Gabriel Birch

My practice addresses the constructed nature of reality; the artworks explore­ the economic, political and virtual networks that define the contemporary experience. I am engaged with understanding the individual subject’s aesthetic relationship to these systems and structures, questioning the thresholds between public, private and fictional spaces. The screen has been an important motif with its simultaneous capacity to rupture and occlude, and its ability to offer escape whilst guaranteeing surveillance and alienation.

Much of my work draws its inspiration from the urban environment; I treat the city as an extension of the studio, as well as a site for performance. I attempt to create a space of encounter, by harnessing the latent power permeating mass media and architecture; it is a stage for the viewer to re-enact and reflect upon their everyday social participation within these archetypes.

The practice manifests through a wide range of processes and materials from improvised objects and architectonic structures to photography, film and durational performance. These works are arranged together as expanded installations, which propose links and juxtapositions celebrating the contemporary abundance of material and information, whilst mourning the deficit of this luxury.