With an interest in expressing visual humour and a little inspiration from a Swedish artist, Joseph Breikers and Timothy Kerr have collaborated to produce a highly unique exhibition.
'Eight Embarrassed Males' began as a misremembering of 'Ten Embarrassed Men' by Annika Ström, a comedic work featuring ten men wearing identical clothing and highly embarrassed expressions.
The Brisbane artists' interpretation has since grown into a large-scale installation encompassing drawing, sculpture, sound, and video, highlighting their aptitude for combining humour with contemporary art. Joseph and Timothy took some time to answer questions about their exhibition.
Why did 'Ten Embarrassed Men' initially inspire you?
We both really like Annika Ström’s artwork, whose simple, and often humorous, performative works interrogate the body in social space. 'Ten Embarrassed Men' is a standout work for us because of the way it uses physical comedy to critically engage with the institution of the “art fair.”
How does your work differ from Annika Ström's?
The exhibition takes inspiration from Ström’s work, and uses it as a reference point. I would say that formally Annika Ström’s art practice tends to rely more on text and performance, whereas our collaborative work tends to result in sculptural and video-based work.
How long did it take to produce such an extensive exhibition, and what drove you to include so many different mediums?
This show is an extension of an ongoing dialogue between us. So in some ways it has been years in the making. We are both drawn to a large variety of mediums and tend to alternate between mediums depending on what we are trying to achieve for each artwork. So it only seemed natural to continue this process and explore it further.
What is it about exploring humour in art that fascinates you both?
It has endless possibilities. We are also both interested in text and semiotics, and there is an interesting relationship there, since humour has a largely verbal tradition.
How long you have you both been artistically collaborating?
Too long. Most of our collaboration revolves around conversations that occur while out riding BMX and drinking coffee so it’s hard to say exactly when it started. Like any good relationship, time just disappears…
Why do you think you work well together?
It comes from our ability to bounce ideas off each other. A lot our ideas are ridiculous, but there are moments of magic where one of us will come up with something, and the other will add their own take on it. Then it all falls into place. We get a twinkle in the eye, giggle a bit, then say ‘lets do it’. It’s also because of the common interests and approaches that we have, and the high regard for each other’s practice which allows us to let each other run with their idea and help it along. That makes the collaboration work.
Any plans for more collaborative work in the future?
Not at the moment. It’s a very fluid collaborative relationship, so we don’t like to commit to too many formal exhibitions or projects. We are, more or less, constantly collaborating through our organic, ongoing dialogue so something is bound to happen in the future.
What can viewers expect from 'Eight Embarrassed Males'?
ART!
'Eight Embarrassed Males' will be on display at the Metro Arts Gallery from 17 August-3 September.
