Lying freely

About this book

Lying Freely is the 4th and final part of the itinerant project by artist Ruth Buchanan. Here the 3 previous stages of the project meet within and are also confronted by the space of the book. The book was made in close collaboration with designer David Bennewith and developed accumulatively as each stage of the project was 'completed'. Over the course of 2 years Buchanan investigated questions surrounding the tension between private need and public appearance, individual agency and collectively received legacy, producing a series of works that each dealt with particular constellations of figure, location and format. The 3 stages consisted of a guided tour, theatre piece and installation. The book behaves on the one hands as a schematic or script for the body of work, drawing boundaries - and on the other hand it proposes a method, an approach, that suggests constant repetition and following, constant reconfiguration. The book becomes an experiment in sharing material, sharing space; absorbing and reflecting its own conditions and the conditions under which it becomes public.