about
James Avery and Eleanor Avery are British born and educated artists who work both collaboratively and individually on their own projects. OUR DAY OUT has been an ongoing collaboration between the two artists. The first stages of OUR DAY OUT, city limits and daytripper, were supported by the Australia Council Arts and Craft Strategy, and through a studio residency at Spike Island in Bristol, UK. OUR DAY OUT yourspace was supported by Artspace, Sydney through a studio residency and exhibition. James and Eleanor's most recent collaborations, Forum and Forum (sorella), were completed during a studio residency at The British School at Rome, Italy. This residency was supported by the Australia Council Visual Arts Board.
OUR DAY OUT is an installation/sculpture project which engages the audience in a semi-participatory excursion through the sculptural and emotional terrain of armchair tourism. It’s a real day out, a day sightseeing, a tourist attraction.
OUR DAY OUT has been evolving in a number of formats since it’s launch in 2004. The first of the OUR DAY OUT collaborations, OUR DAY OUT city limits was the culmination of a 3 month studio residency at Spike Island in Bristol, UK during the summer of 2005 and OUR DAY OUT daytripper was shown in Brisbane, Australia in 2006. OUR DAY OUT yourspace, was shown at Artspace Sydney, Australia following a 5 week studio residency in the Artspace studios. OUR DAY OUT space mission was shown at Metro Arts, Brisbane, Australia in 2007. Subsequent collaborations, Flightdeck at Sherman Galleries, Sydney and Forum and Forum (sorella), completed at The British School at Rome, Italy, have dropped the OUR DAY OUT prefix but still remain closely connected to the original concept.
James and Eleanor are interested in ideas, not conclusions. Individually, James makes works which investigate temporary living accommodation and containment. Eleanor explores landscape through intervention and dislocation. The strong links between their practices propelled them to collaborate on a largescale and ongoing project which could not have been realised alone. It’s a collaborative process, a daytrip for two.
all images and text © copyright the artists 2009
