Tether

Founded by Nottingham Trent University graduates of Fine Art, and now incorporating artists from various backgrounds, Tether -an eclectic group of artists, curators and writers based in Nottingham- have produced various projects, events and exhibitions since their formation in July 2007. Below are two of Tether's most recent major projects.

All Smoke and No Fire
Old Truman Brewery , London
29th May - 2nd June 2008

As part of Free Range 2008, Tether produced a five-day collaborative show entitled All Smoke and No Fire.

Focusing on the process of artistic compromise and reflecting upon the reality of post-graduate life, All Smoke and No Fire presented artworks that reacted to the challenge of creating work as a collective, and attempted to live up to the cavernous grandeur of the Old Truman Brewery.  

Playing with notions of spectacle and ambition, the works –which ranged from architectural interventions, to sculptural installations, to performance- stood out in Free Range’s Design Week as distinct and different. The central piece, a 10ft high Trojan horse made of wood and cardboard, alluded light-heartedly to this notion of difference; the construction a discarded “prop” from the Tether Group’s “invasion” of the Old Truman Brewery complex, in a week otherwise devoted to design. 

Other works included the mobile architectural interventions known as “Pillar Men”, which roamed All Smoke and No Fire, seeking to find their place among the numerous concrete columns which characterise the Old Truman Brewery space. Replete with personalities of their own, Pillar Men were liable to follow you, and yet equally prone to shyness and attempts at hiding. No matter how hard they try, the audience may have spotted them. 

Like the Wizard of Oz -hiding behind a curtain and bombastic effects to disguise his slight appearance- All Smoke and No Fire pretended to be far grander than it actually was. 
 
The pieces that made up All Smoke and No Fire distinguish the show from all other Free Range exhibitions thus far- representing the combined practices of roughly a dozen fine artists, free from individual artistic ownership from any of the group’s constituent members. 

Tether Festival 2007
Various Locations, Nottingham
4th - 25th November 2007

Tether Festival - three weeks of events, exhibitions, performances and screenings in November 2007 - represented the first major project by Tether. Under the direction of Hugh Dichmont and Samuel Mercer, Tether’s members curated shows, facilitated collaborations and hosted events which made Tether Festival not only an opportunity for Tether artists to exhibit their own work, but as a means to establish connections with artist groups and practitioners throughout the UK.

Image from private view of Tether Festival exhibition "Pipe Dream", depicting a performance by Jenna Finch

Studio visits can be arranged. For all enquiries about Tether please send emails to mail@tether.org.uk

Or visit our website, and sign up to our mailing list for information on all future projects

Or write to

Tether
17a Huntingdon Street,
Nottingham, NG1 3JH