Jenny Chong, Nikolaj Larsen, Dominic Lewis, Emily Webber

HS Projects commissioned Jenny Chong, Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen, Dominic Lewis and Emily Webber for a site specific exhibition at Marks & Spencer’s headquarters in Baker Street. During that time, Marks & Spencer was undergoing a period of change and the artists made work that responded to that change.

Jenny Chong, inspired by the memorials in the building’s receptions to M&S staff who died in the two world wars, created a wall based text installation as a ’memorial’ to all existing M&S employees working at the Marks & Spencer’s headquarters.

Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen explored the idea of ‘Forms’, creating a ‘cinematic’ commentary on the process of change Marks & Spencer was undergoing. A performative work, ‘Forms’ morphed from an informational gathering administrative form into an abstraction of forms mimicking the effect of a flick book as the viewer passed along the corridor.

Emily Webber was inspired by the geography of the space, a corridor that snaked its way through various departments. She explored ideas around corridors of power, labyrinths and infinity by documenting a previous exhibition in the space and then manipulating the images to create a sense of an endless corridor with no beginning or end.

Dominic Lewis took his inspiration from the pockmarked surface of the walls with their history of pin holes and pencil marks from previous exhibitions. Lewis photographed specific sites with a large format camera and then transformed the image through a re-contextualization by mounting A4 sized prints onto unprimed 10mm thick A4 MDF boards, which were then re-installed over or adjacent to the documented wall, creating a dialogue between the idea of value, authenticity and ownership.

The exhibition was curated by HS Projects in 2001 as part of the Marks & Spencer Head Office Cultural Programme, 1993-2004.