RIK FISHER
What's Going On? - zine
Artist Statement:
The zine shown (entitled 'What's going on?') is one of several I made around May 2020, during the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic (which put stop to my plans around physically interactive projects) in the UK. I subverted print media into physical collages and collected these into zines to be spread digitally (as I was unable to print anything) to stimulate thought around change. All the zines I made took influence from subversion and specifically the situationist praxis of détournement and what I was reading at the time (most notably ‘Capitalist Realism’ by the late Mark Fisher). Although this is a simple zine (and barely insights revolution by the masses) it is part of my ongoing journey exploring projects that have radical intent and often bring in varied aspects of mine and others lived experience.
Artist Biography:
Over the years I have diverse lived experience, from studying and working in multimedia technology and visual communications industry, years involved in the DIY music scene, being unemployed, struggling with mental health, studying an MA and working in social work and independent mental health advocacy, to more recently graduating from Manchester School of Art. My practice veers towards being social engaged and interactive often, but always exploring praxis (putting theory into practice). This focus has come, in part, through an interest in the situationist international and later through doing social work and diverse reading, such as around black feminism, ‘service user’ movements, queer theory. My practice is often inspired by subversive situationist processes such as détournement and dérive, to break routines and to be a radical, critical and creative tool. Most of my projects are inspired by walking and psychogeography, which I find helps raise many questions around diverse topics and offers possibilities for interventions. I have created and led workshops using this approach and have an interest in working alongside people with co-creation/co-production, improvisation and play, which I also experiment with through the collectives that I am part of. I am currently based between Manchester and Berlin and exploring how projects I am involved in can have a meaningful radical approach.
You can follow more of Rik's work via his Instagram @rikphisher.
