Spike Island co-produced and co-commissioned The Foundation, a film exploring queer intergenerational relationships negotiated through historical materials by British artist Patrick Staff.
The film cites the Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles as a living archive and home to the collection of work of the erotic artist and queer icon and a community of people that care for it. Observational footage shot at the Foundation is intercut with a series of choreographed performances between the artist and an actor within a stylized stage set. The film is motivated by an interest in the multiple and layered functions of the building – as archive, domestic space and an organisation with an active agenda – but also the role of the Foundation as a site of desire and sexuality.
This commission resulted in a large scale single screen video installation which was presented in major solo exhibitions at Chisenhale Gallery, London, Spike Island, Bristol and internationally through 2015-16. The Foundation was also included in British Art Show 8 and exhibited at: Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds; Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; University of Norwich, Norwich; and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
Filming for The Foundation took place both at Spike Island, Bristol and at the Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles in 2014.
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