Encounter no. 1: Sogol Mabadi and Emma Helen Reid

Two-person exhibition, The Pipe Factory, Ground Floor Gallery
(relocated from Intermedia, CCA), July 2018

Encounter no. 1 was a joint endeavour by Sogol Mabadi and Emma Helen Reid.

Through sculpture, writing, performance, and video, Mabadi and Reid mobilise efforts to alert viewers and participants to the role of the body, including internal landscapes, in our digitised era. Their new works consider the implications that certain contemporary life conditions have on the experience of being in your body and on the ways you encounter another.

Throughout Encounter no. 1, the central components of privacy – solitude, intimacy, anonymity, and reserve – resonate. Care is important. By “resuscitating the corporeal” in our new media environment they explore ways of experiencing being-there and being-with.

This project included a series of performances of their collaborative work, I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger. For more information, please see: I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger

Gallery space with white walls, white pillar, and wooden floorboards with hazard tape. Sogol Mabadi's pink textile work 'Bandoleers' hang high up from a rail on one wall. In the foreground, Sogol Mabadi's work 'Knitting Needles' rests on the floor this is made of white glue sticks held together by knitting needles. These are then stacked together. A TV is mounted on a wall in the background. The screen is white-blue with two small objects on it. There are two stools in front of the TV. The video is called 'Quietly Breathing Together' and was made by Emma Helen Reid.
Installation view of Encounter no. 1, The Pipe Factory, Glasgow, 2018

Quietly Breathing Together, 2018

A television is mounted half way up a wall with two stools in front of it. On the tv there are two small objects in close-up, they are mostly white with some bright colours swirling through them. The objects are foam earplugs.
‘Quietly Breathing Together’ 2018, Emma Helen Reid. Video with seating for two.

Screen Cloth Stack, 2018

A neat stack of grey microfibre cloths is stacked on a shelf in a corner. The cloths are interfolded. A hand lifts one of the cloths from the top of the stack.
‘Screen Cloth Stack’ 2018, Emma Helen Reid. Grey microfibre screen cloths, shelf [You are invited to take one from the top of the stack]

Swaddle to Settle, 2018

A grey sign with white lettering reads: Swaddle to Settle, You are invited to swaddle your phone during your visit. Please return the swaddle as you leave.
‘Swaddle to Settle’ 2018, Emma Helen Reid. Acrylic sign, swaddle blankets, seat [You are invited to swaddle your phone during your visit.]

Side Effects, 2018

A small shelf on a gallery wall has a stack of printed and folded paper leaflets on it
‘Side Effects’ 2018, Emma Helen Reid. Printed and folded text, shelf. [You are invited to carefully take one.]

As part of this project we developed a collaborative performance I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger