Mark Leckey
ABOUT THE WORK
For Art Night 2021, Mark Leckey presented To the Old World (Thank You for the Use of Your Body), which centres on looped YouTube footage of a young man jumping through the glass window of a bus stop, augmented by an acrobat re-enacting the same action as they are flashed by a brilliant light.
Discussing his commission with Veronica Simpson of Studio International, Leckey said: “It’s a clip I found of this kid just running up to a bus stop and jumping through the glass. There is a lot of stuff like it on the internet, people getting hurt. But there is something tragic and also magnificent about the way he does it. And I’m drawn to that. What’s so compelling about it is that I want to know why.” Read more here.
Mark Leckey’s film was broadcast as part of our online programme 9 July – 11 July + as part of our marathon screening on Thursday 15 July 2021. You can watch To the Old World (Thank You for the Use of Your Body) again via Fact Magazine as part of our collaboration with 180 studios.
Commissioned by Art Night and Fact in collaboration with 180 Studios. With thanks to acrobat Beren D’Amico.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mark Leckey lives and works in London. Leckey works across sculpture, installation, sound, performance and video. He is known for works such as Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999) and Turner Prize winning exhibition Industrial Light and Magic (2008). Leckey has shown at institutions including Tate Britain (2019), Cubitt, London (2017), MOMA PS1, New York (2017), Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (2016), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2015). His works are held in the collections of the Tate and the Centre Pompidou.