Out, Damned Spot

Out, Damned Spot exhibition and accompanying artist book is a collaborative project between Caitlin Hespe & Emilie Syme-lamont, Skelton&Conway (Amelia Skelton and Tango Conway) and Joe Wilson & Chanelle Collier. 

The exhibition traces the genesis of an idea, from its conception in Budapest in 2020, as an interrogation of the non-washable stain and the spectrum between control and disorder.

It’s namesake is derived from the famed utterance of Lady Macbeth, whilst in a dream or psychosis, as she attempts to scrub the invisible blood from her hands for the murder of King Duncan (despite never having handled the knife). This repetitive act [scrub,scrub,scrub], forms a bridge between the symbolic and physical act of cleaning. This act, and the audience's knowledge that some stains cannot be removed, became the praxis on which our exhibition formed. 

In the early stages of the pandemic, we (Caitlin and Emilie) found ourselves stuck (unstuck) in Budapest, at a time when COVID infections and death rates were rising at a devastating speed. The symbols of the pandemic; face masks, disinfectant, hazmat suits and constant directives from the global authorities to ‘wash your hands’ and ‘keep your distance’ were pervasive. Meanwhile, we observed, in our host country of Hungary, the pandemic quickly became a trojan horse for political bad actors to introduce undemocratic measures as the rule of law. Fissures were becoming visible to us on global, local and private realms, indicating something of an underlying disturbance; thinly veiled. It is this setting that we developed the first iteration of the exhibition, realised in 2021 at PINCE projects, Budapest. 

It’s second iteration, at Articulate Projects, has been developed through a collaborative practice, multiple postponed dates and a world in crisis. The ethos of the exhibition is one of the collective, with six individuals (three artist duos), this project is as much about the original theme as it is about the process of collaboration itself, sharing and developing ideas together (and the cleaning and maintenance that producing a collaborative exhibition entails).

Materially, the show brings together new and developed explorations with silicone and tattooing, installation, risograph printing, textiles, video, and sound. Each duo has brought a unique voice and sensibility to the project. Skelton&Conway’s introduction of Camp aesthetics and humour to interrogate vulgarity and the politicisation of cleanliness, Joe Wilson & Chanelle Collier’s enquiry into the role of the artist vs. the art object and maintenance as central to the artistic practice and Caitlin and Emilie’s use of surrealist objects and cinematic techniques bring a psychological charge to the gallery space.

Out, Damned spot sometimes feels like the action repeated so many times (so many times so many times…) that it becomes something else, or is not something else but feels like it has a new hue, or a new truth to it. Like when you say a word too many times, its meaning is lost, or perhaps it is seen for the sound invention it is. Here, ‘the repeat’ brings forth new sight and it reveals something, like what the foley artist has known all along, that ’seeming’ is all a trick.