VAGUE POETICS

Vague Poetics comprises a video work and physical exhibition of the same name, centred around a new whitebook publication created for Matt’s Gallery, London.

The project is created from, and in response to, text found within the first 40 Matt’s Gallery whitebooks that were published to accompany exhibitions produced at the gallery from 1983 to 2019. During this time the gallery was located at four different sites – Martello Street E8 3PE, Copperfield Road E3 4RR, Decima Street SE1 4QR and Webster Road SE16 4DF.

The narrative of the film is compiled from words and sentences lifted from the booklets. The on-screen text describes the source of each excerpt as and when it is spoken. The film consists of three sections from a larger body of essays and fictional texts that appear in the accompanying publication.

Vague Poetics can be seen on Mattflix from 3 March – 5 May 2023. The exhibition runs from 15 March – 16 April at The Outset Archive at Matt’s Gallery, London.

The Vague Poetics whitebook is available free of charge from the exhibition.

This project was developed with support from Art Fund and Arts Council England.