Lyndall Phelps

A – Zone: Dissected, Collated, Analysed

Commissioned by King’s Lynn Arts Centre

A – Zone: Dissected, Collated, Analysed was part of a major artist-led international event in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, which included artists from Australia, Canada, China, India, Korea, Russia, Switzerland and the UK. The event stemmed from an innovative artist mentoring programme called Aspire, developed by King’s Lynn Arts Centre and led by artist Richard Layzell.

From November 2009 to March 2010, I collected 170 newspaper bills from the Eastern Daily Press. Designed to attract our attention, the seemingly important messages heralded are fleeting; they are quickly discarded only to be replaced by the latest headlines in a never ending cycle. I intentionally slowed this cycle, inviting the viewer to linger with the bill’s language and structure. A laborious, forensic-like process was employed; the bills were treated as specimens to be dissected, collated and analysed.

The work consisted of four components: the 806 dissected words displayed in alphabetical order, the bill ‘stencils’ presented in a stack in date order, and a series of 34 paintings and drawings which recorded the removed sections of each bill.