• The Centre

    Patrick Cole and Dominic Watson

  • The Centre is an exhibition by artists Patrick Cole and Dominic Watson. The show is set inside the food court of a failing shopping centre.

    SoftClog® was a revolutionary commercial cushioned flooring system patented in 1972 in the town of Boston in Lincolnshire. It was rolled out nationwide as part of a retail regeneration scheme that coincided with the ‘New Town’ boom taking place in Britain at the time. Its USP, alongside its eclectic colour schemes and dynamic patterning, was its ability to cushion the heel (or instep depending on the shopper's gait) for 3/7’s of a second longer than any competing rubber manufacturer out there. This was due to a micro layer of polyurethane foam sandwiched in the middle of its 3 tiered structure.

     

    Research proved that this minute extension of podiatric ecstasy beneath the sole of the shopper would release endorphins and serotonin into the body inducing a state of comfort and pleasure. This slows the pace at which people walked, which in turn encouraged shoppers dwell time.* Thus, fulfilling their temporary destiny, to shop.

     

    Read more

     

    *  Dwell Time – the length of time a person spends looking at a display or remaining in a specific area. An essential retail metric for analysing shopping behaviour and increasing customer spending.

  • Installation views
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
  • The show is set inside the food court of a failing shopping centre. In the middle of the exhibition stands...

    Patrick Cole, Kiosk, 2021, performance

    The show is set inside the food court of a failing shopping centre. In the middle of the exhibition stands a dilapidated juice bar built by Cole. The circular structure will act as stage and set for a new twenty-minute performance exploring Cole’s interest in the storytelling traditions of ‘the Bard’. Cole’s monologue will discuss the fictional history of the kiosk through personal vignettes and distorted memories. The performed soliloquies will deal with loneliness and anxiety, using humor and pathos to forge a connection with the audience.

     

  • Accompanying the kiosk are sculptures made by Watson, a stacked tower of Paper Mache Microwaves. Slowly rotating inside sits a...

    Dominic Watson, Kipple #1: Bait and symbols of the passion, 2020, Papier-mache

    Accompanying the kiosk are sculptures made by Watson, a stacked tower of Paper Mache Microwaves. Slowly rotating inside sits a self-portrait of the artist anxiously looking out through the microwave door. He is accompanied by sculptures of food, inflated burgers, plates of ham and eggs perpetually turning. The microwaves function as vitrines, tempting potential consumers to indulge in their visceral pleasure. Two pale white diners made from paper clay are sat sharing an obscenely long sandwich. Their bodies look set in stone, half people half furniture merging into one another. Watson’s sculptures explore the human body through the visceral, grotesque and absurd.

  • About the artists

    Patrick Cole lives and works in south London. He works across performance and sculpture in the traditions of 'the Bard': employing humour and layered narratives to explore ideas of morality, death, loneliness and vegetables. Cole received a BA from Camberwell College of Art in 2005, and gained a Masters of Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art in 2014. 

    Recent exhibitions include: Memorial, Southwark Park Galleries, 2019; Restaurant, Whitstable Biennale 2018; Bardism (BBQ), Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Edinburgh 2017. Patrick was shortlisted for the Converse x Dazed Emerging Artist Award, The Royal Academy, London in 2015; included in the Catlin Guide, 2015; received Performancepreis, Filigran Trägersysteme GmbH & Co KG, 2014 and was included in Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2013.

     

    Dominic Watson was born in Sunderland, UK and lives in London.

    He studied sculpture at Camberwell College of Art, London, and then an MFA at the Glasgow School of Art in 2014. After graduating he was selected for New Contemporaries 2013 as well as the London Open 2015. Watson was a recipient of the John Kinross Fellowship, 2014, awarded by the Royal Scottish Academy and received a Fellowship in Contemporary Art Practice from the British School of Rome in 2017. His work is part of the RSA and the Ingram Collections. 

    He also co-runs an artist-led project space, PLAZA PLAZA in Elephant and Castle.