MATTHEW BUCKINGHAM
             
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Public Address
 

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2007 - ongoing
Public reading, video and photographic documentation, dimensions variable
 
"Public Address" is an ongoing project constituted by the act of reading a text in a public space and the subsequent documentation of this action. The event, each time, is the result of a chain of invitations. When I am invited to travel to a particular location to realize an exhibition or project I then, in turn, invite someone who resides in that area to select a piece of writing by someone else and read it aloud in a public place. In asking someone to participate in the project I consider the possible relationship they may have to questions of politics, public space, history, or narration as well as any associations they may bring with them as members of their community. Similarly, I encourage the reader, when selecting a text, to consider the general and personal implications of taking this action in their region and in their local public space. The type of text may vary widely ranging from fiction to journalism or legal code to poetry. The mechanical means of address also become part of the project. Portable or existing "PA" systems, such as those used in sports stadiums, train stations, schools or museums, may be utilized to amplify the reader’s voice. In other cases the reading may take place without amplification. This ever-changing combination of relations between reader, setting, text and technique produces the meaning of the work which further changes over time through repetition and variation.