David Borrington and Aithan Shapira with Dr Aaron Rosen
Project brief: Shapira and Borrington met at the Royal College of Art in 2006 - both's work and lives are informed by edges, boundaries, and their practice in seeing multiple perspectives.
Borrington and Shapira write that ‘walls have two sides, though we live in a world accustomed to seeing only one – at our homes, offices, hotels and underground stations without thinking what is happening on the other side’.
Exploring this idea Shapira and Borrington have built a wall installation whilst living on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
With Shapira living in the United States and Borrington based in the UK, the artists have each created one side of a wall – only revealed to each other after completion. Subsequently, working together in London they have completed the installation by making The Mending Wall.
In the artists’ own words ‘we build walls to separate differences rather than breaking them down to solve conflict’. This project challenges our notion of walls and what they mean in our lives.
David Borrington produces artwork in direct response to current social and world affairs that aims to support the growth of true democracy. “My work is strongly satirical and it is through the process of drawing that I am able to express my opinions about the world. I try to portray this in the most honest way, which is the only way I know how”. More on David's work.
Aithan Shapira “First-generation American: mother escaped from Baghdad, father rooted ten generations in Jerusalem; Alumnus of the Royal College of Art; Drew and lived with Aboriginal Australians over three years. Aithan Shapira is a product of survival, preservation, and simultaneous, multiple-perspectives.” Aithan’s work has recently been exhibited in a number of major museums and galleries, including the Royal Academy and he recently gave a TED Talk on multiple perspectives. More on Aithan's work.