“a sustained investigation into self-portraiture”

A sustained investigation into self-portraiture, Nihilistic Optimistic further deconstructs the relationship between materiality and form which has been so intrinsic to the practice of Tim Noble and Sue Webster.

Constructed principally from discarded wood and other materials, the artists describe the sculptures as ‘street compositions’. Each work appears abstracted or even unfinished as the debris of the artists’ studio – gathered sawdust, wood shavings and tools – lie scattered around the sculptures. A sense of urban chaos is implicit within the construction of the surrounding gallery environment; this is not an isolated white cube space, but one which remains connected to the studio and the streets – to the source of these artworks.

The publication includes photographs of the works in the exhibition, as well as a contribution from Gustav Metzger, an essay by Jon Savage and an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist and Tim Noble & Sue Webster.