Chopsticks Optional: more of an ‘in-joke’ than a concept, not so much an integration but a cross-fertilization; of ideas, media and personalities. Otherwise known as the pseudonym for the collective work of Corinne Felgate and John Walter, they’ve worked to produce a multitude of works in a collaborative language.

 

Both artists in their own right, Walter explains how they came to work together. “Corinne and I met through Bow Arts Trust, of whom we are both live-work artists; meaning we rent apartments with studios in them through the Trust in conjunction with Poplar HARCA; they are flats which are empty either in advance of renovation or demolition.”

 

When it comes to their working relationship however, Felgate puts a colourful spin on their artistic endeavour. “We both talk the most, and the loudest, have strong ideas and opinions and are militant about what we want. But these things make it work where other collaborations we've been involved in have failed. I bring freakish control and DIY on acid dressmaking skills. John brings freedom, a feminine touch and chaos. We both contribute a hearty amount of abjectness and surrealism.”

 

A potential antidote to the prevailing trends within the current London art scene they’ve also combined forces with photographer Ollie Harrop and performers from the London School of Contemporary Dance to realise their potential for the Chopstick Optional exhibition. “It’s a kind of research into who we are, the work we make, how we can have cross over and similarity but make totally different work. And, I suppose in part to explore why we are the way we are,” speaks Felgate of their creative exploration. Featuring costumes, dance, photography, paintings and sculpture, it’s come a long way from being a mere ‘in-joke’, with Chopsticks Optional the movie or the musical seeming not such an improbable venture after all.

 

Chopsticks Optional is at the Nunnery Gallery, 183 Bow Arts Lane, Bow Road, London, E3 from 14 January until 24 January 2010.

 

 

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www.johnwalter.net, www.corinnefelgate.com, http://chopsticksoptional.blogspot.com, www.bowarts.org.