The Process: How does an object become erotic?

In this special interview edition of the Process, artist Sidsel Meineche Hansen unpacks the background to her digital commission Grumpy.   Sidsel Meineche Hansen is a Danish artist who is interested in how things are made, both through the lens of the industrial complex and material forms of craft. Her work looks at the ways gender is produced and mutated through the production of female gendered commodities in the tech and porn industry, such as the sex robot or the sex doll, exploring questions around ownership and profit.   In Grumpy, her commission for our digital platform Channel, Sidsel created a computer-animated version of the anatomical Venus - a wax model of a dissected woman, clad in pearls, which was used to teach medical students' anatomy in the 18th Century. The head of the model hangs backwards, singing softly, as we pan up over her splayed open torso, revealing only the reproductive organs and a smiling foetus   To make the work, Sidsel sourced real-life human sexual organs from a cadaver before working on the animation. In this special interview version of The Process, Sidsel unpacks the background to the work with the director of Somerset House Studios Marie McPartlin. She talks about her experience in the operating theatre, the questions it brought up about the role of the artist, the relationship between object and subject and what it was like to make the work while pregnant with her first child.     Interviewer: Marie McPartlin  Artist: Sidsel Meineche Hansen   Executive Producer: Eleanor Ritter-Scott  Producer: Alannah Chance   Host: Laurent John  Sound Engineer: Mike Woolley   Theme Music: Ka Baird  The Process is an artist-led podcast series, developed by Somerset House, which explores the new ideas, big questions and surprising tangents which emerge from the artistic process. Drawing on the creative community both on site at Somerset House and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows artists as they explore one idea they’re currently pursuing, to see where it ends up. From financial astrology to the black renaissance, quantum listening to the transformative powers of cute, along the way we hear from a cross-section of thinkers who have inspired them to help shape where it might go next.

And how did it manage to disappear with barely a trace?  Artists Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser (Hylozoic/Desires) go on a journey through the archives to unearth the story of the Great Hedge of India, a 4,000km long hedge grown by the British East India Company in the 1840s, to control the flow of salt across the continent. But despite being one of the longest of its kind in history, no visual trace of the hedge can be found in the archives Ahead of their installation in the courtyard of Somerset House, Himali and David tell the story of the hedge and reflect on the complex weave of fiction, truth and silence that surrounds it. In this podcast they ask, what can nature teach us about archives? And how can art create truth retrospectively? They are joined by Dr Alexis Rider, a historian of science at Cambridge, who worked alongside the artists as a researcher on the project and Professor Rohan Deb Roy, a lecturer in South Asian History at Reading, who looks at the ways the termite undermined the authority of empire by eating into both the hedge and the official papers of the state. Produced by: Alannah Chance Presented by: Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser Series presenter: Laurent John Mixed by: Mike Woolley Theme Music:Ka Baird Additional Music:Suraj Nepal, Rahul Popawala, Ish S and  Surabhi Saraf Podcast produced in response to 'Salt Cosmologies', an exhibition at Somerset House 20 Feb – 27 Apr 2025. You can also watch a film produced about the artwork on our online platform Channel.

Our Future is tied to the future of our soil. Our decisions as to how we care for and use it matter. Soil teaches us that cycles are ongoing, and even in decline every day offers us opportunities for new beginnings. In this final episode Shenece Oretha explores the regenerative qualities of soil and composting as a model for personal redemption.   We hear from Palestinian grower Mohammed Saleh whose life story offers a personal story of hope, looking at how permaculture and art can help to heal the destructive impacts of war. Somerset Studios artist Harun Morrision’s singing compost invites us to see decay in a new light and Fin Jordâo lays out how composting can be a radical action for rethinking our relationships with each other and the planet.  Does the future hold a closer, more natural relationship with the soil by rethinking our relationship to burial? Radical undertaker Ru Callander reconsiders our attitude to death. The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet. Presented by Shenece Oretha Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance  Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott.  The series is mixed by Mike Woolley Original music by Andrew Pekler.

Much of the history of human making springs from the soil. Cuneiform, the earliest form of writing, was engraved into clay; paint pigments come from minerals in the soil; and much of our material history is held in ceramics. But soil is not neutral; it is deeply entangled with politics of ownership embedded in the land. In this episode Shenece Oretha probes the ways the soil and clay are inspiring artists today, looking at the stories soil can tell about our past and our potential future. Ceramicist and writer Jennifer Lucy Allan reflects on the ways clay connects us to the earliest forms of making. Artists Annalee Davis and Lauren Gault look at the ways soil bears witness to our histories, from the trauma of the plantation to the deep time of paleontology. We create art from soil, but through our extraction and interaction, it is also changed. How can we heal our relationship with the soil and in so doing, transform our relationship with the planet? Farmer and food justice advocate Leah Penniman unpacks how indigenous practices of soil care can reverse some of the most egregious effects of climate change.  The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet. Presented by Shenece Oretha Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance  Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott.  The series is mixed by Mike Woolley Original music by Andrew Pekler.

Our entire existence is dependent on our relationship with soil. As awareness builds of the enormity of the ecological crisis that we are facing, a growing number of artists are engaging with soil as a material in their work.  This three part series responds to the Somerset House exhibition ‘Soil: The World at Our Feet’, unearthing soil's role in our future through the work of artists and thinkers working with it. Soil is the basis of many creation stories around the world. It is our beginning, and it is what we will return to. In Episode 1 of Common Ground we look at soil as the matter from which life emerges. Exploring growth, beginnings and the ways soil as a material offers unique opportunities for exploration.  We hear from artist Asad Raza who makes ‘neo-soil’ from scratch and covers the floor of galleries with it. Artist Eve Tagny’s work examines the cultivation of the Rose as a way to ask questions about the ways we interact with the world. Agroecologist Nicole Masters and farmer Abby Rose, lay out what soil is and why it holds the key to our survival.  The episode is set within the garden of our presenter Shenece Oretha. Working with soil has shaped her relationship to the place where she lives and informed her art practice.  SOIL: Common Ground is a three-part podcast series exploring what soil can teach us about being human, through the lens of art. Soil is unsung, and largely hidden from view. What if we were to put it in the foreground? To think of it as a collaborator?   The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet. Presented by Shenece Oretha Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance  Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott.  The series is mixed by Mike Woolley Original music by Andrew Pekler Episode Image: Asda Raza - credit Luca Guadagnini.

Soil is unsung, and largely hidden from view. What if we were to put it in the foreground? To think of it as a collaborator?   Across three episodes, presenter and Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha traces the life cycle of soil, from it’s foundational role at the beginning of life with artist Asad Raza, through to its manifestation as one of the earliest creative materials, with ceramist and writer Jennifer Lucy Allan. We hear from artists Annalee Davis and Lauren Gault on the ways soil bears witness our difficult histories, before exploring decay and the regenerative powers of soil in our final episode, with the work of artist Mohamed Salah and radical undertaker Rupert Callender.  The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet. Presented by Shenece Oretha Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance  Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott.  The series is mixed by Mike Woolley Original music by Andrew Pekler.

Why has the club been so pivotal to the history of black queer placemaking?  For artist and filmmaker Topher Campbell, growing up as a Black queer man in 1980s and 90s Britain, the club provided a sanctuary from the judgement and hostility of mainstream society. It became a space for community, self-discovery, and, as a care leaver, a sense of home. As co-founder of the rukus! archive and curator of the exhibition Making a rukus!: Black Queer Histories Through Love and Resistance, Campbell reflects on how the club scene reverberates through the archive, one of Europe's largest Black LGBTQIA+ collections, and its vital role in Black queer placemaking.  In this podcast, Campbell speaks with two pioneers of the Black queer club scene: DJ Biggy C (aka Calvin Dawkins) in London, who helped create space for Black music in the capital’s predominantly white gay clubs, and US based Madison Moore, academic, DJ, and author of Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric. Madison discusses his mission to reclaim techno for the black femme community and how fabulousness can offer both mask and armour for Black queer club-goers.  Madison is an assistant professor at Brown University. For further support, we’d like to highlight the following resources:   UK Black Pride  BLKOUT  Black Beetle Health  Galop  Produced by: Alannah Chance  Presented by: Topher Campbell  Series presenter: Laurent John  Mixed by Mike Woolley  Theme Music: Ka Baird   Additional Music: Shaun J Wright and Alinka 

What one site in Croydon can tell us about the biggest moment of civil unrest in Britain in a generation. Listen to the full episode: Apple | Spotify  Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that moment in a new commission for Somerset House Studios which recreates Reeves Corner in the gallery space, accompanied by a new work for string quartet, entitled ‘A Requiem for the Dispossessed.’  In this episode of The Process, Imran heads back to Reeves Corner to reflect on its legacy today. We hear from Tim Newburn, professor of criminology and social policy at the LSE, about the history of civil unrest in Britain and the nature of riots.  Croydon-based community artist Natalie Mitchell shares how community art projects can transform the way we think about public space. We follow Imran as he records with the Manchester Camerata and hear insights from sound designer Rob Szeliga on the ways in which music can affect how we feel.   As the requiem builds to its crescendo and the site lies silent, we ask: what does this patch of land say about the legacy of social unrest in Britain? Why has such a monumental uprising been largely forgotten? And how can sound tell this story in new ways?  We’re sensitive to the fact that while this subject matter is important to explore, it may be triggering to some audiences.  For further support, we’d like to highlight the following resources:  Healing Justice https://healingjusticeldn.org  Resist and Renew https://resistrenew.com  Radical Therapist Network: https://www.radicaltherapistnetwork.com    The Black, African and Asian Network (BAATN): https://www.baatn.org.uk  Credits  Produced by Alannah Chance  Presented by Imran Perretta  Series presenter is Laurent John  Mixed by Mike Wooley  Theme Music by Ka Baird with additional music by Harry Murdoch 

What one site in Croydon can tell us about the biggest moment of civil unrest in Britain in a generation. Artist Imran Perretta was in his early 20s when the riots began in 2011. What started in London quickly spread across England, but it was the footage of a furniture shop set on fire in Croydon which stayed with Imran. Now, 13 years later, Imran revisits that moment in a new commission for Somerset House Studios which recreates Reeves Corner in the gallery space, accompanied by a new work for string quartet, entitled ‘A Requiem for the Dispossessed.’  In this episode of The Process, Imran heads back to Reeves Corner to reflect on its legacy today. We hear from Tim Newburn, professor of criminology and social policy at the LSE, about the history of civil unrest in Britain and the nature of riots.  Croydon-based community artist Natalie Mitchell shares how community art projects can transform the way we think about public space. We follow Imran as he records with the Manchester Camerata and hear insights from sound designer Rob Szeliga on the ways in which music can affect how we feel.   As the requiem builds to its crescendo and the site lies silent, we ask: what does this patch of land say about the legacy of social unrest in Britain? Why has such a monumental uprising been largely forgotten? And how can sound tell this story in new ways?  We’re sensitive to the fact that while this subject matter is important to explore, it may be triggering to some audiences.  For further support, we’d like to highlight the following resources:  Healing Justice https://healingjusticeldn.org  Resist and Renew https://resistrenew.com  Radical Therapist Network: https://www.radicaltherapistnetwork.com    The Black, African and Asian Network (BAATN): https://www.baatn.org.uk  Credits  Produced by Alannah Chance  Presented by Imran Perretta  Series presenter is Laurent John  Mixed by Mike Wooley  Theme Music by Ka Baird with additional music by Harry Murdoch  The Process: A Somerset House Podcast    An artist-led podcast series which explores the new ideas, big questions and surprising tangents which emerge from the artistic process.  Drawing on the creative community both on site at Somerset House and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows artists as they explore one idea they’re currently pursuing, to see where it ends up.  From financial astrology to the black renaissance, quantum listening to the transformative powers of cute, along the way we hear from a cross-section of thinkers who have inspired them to help shape where it might go next. 

How can cuteness be used to sugar coat difficult messages?  In this episode we join another artist commissioned for the Somerset House exhibition CUTE, Brooklyn based Sean-Kierre Lyons, to explore how cute characters have been used to tackle sensitive ideas from the middle ages on.  In her practice, Sean-Kierre brings the grotesque and the cute together to approach challenging themes. Much of her work is inspired by cartoon animation, specifically its roots in racist caricature. For her Somerset House installation Sean-Kierre created a dragon-like gargoyle called Benevolence, one of nine protector gods she is developing, inspired by the 90s cartoon ‘Gargoyles’ Here Sean-Kierre exposes the double edged sword of cute, looking at how cute characters have been used to mask malicious intent, as in the case of the animated characters used in war propaganda, as well as to deliver moral reminders, as far back as medieval masonry. She talks to animator of the Big Blue, Gyimah Gariba about how he uses cuteness to demonstrate the vulnerability of earth’s climate and art historian Dr Janetta Rebold Benton explains how gargoyles could be thought to be a form of cartoons of the middle ages. Contains strong language from the start.  CUTE: An Exhibition Exploring the Irresistible Force of Cuteness in Contemporary Culture, at Somerset House, 25 Jan - 14 Apr 2024. Principal Partner: Sanrio Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Series presenter - Laurent John