Image credit: A Record of Undying (detail). Courtesy of and copyright to the artist, George Saxon.

PRESS INFORMATION | 5 SEPTEMBER 2014

A Record of Undying / George Saxon & D. John Briscoe (1949 - 2013)
Exhibition at Vivid Projects, Birmingham, 03 October - 15 November 2014
This is a groundbreaking exhibition of work exploring the last taboo: dying and
death.
In 2013 artist George Saxon commenced development on the central work for exhibition,
'A Record of Undying' in collaboration with his late partner D.John Briscoe (1949-2013).
With Briscoe as subject, he developed intimate photographs and films shot during the
period leading up to and including his partners death.
A RECORD OF UNDYING is a profound and powerful experience; an unflinchingly
personal exploration of contemporary attitudes to critical illness and bereavement.
Saxons practice as an artist is embedded in the handling, preservation and temporality
of film material and he uses it to represent the body. The depiction of death or dying and
the artists consideration or response to loss is a recurring theme in the visual arts yet the
depiction is usually literary or historical. This work is rooted in lived experience.
This exhibition presents a new large-scale installation alongside a performance-action
originally activated in 1980. Saxons creative methodologies can be seen in his
rediscovered early work, Blissfully Gunned Down (1980), a fragmentary, two screen
16mm film loop of his late partner falling to the ground as if shot by an imaginary gun.
Saxon will activate the exhibition with a live performance of this work, scratching into
the film loops as they pass through the projector, creating the sound effect of gunshots.
The exhibition launches at Vivid Projects on Friday 3 October, 6-9pm and continues to
Saturday 15 November. Opening hours are Thursday - Saturday, 12-5pm and admission
is free.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
1. Vivid Projects is a collaborative agency dedicated to exploring the convergence of film, video, performance
and interdisciplinary practice, and is based at 16 Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham,
B5 5RS. www.vividprojects.org.uk. Twitter: VIVID_
2. George Saxons artistic practice is in part rooted in expanded cinema and performance of the 60s and 70s,
with works ranging from early experimental performance interactions with film and video, to the multi screen
projections utilising both existing and prefabricated architecture as one of the founder members of the artists
group Housewatch since 1985. His solo and collaborative work has been exhibited nationally and
internationally. His work embraces and reflects ways in which we understand our private and social
environments through our interaction with the spaces we inhabit and our encounters with technology. George
Saxon was born in London and studied Environmental Media at the Royal College of Art. Both his solo and
collaborative film and video works have been exhibited nationally and internationally since the late 1970s.
He was Co-founder member of the film and video artists group Housewatch (Cinematic Architecture for
Pedestrians).
3. A RECORD OF UNDYING is curated by Yasmeen Baig-Clifford, Director of Vivid Projects and Honorary
Research Associate, University of Birmingham.
4. The exhibition is supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England, Henry Moore Foundation,
Vivid Projects, Coventry University and Invacare.
5. A RECORD OF UNDYING is presented at Vivid Projects, 16 Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Digbeth,
Birmingham, B5 5RS from 3 October - 15 November 2014, Thursday - Saturday 12-5pm. The exhibition
launch is at 7pm, 3 October with a live performance by George Saxon. For event schedule, tickets and times,
www.vividprojects.org.uk
6. For information on the programme and hi-res images please contact Programme Manager
laura@vividprojects.org.uk. Requests for interviews should be made to yasmeen@vividprojects.org.uk