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Film still from After BUTT, 2018. Image courtesy Ian Giles
“BUTT wanted to bring the sex back into homosexuality, but also the coolness and the artistic heritage… BUTT empowers you to get into this stuff and take it on board - there are a lot of different ways to be gay…” Alex Needham, 2017
In January 2018 Chelsea Space presents After BUTT: a new film by Ian Giles exploring the cultural and social legacy of BUTT magazine (2001-2011); a publication made by and for gay men, noted for its iconic pink pages and candid interviews.
Within the filmmaking process, Ian Giles continues his employment of first-hand research, participatory workshops and verbatim theatre as structures to produce a social network. The magazine, BUTT acts as a locative device to consider gay histories, the presentation of gay men within mainstream media and links between medical advances and sexual freedom. Working with a group of young gay men in a series of workshops, the film is a result of a collective vocal exercise to re-narrate the recollections of the men who originally founded the magazine from transcribed interviews with the artist.
Presented in the gallery is the film made from the final workshop where the young group re-voice the original interviews as an act of storytelling between generations; we hear the group sharing sexually charged narratives and frank reflections. The work also interrogates BUTT’s imbalances, raising questions around the magazine’s handling of race and gender. There is a playful relationship with language in the film: words becoming transferable between originators and speakers, to construct an oral portrait of the magazine.
Public events to accompany the exhibition include a screening programme at LUX on Sunday 25 February and a study day with writer and researcher, Laura Guy at Chelsea College of Arts.
Ian Giles (b. 1985, Gloucester) was a LUX Associate Artist. Recent exhibitions, screenings and performances include: Multiplexing II, Cineworld Cinema, Glasgow with LUX Scotland (2017); AsToAsIsTo, in collaboration with the Youth Forum, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); Connected Works, Harvard University, Cambridge USA (2016); m-Health, Cell Project Space, London (2015); The Decorator and the Thief, The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland (2015), On Air, Tank.tv (2015); Free Time, Poole Museum (2015) Videoclub: Selected IV (nominated by Jessica Warboys), national tour including Nottingham Contemporary (2014); The In Between, Carroll/Fletcher, London (2013); 21st Century Screening, Chisenhale Gallery, London (2012); Glasgow International Festival (2012) and Whitstable Biennale (2010). Ian completed his MFA in 2012 at Slade School of Fine Art and his BA in Fine Art in 2008 from Chelsea College of Arts.
The editing of After BUTT was supported by a residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, Scotland during autumn 2017. Special thanks to Chelsea College of Arts Library and Gustavo Grandal Montero. Interviewees: Gert Jonkers, Jop Van Bennekom, Michael Bullock, Paul Kopkau, Adam Baran, Felix Burrichter, Cesar Padilla, Juan Quiceno, Stuart Comer, Paul Flynn, Alex Needham, Andreas Larsson. Executive Producer: Emily Rudge.
After BUTT is commissioned by Chelsea Space and funded by Arts Council England
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Publication
To coincide with the exhibition is a publication featuring a text by Jeppe Ugelvig alongside the film script and Giles’ drawings, published by Chelsea Space.
Press Information
For further information, images or to discuss interviews please contact:
Karen Di Franco or Cherie Silver at Chelsea Space via email info@chelseaspace.org or tel: 020 7514 6983
Notes to Editors
• Images and further information are available upon request
• About: Chelsea Space is a public exhibiting space, sited on the Millbank campus of Chelsea College of Arts, where invited art and design professionals are encouraged to work on experimental curatorial projects. See: www.chelseaspace.org
• In copy please refer to Chelsea Space and not ‘The Chelsea space.’
• Gallery opening times: Wednesday-Friday 11am-5pm and by appointment.
• Private view: Tuesday 23 January 2018, 6-8.30pm
• Admission Free
• Chelsea College of Arts is one of the world’s leading art and design institutions.
• Located at Millbank, next door to Tate Britain, Chelsea specialises in Fine Art, Graphic Design and Interior and
Textiles Design. Since its origins in the 19th century, the College has produced many of the greatest names in the
arts, including: Quentin Blake (illustrator and author) Ralph Fiennes (film and stage actor), Anish Kapoor (sculptor),
Steve McQueen, (artist), Chris Ofili (artist), Alan Rickman (film and stage actor), Alexei Sayle (comedian) and Gavin
Turk (sculptor).
Operating at the heart of the world’s creative capital, University of the Arts London is a vibrant international centre for innovative teaching and research in arts, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts. The University is made up of six Colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, Chelsea College of Arts, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Art. Renowned names in the cultural and creative sectors produced by the University include 12 Turner prize winners and over half of all nominees, 10 out of 17 fashion designers named British Designer of the Year, more than half of the designers showcased in London Fashion Week and 12 out of 30 winners of the Jerwood Photography Award.
