ActionSpace artist Ophir Yaron featured in Here, Now, a new film by Jo Longhurst
9 August – 10 September
Project Studio, Studio Voltaire, 1A Nelsons Row, London, SW4 7JR
Here, Now was a film developed by artist Jo Longhurst with unseen collective, featuring ActionSpace artist Ophir Yaron. unseen collective consisted of eight women and non-binary identifying artists living with unseen disabilities and conditions. The collective included artists: Helena Boateng (London Screen Academy), Alessandra Genualdo, Alice Hattrick, Jo Longhurst, Marie-Claire Nonchalente (Submit to Love Studios), Liz Orton, Natasha Trotman and Ophir Yaron (ActionSpace). The collective’s experiences, shared through one-to-one discussions, online presentations and group meetings were central to the film.
In Here, Now, the history of documenting women held in psychiatric institutions were considered and challenged through explorations of visibility, movement and performance. Longhurst used bindweed as a metaphor for her own disabled experience. While bindweed is considered an undesirable plant, it is known for its tenacity and characteristic of growing in an anti-clockwise direction.
Longhurst’s film and wider project explored the concept of ‘Crip Time’, a theory at the intersection of feminist, disability, and queer studies that elaborates how the disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill encounter time and space.
Ophir shares more about being a part of unseen collective and the film.
“Originally I was nervous not knowing what it would be about but then gradually I became confident as I asked questions and began to understand the ideas. It was fun being part of the collective, and it opened me up to the other women’s experiences who were different from mine. Jo listened to me and took on my suggestions, and how I wanted to express myself in the film as I did not just want to be a still picture, I wanted to move.
Having a voice is very important in my artwork, sometimes I even use words in the image. My art is all about expressing my experiences. People see my face and see me as ‘Down’s Syndrome’, but don’t see the inside of me. I feel that people with learning disabilities struggle to get heard and really seen.
It was a great experience getting to know everyone. I enjoyed that I could dance and not only be seen as a Patternist. It was wonderful to be part of a work of art!”
Here, Now is curated by Lisa Slominski.
Director of Photography (studio): Milo Van Giap.
This project was supported by Arts Council England, Studio Voltaire, and Art et al.; and collaborated with the London-based art organisations ActionSpace, Headway East London/Submit to Love Studios and the London Screen Academy.
