A collaboration between artists Vinny Reunov and Rupert Cole in an exhibition in 2019 that explored ‘Local Celebrity Phenomena’. This is a fairly simple concept that displaces familiar local people, for example, your local grocery shopkeeper, to a different context, perhaps the local library, they then take on a wholly different kind of familiarity. One recognizes the person not as the shopkeeper anymore but as someone ‘famous’ (as you have seen them often), perhaps like someone you have seen on television… The shopkeeper has at once become a Local Celebrity, who can then be asked for an autograph or a selfie photo. It is a healthy way to build better community relations and can enhance a sense of community pride. It also demystifies remote otherness celebrity feelings which are exacerbated by social media.

 

hylopath.JPG
hylopath.JPG
hylopath.JPG
hylopath.JPG
hylopath.JPG
hylopath.JPG
rupert cole 2019 .JPG