Manchester Metropolitan University   2009/2010

Michael Chavez-Dawson

As an interdisciplinary artist my works traverse varying media, mediums and creative approaches in order to seek unique and viable methods for creative means and curatorial dissemination. Over the last decade since graduating from my MA, I have employed a series of alter ego’s to act as living portraits to reflect and explore the varying approaches to; making art, exhibiting, performing and publishing. After my residency & solo show at the Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh in 2008, I concluded my alter ego work and retired them. One of my alter ego’s was Robin Nature-Bold whose projects and works have been slowly archived.

The project I’m keen to develop on the AA2A opportunity is titled ‘The Obvious Manifesto’ which will take a portion of this alter ego’s work and develop a range of artists products & prints; the products are to be a range of curated T-Shirts that will show the story of this alter ego. The final selection will be distributed to ten select gallery outlets across the UK i.e. Cornerhouse, ICA, Saatchi, The Hayward, The Baltic, The Fruitmarket Gallery, TATE Modern & Britain and FACT where I have already forged relations with all the lead buyers. In addition to the T-Shirts I intend to create edition prints, booklets, labels and packaging, along with a short ‘video ad’ for various web platforms.

My aims with this project are to explore the parameters of documentation from a particular body of archived work with the view to extend its legacy. This legacy is to create new work, in this particular case ‘artist products’ from the Robin Nature-Bold archive. These ‘artist products’ will continue the works artistic conceptual ethos whilst expanding it’s curatorial remit via commercial distribution, thereby presenting the model for ‘artwork’ to ‘commercial product’.