Alex Margo Arden
Rock Paper Scissors
7 November 2023 - 7 January 2024
Weston Studio | Burlington Gardens
Tues–Sun: 10am–6pm
Fri: 10am–9pm
Free, no booking required.
Discover the collages of Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton researched through performance by Alex Margo Arden.
Rock Paper Scissors applies methods of performance, reproduction, deviance and reenactment to explore how we can (re)interpret and understand queer histories.
This free display reflects on Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton’s collages created on library books belonging to Islington Public Library from 1959–1962, showcasing their original works and investigating their making through reconstruction.
RA Schools student Alex Margo Arden has retraced the journeys of images used within their collages in order to uncover the original sources of the books which they manipulated. Arden subsequently reassembled new versions of the works which are almost identical to the originals. These replicas are made with period-authentic materials: withdrawn library books, purchased from second-hand booksellers.
Arden reconsiders the actions of Halliwell and Orton through re-making, as every cut and paste is repeated and the compositions are rematerialised.
Works by Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton on loan from the Islington Local History Centre.
Framing kindly supported by
Gallery
Library, 2017–2023
Slate, 2023
![Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [I–IV]](https://cloudinary.royalacademy.org.uk/royal-academy/image/upload/c_limit,cs_tinysrgb,dn_72,f_auto,fl_progressive.keep_iptc,w_850/r0ptzdqhcmbpfc73q2qg.jpg "Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [I–IV]")
Permission has not been requested nor granted [I–IV], 2023
![Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [V–VII]](https://cloudinary.royalacademy.org.uk/royal-academy/image/upload/c_limit,cs_tinysrgb,dn_72,f_auto,fl_progressive.keep_iptc,w_850/qkslbaosqdqogbwoelov.jpg "Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [V–VII]")
Permission has not been requested nor granted [V–VII], 2023
![Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [VIII–X]](https://cloudinary.royalacademy.org.uk/royal-academy/image/upload/c_limit,cs_tinysrgb,dn_72,f_auto,fl_progressive.keep_iptc,w_850/knrmapw55aaktwyqzckk.jpg "Alex Margo Arden, Permission has not been requested nor granted [VIII–X]")
Permission has not been requested nor granted [VIII–X], 2023
