Charlie Holmes and Steve Hines were selected and asked to propose a work that dealt with the context of a new sports academy. Two projects for the entrance of this facility will be installed during the last week of October 1999.
Charlie Holmes proposed All Our Heroes are Real, a blue neon light work that acts as a signature for the building. The meaning of the sign remains ambiguous, and could be viewed as a starting point for conversation around the concept of aspiration.
For the internal wall of the entrance and stairwell Charlie Holmes collaborated with Steve Hines on the digital photographic work titled More Than a Game. This 2.5 x 7 metre piece responds to both the function and architecture of the building while being sensitive to how members of the public will physically encounter the work.
The models used within it are both from the Sports Academy; one is seated immersed in the contents of the book More Than a Game, the title of the piece, whilst the other leaps skywards towards the montage of sporting paraphernalia raining down on them from above.
Charlie Holmes has received a great deal of critical support for his conceptual practice. He has exhibited work internationally since the 1970’s, creating photographic, text-based and bookwork projects that reveal and often challenge the viewer to consider their own situation and given perspective.
Steve Hines is an emerging artist who has recently exhibited at the Northern Centre of Contemporary Art and is currently showing work in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle as part of the contemporary art event VANE 99.
Commissioned by Cleveland Arts on behalf of Tees Valley Leisure Ltd, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council; Artists: Charlie Holmes and Steve Hines; Architects: Dewjoc Partnership; Installation: Friday 29th November.