Chris Alton

An interview[expand trigpos="below"]Arthouse Members Interviews 2018Chris Alton- English Disco Lover1. How long have you had a studio at The Arthouse?I’ve been subletting a studio since June 2017, but prior to that I held the Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Studio Award from May 2015 through to May 2016. I’m hoping to become a permanent member in the future.2.What do you like about The Arthouse?It’s a beautiful building, filled with kind and interesting people, of a range of ages, experiences and disciplines. I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with a number of other Arthouse residents on projects of various scale, including; a film, a stage for performances and the organisation and curation of the current member’s exhibition.3. Could you tell us a little bit about what you do?“An Introduction to Chris Alton”I’m an artist and (occasional) curator. Throughout my practice, I combine geographically and temporally distant points of reference to produce images, objects, films and events. Whether deploying disco music in opposition to fascism, recording a rhythm ‘n’ blues album about tax avoidance, or crafting banners that prefigure the future, my work addresses the interconnected nature of prevailing social, political, economic and environmental conditions. I use humour, radical joy and speculative fiction to disrupt our lived reality and imagine the world otherwise. In doing so, I hope to bring this seemingly distant ‘otherwise’ closer to hand.4. Is there a work your particularly proud of and why-Something you felt has been really important to you, or has changed the way you workIn 2012, I started a project called English Disco Lovers (EDL), a multifaceted protest movement, which aimed to reclaim the EDL acronym of the English Defence League. Drawing upon the history and etymology of disco, as a site of musical resistance, it redeployed the genre in opposition to contemporary fascism. That project was pretty fundamental with regard to shaping the work that I do now.6. What interests you? What influences you?Growing up as a Quaker was a pretty major influence on the work that I make now. Quakers have a long-standing commitment to social justice, which manifests in various ways; from collectively lobbying of our government through to lying down in front of lorries that are carrying missiles into arms fairs. I also site skateboarding as a key influence, as it fostered in me an engagement with my built environment that was subversive and creative.7.Are you working on anything particularly at the moment?I’ve just wrapped up a few projects, including a billboard commission for Spit & Sawdust in Cardiff and a small body of work about Quakerism & punk for a group show in Birmingham. After a bit of a break, I’ve a few ideas that I’m looking forward to researching further; a board game about perpetual growth economics and climate change and a book of children’s nursery rhymes about arms dealing and the monarchy.8.Anything Coming up?I’ve a couple of exhibitions coming up, including Bloomberg New Contemporaries, as part of the Liverpool Biennial, from 14 July - 9 Sept 2018, which then comes to the South London Gallery in December. I’ll also be showing new work at Jerwood Space in October, as part of Survey, a group exhibition of 15 early-career artists. Other than that, I’m coming to the end of Syllabus III, an alternative peer-led learning programme that I’ve been participating in since September 2017.END

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