Edgework Artist Profile #4: Andy Day

‘Tjentiste II', 2015 by Andy Day

As part of our collaboration with Edgework an artist-led cross-disciplinary journal and store with an emphasis on place, we are running a series of monthly profiles of the artists here on Elsewhere. The fourth artist in our series is the photographer Andy Day: 

Andy Day's work examines the body’s relationship with the built environment, wilful misuse of architecture, subversive practices, appropriation of space and place, edgework and social interaction. Often, he works with climbers as they deliberately misinterpret architecture, finding new uses for both public and private space. 

Andy Day comments: ‘Practitioners of buildering deliberately misinterpret architecture, finding new uses for both public and private space. The built environment presents opportunities and climbers bring investments of meaning to aspects of the city. A playful recoding is achieved; imagined futures are enacted and recorded, and the praxis produces a fresh set of urban features. For a brief moment, a ledge becomes a crimp, a protruding brick becomes a side pull, a drainpipe becomes a layback. Routes otherwise unknown and unseen come temporarily into existence. There is a unique appreciation of mundane features with the geometries and textures suddenly containing potential for adventure and embodied encounters. These physical interventions radically insert the body into the urban landscape, bringing alternative meanings to the city, and making it a site for autotelic experimentation and earnest play.’

'Grant, University of British Columbia I', 2014 by Andy Day

International travel has informed much of Day’s work. He is a participant-observer in the international parkour scene and documented the rise of parkour photographing its communities in London in the early 2000s. He continues to play a role in shaping its visual culture today. Notable works include ‘Former’, a series of photographs taken in collaboration with parkour athletes from Serbia and Croatia at Tito-era monuments across former Yugoslavia.

Day will take over the Edgework Instagram account from 28 October – 3 November and share images from his recent exploration of three Sound Mirrors (also known as Acoustic Mirrors or Listening Ears) situated on the south coast of England. 

The takeover marks the launch of Day's new limited-edition print 'Sound Mirror' is available to pre-order from Edgework here. 

Andy Day on Edgework
Instagram
Website

In Profile: Edgework – Journal & Store

TJENTISTE – Andy Day

Here at Elsewhere we have long been proud of our collaboration with Edgework, an artist-led, cross-disciplinary journal and online store with a focus on place founded by the artist (and Elsewhere contributor) Layla Curtis. The journal gives space for artists and professionals from a range of disciplines and allows them to give readers an insight into their extended research, fieldwork and working methods. The online store then promotes their work, specialising in editional artworks on paper, publications, posters, postcards and also the work of independent publishers who share their ethos and emphasis on place… including us!

WORLD POLITICAL (Detail) – Layla Curtis

‘Edgework contributors take risks; conduct deep explorations of our cities' overlooked, forgotten and forbidden spaces; misuse, reclaim or appropriate architecture; test the boundaries of access; subvert surveillance technologies and pick apart cartography. They explore the margins of our urban spaces examining how we inhabit them, move through them and establish a sense of place. They are overland wanderers or remote viewers who reflect upon our relationship with nature and landscape.’ – Layla Curtis, founder of Edgework

Artists whose editioned work can be found in the Edgework online shop include Susan Collins, Layla Curtis, Andy Day, Alec Finlay, Joy Gerrard, Lucinda Grange, Graham Gussin, Nicky Hirst, Lee Maelzer, Simon Woolham and George Shaw, and over the coming months we will be profiling them here on the Elsewhere blog. At the same time, we would encourage our readers to explore the different posts, essays and articles on the Edgework journal pages. Recent articles we have enjoyed include ‘The Walking Library for a Wild City’ by Dee Heddon & Misha Myers, and ‘Mapping the Wild City, Fiadh-Bhaile, Orasul Salbatic’ by Alec Finlay.

PROTEST CROWD (NO BREXIT PEOPLE’S VOTE MARCH PARLIAMENT SQUARE, LONDON, 2018) – Joy Gerrard

Another aspect of the project that we have especially enjoyed over recent months is the series of Instagram Takeovers on the Edgework feed. Here, they have invited artists to post images onto the Edgework account over a period of time, highlighting a specific project or body of work and it is well worth checking out. We are really looking forward to showcasing the talents of the artists involved in the Edgework project, and we especially like the opportunity that Edgework offers to connect directly with artists, purchase their work and support what they do.

Edgework artists whose work appears in this post:
Andy Day
Layla Curtis
Joy Gerrard