Mark Titchner
Mark Titchner’s (b. 1973, Luton, UK) work involves an exploration of the tensions between the different belief systems that inform our society, be they religious, scientific or political. Focusing on an exploration of words and language, in recent years much of his production has been based in the public realm both in the UK and internationally. These public works have often been created from extended group activities, working particularly with young people and in mental health settings.
About the works
Titchner has a long-term fascination with the relationship between the language of self-help, self-improvement and, in particular, the intersectional point between the language of control and authority.
In Routine, the viewer is confronted with a series of affirmations of the kind commonly found in self-help programmes. The statements in their original context are designed to reinforce the reader’s self-esteem, acting as a series of internalised mantras to carry through the difficulties and challenges of life. Repeated in sequence and combined with video derived from Microsoft screensavers, these aphorisms suggest a potentially more oppressive presence. They remind us of the pressure placed on the individual in our society to conform to a specific psychological stereotype, which is reinforced by the phenomena of happiness and well-being in contemporary industry.
The work has previously been displayed in diverse public settings such as a railway station, a hair salon and a music festival.
To be again combines text and images; in this case, a seemingly endless parade of consumer products is combined with text derived from The General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century, a manifesto written in 1851 by the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Proudhon relates these verbs to the experience of being governed. Alongside this text are images of products offered by Amazon as part of their ‘Deal of the Day’. Each product has had text relating to branding removed, but information relating to measurement, weight, temperature, etc., has been retained.
Short Bio
Mark Titchner (b.1973, Luton) lives and works in London. He graduated from Central St Martins College of Art and Design and is a lecturer at the Royal College of Art. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2006, participated in the Venice Biennale in 2007 and was Artist in Residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto in 2012. His work is held in many public collections including Tate, Arts Council, Government Art Collection and the British Council.
Solo exhibitions include ‘It’s the hope that keeps us here’, OOF Gallery, London (2022), ’Some questions about us’, Firstsite, Colchester (2019), ’Mark Titchner’, CGP/Dilston Grove, London (2014), ’Please Believe These Days Will Pass’, The Young gallery at The Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada (2012), ‘Be true to your oblivion’, New Art Gallery, Walsall (2011), The Age of Happiness, Hellenic American Union, Athens (2009) and ‘Run Black River, Run’, BALTIC, Gateshead, (2008).
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