~making activity packs for the Drawing Connections workshop, UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.
  13. Seed~bomb and sign~making activity packs for the Drawing Connections workshop, UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.
  14. Re~construction Signs sent to audiences participating in the UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.
  15. Re~construction Signs sent to audiences participating in the UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.
  16. Photos of Re~construction Signs spotted and shared by members of the public during the UKNA City Takeover, Leicester, 2022.

Integral to this work, I’ve developed a range of community engagement projects inviting audiences to participate and respond.

‍Renewal in Paradise was a sign~making workshop in local park, Paradise Gardens, bringing residents together to make and place their own symbols of hope and healing.

‍Drawing Connections was a workshop for young people from Leicester/shire, imagining new ways to see the city and printing collective maps on plantable paper. This included a seed~bomb and sign~making activity pack, for planting new life along their paths and bringing renewal to their own neighbourhoods.

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"Kerr's works... are subversive in their subtlety, questioning which legacies are visible and which voices are heard, as well as who decides what the future looks like."

~ Leyla Reynolds, Curator for gal~dem

Drawing Connections was commissioned by UK New Artists, as part of their young peoples’ programme.

Utopia/ Dystopia: Getting Back to Normal was curated by gal~dem and commissioned by V&A East. Read more about it here and here.

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Kirsty Kerr
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Shards and Seams
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