Assembly at A Seat at the Table, South Block Gallery
4–20 June 2026 · Exhibition · South Block Gallery, Glasgow · Assembly
Assembly was exhibited at South Block Gallery in Glasgow as part of A Seat at the Table, presented by Visual Arts Scotland.
The exhibition took the chair as both subject and starting point, bringing together artists and makers whose work shifted the familiar object between function, sculpture, image and idea.
My contribution, Assembly, approaches the everyday object through photography, considering how repetition, placement and context can move something familiar beyond its immediate function.
Photographed at an outdoor public theatre in Macao, the image looks across rows of empty chairs arranged in anticipation of an audience that is absent. Their repetition creates a strong visual rhythm, while the emptiness introduces a quieter sense of waiting, suspended activity and voices temporarily held back.
The work reflects a wider interest in ordinary environments and objects that, through attention, framing and context, begin to reveal something beyond their intended purpose.
I think that is much stronger than simply describing “empty chairs”. It connects directly back to the way we previously thought about the photograph: an assembly without people, a theatre without a performance, and the tension between gathering and absence.
