Wild West

A collaboration, Suky Best & Rory Hamilton 5 videos, 16 prints Artists, Suky Best and Rory Hamilton have been collaborating on works exploring cowboy myths for the past twelve months within western films. They have been investigating themes of heroism, romance, loneliness, drama and excitement. The work that has come out of this collaboration has a strong aesthetic flavour; it is hand worked, yet graphically clean. It uses strong stereotypes; while exposing their banality and frailty. Flat clear silhouettes replace the dusty blur of the wild west. In these works only the hero or his companion (be they horse, tracker or love interest) are transcribed onto the finished image. All extraneous detail is removed. When a cowboy ties up a horse and walks into a building, the horse and rider are boldly drawn; any building only exists in negative when the rider walks behind a column. He defines the world around him. two extracts: Stranger in Town (short extract) Train Hold-up (short extract) Train hold-up can also be seen here:www.tate.org.uk Prints, 30 x40 cms lysonic inkjet with vinyl

The Return of the Native

9 animations 21 prints In 2005 Film and Video Umbrella commissioned Suky Best to make ‘The Return of the Native’ as part of the project ‘Silicon Fen’, which was a series of commissions of digital art. The work itself and the wider project are both accompanied by publications. This was later extended to include species that were once common to the south east. Selected animations, please contact the artist to see the whole series Large Copper Butterfly, Lycaena Dispar Dispar. Near Ramsey 2005 Extinct in the UK in 1864. IUCN globally threatened species. Last seen fens 1851. Specimen courtesy of Bedford Museum Norfolk Hawker Dragonfly, Aeshna Isosceles. Tydd St Giles Fen 2005 RDB Endangered. Last seen fens 1980’s. Restricted to Norfolk & Suffolk. Specimen courtesy of Bedford Museum Bearded Tit, Panurus Biarmicus. Whittelsey 2005 RDB UK Amber List. Previously widespread on fens. Hope for breeding pairs to return to Wicken, Woodwalton and Needingworth Quarry. Original specimen image courtesy of RSPB Wildlife sound: British Library Black Redstart, Phoenicurus Ochruros. Battersea Park 2005 RDB UK Amber List. Under threat from development of Thames Corridor. With less than 100 pairs nesting in Britain the black redstart is a rarer British breeding bird than the osprey or golden eagle Specimen courtesy of Bedford Museum. Wildlife sound: British Library Privet Hawk Moth, Sphinx Ligustri. Bermondsey 2005 Previously common, London population now in decline. Depletion due mainly to loss of garden hedges. Original images courtesy of Paul Chesterfield and Jayne Herbert, Cornwall Wildlife The Fens have always been a managed and constructed landscape; however, contemporary use of the land has exacerbated the loss of the range of flora and fauna. Over the last fifty years in particular, the volume and variety of birds and insects in this part of the country has declined dramatically. In The Return of the Native, Suky Best highlights a small number of wildlife species that were once commonplace in the East Anglian Fenland anThe Fens have always been a managed and constructed landscape; however, contemporary use of the land has exacerbated the loss of the range of flora and fauna. Over the last fifty years in particular, the volume and variety of birds and insects in this part of the country has declined dramatically. In The Return of the Native, Suky Best highlights a small number of wildlife species that were once commonplace in the East Anglian Fenland and whose numbers have diminished. They are now deemed rare, endangered or extinct in the region. The Return of the Native is a series of six striking digital animations of insects and birds, including a Bearded Tit, a Large Copper Butterfly and two Soldier Flies. Using specimens taken mainly from the natural history collections at Bedford Museum, Best brings the creatures back to life and reintegrates them digitally in a contemporary Fenland location. The animations are presented on miniature screens, which play simultaneously and work to emphasise each specimen’s unique and rare status. In addition to the animation series there are a number…

Small Animal Animations, to reduce stress

An R&D project funded by the Wellcome Trust Project Aims The Aims of this project were to make animations that would alleviate stress levels in patients waiting to see doctors or to have treatment. This was achieved in 25% of patient viewers. Project description A series of 6 three minute, 20 second animations derived from movements of groups of insects, abstracted and simplified against non-representational backgrounds derived from natural environments, placed within healthcare waiting areas to alleviate stress. The animations were made specifically for waiting areas of hospitals; and were made with source material and help from the zoology department of the Natural history museum, and developed with collaborative input from Maggie Chapman a clinical hypnotherapist, and with Dr Cordelia Feuchtwang acting as a consultant during their development. Once completed, the animations played in a forced random order, to prevent anticipation and expectation in the viewer. The project was evaluated via interview and questionnaire at each location. They were sited in three locations: Clinic G (phlebotomy) in Outpatients, St Mary’s NHS, London playing during clinic hours for two weeks. Women’s Outpatients Barts NHS, London, playing during clinics for two weeks Yatton NHS Family Practice, Yatton Somerset, playing continuously for three weeks. The staging in each location had to differ due to the constraints of working within a busy hospital or healthcare setting. Project Audience Yatton approx 2250 patients (over 3 week period including busy half-term week) Barts 600 (over 2 weeks) St Marys 2100 (250 patients attending outpatient appointments per week and 800 patients for blood tests) Total number of people (excluding staff) who saw project 4950 Background and interests of team members in addition to artist Suky Best. Maggie Chapman is a lecturer and clinical hypnotherapist. She has worked closely with the British Medical Association and The London Heart Hospital to develop the use of hypnotherapy within conventional medical practice, and is also is a senior lecturer at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis. She helped develop the animations to engage with certain parts of the brain that would help alleviate stress in the viewer. She has had an interest in this for many years. She also developed the evaluation process, designing the questionnaires, collating and analysing their data and setting guidelines for any interviews during evaluation. She is also director of City Minds and is currently running a longditudinal research study in the education sector on the effects of relaxation. Mandy Holloway of the Zoology Department at the Natural History Museum identified suitable insects, fish and organisms that would make an appropriate starting point for animations of group behaviour. She also explained their behaviour, which informed the conceptual base for abstraction. Mandy Holloway was able to draw on the knowledge and expertise of colleagues in the museum suggesting and arranging fro algae other microbes to be filmed. Dr Cordelia Feuchtwang a General Practitioner based in North Somerset acted as a consultant during the development stage of the project seeing the work every month or so for an informal…