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Often based on photography, Susanne Kriemann’s work is concerned with the power of archives.


With: Susanne Kriemann

Her works look at specific examples of documentary images, from early photo history to surveillance cameras, and how they shaped our understanding of reality. With playful and inventive moments, the artist suggests a reading of pictures that asks for their meaning in the present.

For the exhibition at Arnolfini, Susanne Kriemann develops a new series of work that respond to the history of the Construction School in Bristol. The history of the Construction School has been extensively researched by designer James Langdon, who provided the original material for the exhibition. The Construction School existed from 1964 to 1979 as part of the West of England College of Art and Design (now UWE) and was an attempt to establish an experimental design school, similar to the Bauhaus and the HfG Ulm, in a local English context. The Construction School’s history is closely bound to the career and concerns of its founder Norman Potter, an anarchist and practitioner on the margins of mid-twentieth century English design culture. Potter resisted the increasing emphasis on specialisation in design education and worked to encourage practical collaboration between disciplines. Susanne Kriemann’s exhibition will look at materials from the Construction School archive and their legacy of protest and change for today.

The exhibition by Susanne Kriemann is organised by Arnolfini in connection with a series of events about the Construction School, initiated by James Langdon in collaboration with Spike Island. At Spike Island, Langdon will present a performance of a play by Norman Potter, In:quest of Icarus, and a purpose-built space for the archive of the Construction School. Read more about James Langdon’s research on the Frieze blog, and Alice Rawsthorn writes about Norman Potter and the Construction School project in Remembering a Heroic Rogue.

The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except Bank Holidays).

Read more in the exhibition guide or join Arnolfini staff and invited speakers to hear more about, and discuss the artworks.

Saturday Exhibition Tours, 2pm, Free, Meet in the Foyer

8 June – Colum Leith: Social Commontating Pamphleteer and Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Graphic Design Course, UWE.

15 June – Rosie Faragher: Artist-Educator and Arnolfini Duty Manager

22 June – Roz Stobart: Office Manager, Arnolfini

29 June – Axel Wieder: Exhibitions Curator, Arnolfini

6 July – Katarína Complová: Filmmaker and Arnolfini steward

Performance – In:quest of Icarus 

Saturday 22 June, 7.30pm, at Spike Island, £7/£5 concs, free for Associates

James Langdon will present a performance of In:quest of Icarus (1974), a play by Norman Potter. The performance is accompanied by a presentation of material from the Construction School archive.