‘cloakroom’ at club [construction]!
“cloakroom” at club [construction] ! is a solo-exhibition, interactive installation and participatory performance by Reuben Brown.
The exhibition launches on Thursday 7th March, 6-9pm, and continues Tuesday - Saturday until the 28th March, 12-4pm.
Artist Talk: Wednesday 27th March, 1-2pm.
“cloakroom” at club [construction] ! hopes to reflect a glimmer of the belonging, betrayal, break-up, revenge, recovery and renewal of queer club-spaces, club-cultures and club-communities of the past, present and future (…?).
Stemming from the findings of a long-term research project into the histories of queer club-culture, “cloakroom” at club [construction] ! stems from a fascination with the historical adjacency of avant-garde queer club-communities with heterosexual working-class sports clubs in industrial Western-European cities (such as London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Manchester and Belfast), and the strange, occasional, cultural-phenomena of these polarising club sub-cultures merging as a result of their close-proximity. “cloakroom” at club [construction] ! blurs the props of hyper-masculinist fandom, sports-spectatorship and fan-culture, with the camp extravagance of queer masculinity and the queer club-space.
“cloakroom” at club [construction] ! implements a combination of new-media and unorthodox materials as tools of activation, including (but not limited to…); construction, experimental sound, immersive lighting, interactive installation, participatory performance, 3D-CGI (computer-generated) animation & filmography, video collage, digital fabrication, atmospheric effects systems, interview & conversation, research & documentation and a collection of custom digitally-knit football scarves. Adorned with digitally-interactive sculptural applications, the audiences are invited and encouraged to try-on, swap and share the football scarves as they navigate both the physical exhibition space, and the ephemeral online space that they gain access to on their mobile phones through the football scarves.
Reuben Brown (he/him) is a sculptor and 3D-CGI artist currently based in Belfast, N.Ireland, specialising in 3D-CGI (computer-generated) filmography, interactive installation and performance. He is a member and studio-holder at QSS Artist Studios and Gallery in East Belfast, after graduating from Belfast School of Art in June 2022. Interested in the generation of ephemeral club-spaces, club-culture and the representation of (primarily queer) digital artists in Belfast, Reuben is the founder and director of emerging Belfast-based scenography collective “club [construction]” which utilises the visual arts as ‘tools’ of activation. He has exhibited extensively locally, nationally and internationally.