2017 – 2019
The Hope pub is an installation that combines artist made pub elements and found objects, these elements are taken and put together to create a fictional pub from a bygone era.
The artwork is a fusion of local history and family history, it is a fictional pub with a bold name. The Hope is a place to host conversation around family, the pub, why we are losing so many family and independently owned pubs today and how our social class affects where we feel comfortable, but any topic of conversation is welcome.
Press: Daily Echo
@ Divine Locale – Derby 2017
@ Liminality – Cambridge Artworks 2017
THE HOPE
‘THE HOPE’ is a replica of a Brixton pub sign. It is not the image of a cosy country pub with a hand painted sign of the kings head or single beautiful rose to distinguish it from its neighbouring properties; it is a sign thats lettering choices typify the era of post-war architecture, especially 60’s and 70’s brutalist architecture. This typeface is well known and recognisable, found on many buildings and in advertisements, in the post war era. It is the signage from a very working class pub, a pub full of history and community, with its own alcoholic regulars and quirky landlords. Although the pub has not existed for a fair few years, and the community are no longer able to get a pint for 20p, it is still remembered through archives and anecdotal stories of it’s local people.
particleboard, weather resistant paint, mild steel, fixings. 2000mm x 190mm x 18mm
THE HOPE II
The Hope II is another wooden replica pub sign, based from archival images from the 1950’s of the Ice House signage, Shirley Warren, Southampton. A homage to my grandparents pub. This iteration was commissioned by Mia Delve for K6 gallery
In the heart of the Strong Country
Text reads:
“‘THE HOPE’ is where you met your husband, and that’s where he stayed, spending his wages in the very place he earned them.
‘THE HOPE’ is where your father was when he wasn’t around. On the rare occasion you did see him; he asked you what you had been up to over a steak and kidney pie with ketchup and a glass of lemonade.
‘THE HOPE’ is the pub your grandfather was a regular at, and the last place you saw him before he passed away. He was drinking orange juice and house vodka through a hole in his neck.”
Beer mats 93mm x 93mm digital print on recycled card material – original run of 50 mats
Always Served Here
coir mat, painted slogan – 400mm x 700mm
The Hope @ The Art House
New Road Theatre and Fuse Collective
Collaboration with New Road Theatre and Fuse Collective
THE HOPE written by Deborah Gearing
a promenade play, a transitory experience, a walk to the pub
Saturday April 20th 7.30pm
meet outside the Alex pub, Bellevue Road
Rachel knows nothing. She thinks she’s off for a quiet drink before she gets married. RACHEL: Oh my God, there’s a body. That changes things. What to do is obvious, isn’t it? How you see it depends on what you see, and in what order… It’s one of those stories you heard from a friend, so might be a little vague, but some of it is true. You just have to let it play out and take it in. There’s music. And people playing people they know, people they’ve met. Or people they’d like to meet. See all this. See it all. Where I am. It’s where I am. Map this. Anchor me. My city, shrug me into you. Embrace me and hold the sea of pixels at bay. This is real. One foot. This is real. One foot forward. Run just run.
Come to the HOPE, haven’t seen you for ages.
Come to the HOPE and talk about it.
https://www.deborahgearing.uk/the-hope
The Hope at Salvum Interiors
Arches resident Amy Scott-Pillow was given the opportunity to install her installation ‘The Hope’ at the final venue of the play of the same name by Playwright Deborah Gearing in Old Northam Road (Salvum Interiors). For one night only The Hope was imagined as a modern day venue where the fascinating and thought provoking play took place. Amy’s instillation sat alongside and within the play itself, brought to life by actors playing the role of a father and daughter that haven’t seen each other in a very long time. A peek into a historic narrative alongside a contemporary play. This event is the latest incarnation of Amy’s work that has explored her family history in Southampton.
@ Open Studios
