John Wood and Paul Harrison

John Wood and Paul Harrison make single-channel videos, multi-screen video installations, prints and sculptures that elegantly fuse conceptual exploration with existential comedy.

The artists’ spare, to-the-point works feature the actions of their own bodies, a wide variety of static and moving props, or combinations of both to illustrate the triumphs and tribulations of making art and everyday life. Inside this ‘logical world’, action is allowed to happen for no apparent reason, tensions build between the environment and its inhabitant, play is encouraged and the influences on the work are intentionally mixed. In their not-always-successful experiments with movement and materials, Wood and Harrison employ exuberant invention, subtle slapstick, and a touch of light-hearted melancholy to reveal the inspiration and perspiration — as well as the occasional hint of desperation — behind all creative acts.