TEXT BY文字提供：ART.ZIP
IMAGES COURTESY OF 圖片提供：Launch Pad 發射台
Launch Pad is delighted to present the second site-specific commission at the home of Launch Pad founder and contemporary art patron, Sarah Elson. San Francisco-based artist Josh Faught will have free rein in part of Elson’s West London family home to create several works in response to the space.
Josh Faught (b.1979) makes hand-woven and embellished sculptures and installations that address personal and cultural identity. For Launch Pad, Faught’s commission titled “The Mauve Decade” refers to the period known as the “Gay Nineties,” or 1890s London. The title encapsulates aesthetic, political and historical shifts and fashions that were at play during the development of suburban London. Staying physically safe, protected from unsanitary conditions and airborne pollutants of the city centre in later 19th century was a primary driver in the exodus of Britain’s wealthier citizens to the suburbs. Faught is interested in “this space of transition and restlessness that led people to create homes and environments that were boundaries, protective havens, and sites of isolation.” As Faught explains, the colour mauve “is an incredibly divisive color; at once garish and slightly noble.” Derived from aniline purple dyes that were later discovered to be completely toxic, mauve was originally more of a royal purple. However, with sunlight and time, the colour degraded to a dustier hue. “The Mauve Decade” will address themes of transition and time, danger and protection, occupying the centre of the house with several works.
Launch Pad was established January 2014 to offer a platform to emerging artists who have not yet exhibited their work in the UK. Up to three artists a year will be invited to respond to and exhibit within the domestic environment of the collector’s home. The programme endeavours to open and expose the commissioning process to the public, and as such, is a unique proposition for patron and artist alike. In an era of increasing hybridity between public and private art collections, the Launch Pad series explores this paradigm, operating as a laboratory for new, commissioned work.
“發射台”項目最新的藝術定製委託作品在項目創始人兼當代藝術贊助人莎拉·埃爾森（Sarah Elson）的宅邸進行展出。此次受委託的藝術家是來自舊金山的喬希·福特（Josh Faught），在此項目中，藝術家可以在莎拉的住所進行自由的發揮創作。
藝術家喬希·福特，生於1979年，他通過使用手工編織、裝飾雕塑與裝置的形式來表達個人及文化觀點。福特將此次的委托作品命名為《淡紫色的十年》，指的是“同志90年代”，也就是指十九世紀最後十年的倫敦。作品名稱影射了那個時期下美學、政治、歷史的變化，還有倫敦邊郊地區發展過程中時尚所起的作用。在19世紀晚期，為了避開市中心嘈雜混亂和環境和污濁的空氣，富人們開始紛紛轉移到倫敦的郊區生活。福特對這一現象產生了濃厚的興趣——居所的轉變與躁動迫使人們重新創建家園和環境，嘗試構建一個與世隔絕的、類似世外桃源的地方。福特說，“淡紫色種非常分裂的顏色，時而顯得花俏，時而又帶點高貴”，淡紫色本來是皇家愛用的一種紫色，從苯胺紫染料中提取的，但後來才發現這種製作工藝是對人體有害的，而且隨著陽光照射和時間的推移，原本的淡紫色也會變得越來越灰。《淡紫色的十年》圍繞著“轉變與時間”、“危險與保護”這樣的主題而展開，這一系列的作品均會在埃爾森家中展示。
“發射台”項目創立於2014年1月，主旨是為那些尚未在英國舉辦過展覽的新生代藝術家們提供一個展示的平臺。項目一年邀請三位藝術家在收藏家的宅邸中舉辦展覽。這個項目將竭力為大眾展示整個藝術定製的過程，同樣的，這對於贊助人和藝術家來說也是一個前所未有的命題。在公共和私人藝術藏品日益豐富的年代，“發射台”正努力探索著這種全新的創作模式，不斷打造新的藝術委託項目。
