Are you LOCATIONALIZED by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan was commissioned as a dual-sited, cross-island project between the Hebridean islands of Skye and North Uist. Are you LOCATIONALIZED was ATLAS’ contribution to the 2014 nationwide project GENERATION, a major exhibition programme which showcased some of the best and most significant artists to have emerged from Scotland over the preceding twenty-five years.
Tatham and O’Sullivan were commissioned by ATLAS Arts to create artworks which incorporated a number of elements, including outdoor sculpture, photography and public information areas – raising questions about the role of art, what is expected of art and how it is understood and interpreted. The artwork created for the Isle of Skye was commissioned to coincide with the Portree Highland Games, taking the form of a temporary structure around the Apothecary’s Tower overlooking the Highland Games site. Also in Portree, Tatham and O’Sullivan constructed a playful information desk within the ATLAS Arts’ office. The works commissioned for North Uist were located at Taigh Chearsabhagh taking the form of another temporary structure. This work was positioned at the gable end of the old dairy located adjacent the art center and museum, whilst inside sixteen photo – works of the publicly sited sculptures of Loughborough University campus and the Roadend sculptures of Uist were exhibited.
The four separate elements spanning the two island locations were intended to be read as one artwork, with each part adding (or detracting) another component for consideration when addressing questions raised by the works. Employing their recognisable style, Tatham and O’Sullivan utilised a vocabulary of images, phrases and forms that are notable from both a common history and from their previous works. Working in relation to these locations and incorporating the history of these spaces, the artwork aimed to create conversations and disruptions within their surroundings.