Lollygag

lol·ly·gag
intransitive verb \ˈlä-lē-ˌgag\
: to spend time doing things that are not useful or serious : to fool around and waste time

The exhibition title, Lollygag, was chosen as the works on show may appear to be foolish or useless on first glance: the idea here is to look at how we spend our time, what is considered a waste of time, and how thought alone can bring worth to something seemingly “worth nothing”. Nothing as in empty, or the act of doing nothing (being idle, waiting, worrying), or the relative importance of an gesture or the worth of the artwork itself (nothing to offer, waste of time, pointless).

Bertrand Russell, from the essay “In Praise of Idleness”, says “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” This can be applied to the time spent producing the artworks, or the time used by the viewer in looking and contemplating them. Where do “wastes of time” sit in your hierarchy of needs? Maybe we all need some things we don’t need for the subsequent virtue or pleasure they can bestow. The exhibition will consist of a new body of work including film, drawing and object assemblage. With Hat Stand (Waiting for Godot) Ford invites viewers to try on and swap the hats on display, assuming other identities or personas, especially if you find yourself waiting for something.

Other works included in this exhibition:

Back and forth and round and round
Twiddling My Thumbs
Watching Paint Dry
Something not very meaningful
Things I don’t need
Shiny new expensive things