How long is a piece of string?

Featured Artists

Annie Crawford; Akissi Nzambi; Sarah Yu Zeebroek; Emelia Kerr Beale

We have a lot to thank creativity for this year. Accessing culture from our homes has been a huge source of support and energy for many, including the artists responsible for its creation. The works in this room employ an astute humour and deft symbolism to demonstrate the potential of creative action in testing times.

BSL room description video

Room Audio Introduction

  • A thick spined book with a black cover is laid open on a white surface. The inside cover and front page is covered in brightly coloured organic shapes and outlined in black.
  • A very long concertinaed page covered in brightly coloured organic shapes and outlined in black is opened out across a grey floor. The end lies flat on the floor with the rest of the page standing on points of the zig-zag. It stands next to a white wall.

Piles of Pre-Speech
Annie Crawford, 2020-21

  • On a white square background sits a dark red rhomboid shape. In this shape is the profile of a deep blue head fractured into four pieces that is held together by small white rectangles resembling tape. The head is turned to our left and shows a small white circle representing the eye on the head.

    But You Don’t Look Sick
    Akissi Nzambi, 2021

  • A mixed media collage in portrait format surrounded by a white border. On the pale blue background sits a piece of cloud shaped cotton wool above a square of white netting. The bottom edge of the white border contains the words: “My bed: a safe haven and a net that keeps me trapped.”

    My Bed
    Akissi Nzambi, 2021

  • A portrait drawing in a yellow rectangle of a spiked round object with an eye and legs is sitting on an unravelled toilet roll next to a green cactus shape. Two black lines point away from the legs. A white background frames the drawing.
  • A portrait drawing in a pink rectangle of two small square platforms with a bright yellow cylinder of light. In the left is a cat reaching out to scratch the light. In the right stands a female figure surrounded by many pairs of lips. Two black lines point away from the light sources. A white background frames the drawing.
  • A figure with a long nose sits on a virus molecule at a desk writing with the end of their nose. Small black dots float in the air around them. A pink square with a thick white edge contains this drawing.
  • A portrait drawing in a pink square with multiple blue dots of a figure contorted in a bubble. They are naked and cover their genitals with their hand as a cloud of gas exits their body. A single black line is in the bottom right hand corner and a white background frames the drawing.
  • A portrait drawing in a yellow square of a figure with legs instead of arms sits painting at a desk. A light blue triangle overlays on the figure and drips a black liquid from its lowest point into a hole in the floor. A white background frames the drawing.
  • A bald figure wearing black briefs stands upright. Their legs touch the floor, and then rise up out the ground again to become hands. A red diamond sits behind most of this figure. Two thick black lines point away from the legs of the figure. A pink square with a thick white edge contains this drawing.
  • A drawing in a yellow square stands five figures and a dog with screens instead of heads. Three floating eyes in opposite corners look at the figures. Thick dotted black lines connect them and follow the eye’s gaze. Blue shapes contain the line drawing and a white background frames the drawing.

Quarantine drawings
Sarah Yu Zeebroek, 2020

  • A sheet of white lined office paper, leaving the margin clear, is filled with a multicoloured pen drawing. In the middle contains a grid of twenty spirals each made up of two contrasting colours and divided horizontally in the middle. Surrounding this reads: “WITHIN A SYSTEM OF CONNECTIVITY” in black ink on a grey background.

    WITHIN A SYSTEM OF CONNECTIVITY
    Emelia Kerr Beale, 2021

  • A sheet of white lined office paper, leaving the margin clear, is filled with a multicoloured pen drawing. Filling the middle is a large spiral cut in half horizontally, with contrasting colours of pink, blue, green and purple filling the spiral on each side. Surrounding this reads: “SUPPORT SYSTEM” in black pen on an orange background.

    SUPPORT SYSTEM
    Emelia Kerr Beale, 2020

  • together forever
    Emelia Kerr Beale, 2021

  • A sheet of lilac lined office paper, leaving the margin clear, is filled with a multicoloured pen drawing of nearly 100 small spirals in pinks, purples and reds. Each spiral is connected to one other, making it a drawing of spiral pairs. A single purple line in ink surrounds the spirals, running parallel with the page margin.

    purple spiral
    Emelia Kerr Beale, 2021

  • A sheet of lilac lined office paper, leaving the margin clear, is filled with a multicoloured pen drawing of 35 small spirals in purple and green. They are organised in a 5 by 7 portrait grid, with purple lines in between each spiral. A single purple line in ink surrounds the spirals, running parallel with the page margin.

    green purple spiral
    Emelia Kerr Beale, 2021