Sometimes (after Kinmont)

The final work in the exhibition is, in fact, also its first. In the cloakroom, on the inside of a locker door, an English sentence is written in lipstick: “Sometimes a nicer sculpture is to try to make a family.” Its author, Jessie Bullivant, is interested, among other things, in the boundaries of the art world and its structures, and their works are often process-based. In recent years, they have focused on reproductive labour – a term encompassing all tasks involved in supporting and sustaining both present and future workforces, including, for instance, childbearing. The bulk of this labour is performed by women and remains unpaid.

Different spaces and situations come with different prerequisites. To take part in an exhibition, you must have an artwork – and here it is. All of the activities tied to Bullivant’s attempt to create a family are considered part of this work. As one step in the process, for instance, Bullivant trained as a doula and attended births. But what, after all, are the prerequisites for creating a family? There is more than one way to have children, and the relationship forms prescribed by the traditional family model are far from the only – let alone the primary – bonds along which care circulates.

To be queer is to be non-normative, to resist the binary. In a world where normativity is the prerequisite for full participation, this inevitably imposes limits. The title of Ben Kinmont’s work, which Bullivant’s sentence paraphrases, is: “Sometimes a nicer sculpture is to be able to provide for your family.” Kinmont’s piece, which likewise explores the boundaries of the art world, takes the form of profit earned from his cookbook store. Kinmont’s title speaks of ability, while Bullivant’s sentence speaks of desire.