Phoebe Boswell – dwelling, 2022

Phoebe Boswell’s new video installation, dwelling, posits water as site for both remembrance and futurity. Historical legacies of trauma – forced migrations, segregation, racial misconceptions, and the ongoing effects of global capitalism – continue to resonate within the Afro-diasporic conscience, shaping personal and collective fears associated with water. According to the Black Swimming Association, 95% of Black adults in the UK do not swim. And yet, bodies of water offer the porous, critical space between here and there to dismantle notions of citizenship and imagine future worlds. In this meditative work, the artist invited intimate pairs – parents with their children, siblings, lovers, friends – to help each other feel safe in the water. These episodes play across four projection screens at varying speeds and loops, accompanied by an independently looping sonic collaboration with musician Gregg August, and housed in a reflective black cube. In this long-term project, Phoebe Boswell captures the fragile moments of tension, fear, vulnerability, courage and confidence inherent in learning to swim. In this long-term project, Phoebe Boswell captures the fragile moments of tension, fear, vulnerability, courage and confidence inherent in learning to swim.

Also on view at URDLA and in The many lives and deaths of Louise Brunet at macLYON.