Somerset House

Andy Holden grew up with one foot in Bedford and one foot in Beano-town, the fictional town from the Beano full of semi-detached houses and fractious families.  As the curator of the exhibition Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules at Somerset House, Andy became immersed in the comic’s world of childlike anarchy and rebellion. Now, as he shakes off his cartoon limbs and returns to being fully human, he wonders what can he take from the spirit of the Beano into his next endeavour?  How can you keep bending the rules while avoiding being predictable? Is performance art the most effective way of inspiring change? Andy heads out to talk to  performance artist Mark McGowan, aka the artist taxi driver, about performance, politics and the power of persona, all from the back of a black cab.

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The Process 

We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension,  it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. 

This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next.