Anne-Marie Atkinson
My practice is concerned with identifying and deconstructing human-imposed categorisation by operating in the ‘between’ spaces in a way that is characteristically ‘un-disciplined’. I approach all things with unrestricted curiosity, and am interested in generating new knowledge; a knowledge that is holistic and reflective of experience, and that has useful applications in the world. Through my practice, I imagine the possibilities of a world where limiting narratives do not apply.
The tools of my practice include photography and digital media, contemporary dance, microscopic organisms and sub-atomic particles. I employ Critical Disability Studies as a framework through which to question assumptions around what is ‘normal’ or ‘right’. I also collaborate with all kinds of people, including a scientist in a microbiology laboratory and a person with a learning disability. Collaboration is a key tool in my practice because it engenders a softening of the edges of the self and leaves one open to transformation. I have developed an approach to collaboration that is both rigorously ethical and situated within contemporary art, where I explore the material and political qualities of engagement. Through an un-disciplined, collaborative practice, I aim to glimpse the interdependent nature of people, the world and the universe.