![2vud4xant0mk1qu4xcrjsg](https://axis-arts.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/user-uploads/user-12343/2vud4xant0mk1qu4xcrjsg.jpg?w=600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1709390241&s=02b5e2bd7b95177f65e000d139de970f)
X?Y: How to put up a shelf (V)
By
Joe Hancock
2017
![2vud4xant0mk1qu4xcrjsg](https://axis-arts.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/user-uploads/user-12343/2vud4xant0mk1qu4xcrjsg.jpg?w=600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1709390241&s=02b5e2bd7b95177f65e000d139de970f)
Ian Hinchcliffe
- Live Art
- Installation Art
- Sculpture
- Participatory & Collaborative
- Sculpture
- Performance
- Intervention
- Work
- Labour
- Installation
- Curation
- Gender
- Commission
- Curatorial
- Exhibition
Dimensions
600 x 800 x 300 cm / 4hr:30min
wood, steel brackets, screws, tools, stepladders, lights, sign, walls
The fifth iteration of ‘How to put up a shelf’ comprises a co-investigative performance into the politics of curating and fabrication. Using the 'not-equal-to' symbol as a representation of unequal shelving, a female curator and male artist work in tandem to construct two shelves. This performative intervention aims to create a more level playing field whilst framing and challenging prejudices regarding positions of power in industry.
The ‘How to put up a shelf’ series – background
Before I became an artist, I was an handyman. When people used to discover this about me, over half would ask the same question:
– So do you put up shelves and that sort of thing?
– Yes…
In order to discover why that question arose so frequently, I devised an experiment to investigate in detail how I put up a shelf.
I videoed myself putting up a shelf in my studio, and then reviewed the footage, recording all the decisions, no matter how small, that I could see myself making. Taking a decision to comprise a question and an answer (Q. Do I want that? + A. Yes. = D. I want that), I wrote what I believed were the questions I was asking during the process, e.g. ‘Is it level?’, ‘Is the drill set to the correct speed?’.
The resultant list of 553 questions became the first part of my open-ended preoccupation with shelves.
www.joe-hancock.com/shelf5
![Lwoca253yu6snnwbhfrmw](https://axis-arts.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/user-uploads/user-12343/lwoca253yu6snnwbhfrmw.jpg?w=600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1709390246&s=b9ca8b191fd8c4a76a7f3107b676f3d4)
Ian Hinchcliffe
![1ophlqmeq0aeq8zlsqmusq](https://axis-arts.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/user-uploads/user-12343/1ophlqmeq0aeq8zlsqmusq.jpg?w=600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1709390241&s=2673a26b93b2d6bd2480b661e47bf723)
Ian Hinchcliffe
![Aqxp2t7zkwzcjhjdkmuxw](https://axis-arts.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/user-uploads/user-12343/aqxp2t7zkwzcjhjdkmuxw.jpg?w=600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1709390242&s=cbdef3a9b3469fcaba594b274f508bb2)
Ian Hinchcliffe
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