Artists aim to make ‘Decision Time’ easier for voters

Published On Mon 8 Sep 2014 by Grant Hill

As people in Scotland gear up for the biggest vote of their lifetime, a new Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) exhibition will explore the factors influencing the decision people make.

‘Decision Time’ takes place from Friday, 12th to Thursday, 18th September 2014 – the day of the historic independence referendum – at Centrespace in the Visual Research Centre at Dundee Contemporary Arts.

The exhibition comprises artworks, performances, talks and dialogues exploring decision-making in the context of the vote and features contributions from leading Scottish artists including Dalziel + Scullion, Tracy Mackenna + Edwin Janssen, Arthur Watson and Calum Colvin.

The show is not party political, although different views are expressed in some of the works, but rather celebrates the process of choosing, the act of deciding and the possible consequences of those choices at this moment in Scotland.

‘Decision Time’ is curated by Zoë Irvine and Pernille Spence from DJCAD in collaboration with the University of Dundee’s Five Million Questions (5MQ) initiative.

Zoe said, “As time has progressed towards the referendum people are engaged and debate abounds. When striving for objective knowledge to evaluate and base our decisions on, we are confronted with subjective reasoning, hopes and fears.

“Decision Time brings together works that explore, often playfully, individual processes, reflections and conclusions. Just like other members of the public, artists have researched, expressed their preferences, beliefs, feelings, affiliations, confusions and decisions.”

The University launched the Five Million Questions project to apply academic rigour to examination of the issues surrounding the biggest event in Scotland for over 300 years and to stimulate wider debate and engage with the public on all aspects of the major questions they are facing.

The Visual Research Centre is part of DJCAD, located on the lower floors of Dundee Contemporary Arts. The exhibition at Centrespace opens with a series of events from 6-9pm on Friday, 12th September. Further talks, performances and dialogue sessions will take place that weekend, and the exhibition will remain open until 6pm on Thursday 18th, just hours before the polls close.

More information is available at http://decisiontimescotland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/decision-time-info.html.

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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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