The research practice of artist Amanda Newall looks into the connection between the mental wellbeing of a person and her surrounding: specifically, the clothing she wears, the soundscapes she encounters, and people who are co-present with her in a room. In order to disclose the agency of costumes and environments, Newall experiments with creating them herself: she juxtaposes the recognisable cultural references and symbols from different times, mixes and matches contexts on a-historical basis to create new hybrid material narratives. She would further invite people to wear and inhabit her creations as performers: to initiate an emotional response that can be then discussed and reflected on, within the group of projects participants.

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In this way, the new immersive installation by Newall will take her audience to the setting of a family-run hotel, in which they can take part and perform: by taking a position of either a hotel guest, or a member of staff. The story will expand around them accordingly.

 

The hotel itself will appear as a semi-fictional historical-futuristic situation, where the time scales, visual references in design and style, as well as the overall "atmosphere" is not pointing to one period of time, but merges the experience of deja-vu with a dream setting of a place that has never existed (yet nevertheless seems eerily familiar).

The activities in the hotel will be inspired by the stories and objects Newall found at Exposed and with which she emotionally resonated herself: personal belongings, workwear, postcards and engineering tools left behind by the staff of the old Jaguar dealership (that resided in these premises for the last 90 years). Resurrected, appropriated, and functional once again, these things will be now enacted by the staff of Hotel Jaguar.

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On the 29th of June, Newall will host an immersive sleeping experience at Hotel Jaguar, and participants are still invited.

 

The project's opening event will take place on the 30th of June, and will run from 14:00 to 18:00. Join for to see the programme of performances!

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• Cameron Brott – MC/DJ party.

• Antti Sakari Saario (aka Huume) presents 'Europe. Almost. A Fantasy' (live dreamscape).

• Richard Crow and Natalia Mali – There is the serpent and there is the dove, choose wisely (deluxe edition)

• Linda Persson – How to Leave Your Human Body

• Olav Westphalen – Lars Arrhenius - Lars&Olav, ‘All the Queens Horses’.

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All events are free and open to all.

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Amanda Newall is New Zealand born artist, educator and researcher working professionally in NZ, Sweden and the UK since 1996. She is a PhD student at The University of the Arts London, Chelsea College. Most recently Newall has been Senior Lecturer at Kungliga Konsthögskolan (Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, Sweden). Previously she worked at Lancaster University/Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Art (LICA) in the UK. Exhibitions and performances include: Public Dreaming, The Nordic Biennial, Momentum 9 ‘Alienation Norway 2017, Folkestone Fringe Festival- Folkestone Triennial, Gallery z33 Belgium 201, BALTIC 39/Newcastle science festival UK, Uppsala City Theatre, Shunt Lounge, London UK, FRED, Cumbria UK, Mejan Galleri Stockholm SE, Fremantle Art Centre Australia, Govett Brewster Art Gallery NZ and Film Archive NZ. Newall has given presentations about her art and research in institutions including école Supérieure d'Art de l'Agglomération d'Annecy, Annecy France, Universite Paris 1 La Sorbonne Paris France, Nordic house in Reykjavik, Iceland, Umea Academy of Art and Design, Umea, Sweden, International Symposium In Electronic Art – Vancouver Canada, TATE Liverpool.

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