Ballpark Collective was formed in June 2018 by Susanne Dietz, Max Leach, Sarah Lewis, Aimée Neat and Sun Park. We are a London-based collective led by artists working with moving image. 

Through regular exhibitions and events, we create opportunities for ourselves outside the radar and influence of institutions with the intention of inviting artists and audience to participate in the exchange of ideas, showcase of work and programming.   

ART LICKS 2019 : Interdependence

Ballpark’s first collaborative project Short Straws was shown as part of Artlicks 2019.

Drawing on the idea of the game ‘Broken Telephone’ as a metaphor for information exchange and interpretation, we aim to represent the idea of truth-telling and subjective interpretations using a combination of digital and analogue means. Responding to the theme interdependence triggered a discussion on how we can interweave our different ways of creating, point of views and use of form.

The parameters of this involve creating a moving image work from 5 individual works, each made by one of the artists. Through the random act of ‘pulling sticks,’ we decided on a chronological order to respond and react. The artist who pulled the shortest straw started the process by creating a moving image piece based on an idea of their choice. The work was then presented to the second artist who responded with a work informed by their interpretation of the previous work. There is no discussion by the artists outside the ritual of passing the work from one to the next. This process highlights the unique subjectivities of each of the artists as well as the gaps in the meaning. When the process is complete each of the works is edited together to create a whole. Drawing on Eisenstein’s view that ‘montage is an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots’ wherein ‘each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other’ the final project will reflect the idea that every piece is embedded in the whole. Sharing the process and the outcome to a wider audience is the key and the fundamental idea of ‘send’ and ‘response’ lies at the heart of the process.

We choose to interpret interdependence as our method of making and communicating as a collective, and to leave the themes undisclosed and unknown. In the execution of the work, we invite opportunities to abstractly explore depths of subjectivity, differences in perception, and thereby illustrating difficulties inherent in trying to communicate and be understood.

2019 Artlicks Partners include thus far: Artquest, Cubitt, east bristol contemporary, Flint, Gasworks, Recent Activity, RTM, TACO!, The NewBridge Project

ASP6 Online Fair, in association with ICA London
Showcasing the Short Straw publication with an online screening of the Short Straw film.
Followed by a screening of Chewing an Old Gum and a live performance.

The Art Licks Weekend 2019 is funded by Arts Council England, Grants for the Arts

Reality Sandwiches: Psycho

Participating artists: Aimée Neat, Sun Park, Susanne Dietz and Sarah Lewis

Deptford X  2019

Reality Sandwiches MkI was the first group exhibition presented by Ballpark Collective.

A­ naked lunch is natural to us,  
we eat reality sandwiches.  
But allegories are so much lettuce.  
Don’t hide the madness. 
-Allen Ginsberg ‘On Boroughs’     

With a motivation to pay attention to what makes us feel eerie, uncomfortable, and frustrated, we respond to our genuine emotions and inklings in ‘Reality Sandwiches’. Rather than making any effort to come up with intelligent solutions to survive saturated and delirious state, we take advantage of the medium of moving image that traverses the reality and illusion over time.