It’s all about the monkey 2006

Walcot Chapel, Walcot Street, Bath.

This installation uses text, sound and smell to create contrasting elements in the context of a Christian chapel, which is familiar to Western culture.

The pungent smell of incense and low light evokes the atmosphere of a religious environment, which is enhanced by blocking up the windows with rock texture, mimicking the uneven surfaces of the original chapel walls.

The text on the floor visually picks up on the font of gravestones and yet the content has been appropriated from graffiti – ‘the missionary position’, ‘i like mothers in shorts’, ‘Eat my shorts!’ and ‘its all about the monkey’. This often has sexually implicit meanings, and here subverts the context, with a strong emphasis on 'the missionary position', which reflects the misinterpretation and control of the church in cultures such as Africa.

As well as a place where people can gather in life, the chapel has also been used as a mortuary, and so the juxtaposition of life and death are both present and absent, combining the informal with the formal too.

Click here to View Video Installation

Thanks to: Gill Sargent (Sound), Dr. Simon Bell (BBC editing), David Maslen, Stuart Bunce and Classic Memorials.