Barnaby Barford | Choice

Barnaby Barford Word Drawings:
In Barford’s Word Drawings, abstract pictures are made by writing the same word over and over again. By incessantly repeating words such as Hope, Glory, Truth and Love, Barford asks us to reevaluate their meaning in today’s complex socio-cultural environment. Offering a departure from the meticulous planning, order and structure of Barford’s sculptural works. These Word Drawings embody the chaotic immediacy and almost forceful nature of the ‘me first’ mentality and act as the voice of the powerful, trapping us by offering things that ‘we’ want now, with no regard for the consequences.

“Have more, buy more, do better, move forward, grow, succeed, win. ME WANT NOW offers a metaphorical narrative on the dominance of this ideology and debates our values in an increasingly polarised political landscape. The world moves forward at a never-ending pace driven by the powerful desires of the individual feeding the engine of the 'me first' culture. But, understood hegemonies are in flux. Uncertainty promotes fear. This, in turn, triggers an animalistic self-preservation instinct in us. Perhaps this is a never-ending struggle - a toxic combination. Is this an age-old battle between the haves and the have-nots? In The History of the Peloponnesian War, Greek writer and historian Thucydides said: "the strong actually do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

ME WANT NOW is a body of work that I hope compels the viewer to question our relationships and the world around us. Large scale energetic word drawings offer a departure from the meticulous planning, order and structure of my sculptural works. These word drawings embody the chaotic immediacy and almost forceful nature of the 'me first' mentality and act as the voice of the powerful, trapping us by offering things that 'we' want now, with no regard for the consequences. I hope the word drawings appear not only deranged but also serene and beautiful. They form claustrophobic 'nets' that envelop a series of life-size animal sculptures and trophy heads. I have carried this repetition through to the sculptures which are constructed from thousands of individual ceramic pieces featuring fragments of the Word Drawings.

'More', 'Power', 'Change', 'Choice', 'Hope', 'Glory', 'Greatness' - These are the emotions that have often driven humankind to achieve great things, words that are inherently positive, however once repeated incessantly, their meaning becomes warped. It is the egocentric pursuit of these bastions dominating the current climate which has driven this body of work.

I feel as though words have never been so important - those written in the press, posted across social media and in speeches from our politicians, in volatile times words can be dangerous.

Individually the words I have chosen are positive as are the pieces in isolation, it is in their relationship to each other and ultimately the installation as a whole that drives the narrative of the exhibition. Fear promotes the 'me first' culture, the disregard of consequences and the collateral damage that ensues seems to be eroding our sense of collective humanity. In the face of our insatiable need for more, and the resulting constant sense of discontent, is this what we really want?”

Barnaby Barford, 2016