Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
publications
communion
- Price: £14.95
- ISBN: 978-1-908-966-33-9
- Year of publication: 2014
- Edition Size: 2000
- Pages:112
- Binding: Paperback
- Illustrations: 99 b/w and colour
- Dimensions in mm: 240 x 180
Communion is a survey of the work of the British artist Ben Judd from 2000 – 2013, including commissioned essays by Emma Cocker, Alun Rowlands and Pandora Syperek on his work and related themes. Using a distinct and wide variety of methodologies within performance and video to explore the themes of scepticism and belief, Judd concentrates on those sects and sections of society pinned to marginalised, occult or esoteric belief systems, such as witches, clairvoyants and shamans.
Comprising commissioned text and colour imagery (original photography and stills gleaned from his video work), the book reveals the dual processes of art and the occult as tied up in a seemingly never-ending quest to uncover 'truths', both operating in an intriguing place where nothing is proven. Art is seen as a magical process, in which objects, images and ideas become transformed through the mutual belief of the artist and viewer. The roles that Judd adopts examine this fusion of practices, often positioning himself as the initiate, at the fulcrum between immersion and separation.
