P.Staff
To Those in Search of Immunity

Please be aware this work contains explicit content of a sexual nature and is only suitable for adults.

P. Staff is an interdisciplinary artist who works with film, installation, dance and performance to investigate dissent, labour and the queer body. Through collaborative projects their work explores the ways that stories of counter-cultures and radical activity have been told and retold, particularly in relation to both the material and social constitution of the body.

To Those In Search of Immunity draws on P. Staff's research into the ecology and botanical formations of Calton Hill. Written, scored and narrated by the artist, the audio melds essay, memoir, spoken
word, and rhythmic soundscape to examine illness, health, and both the communal and individual body. Historical, scientific, and botanical narrative is punctuated, perhaps contaminated by, stories of messy, leaking bodies, weeds, and nocturnal encounters.

Rooted in Calton Hill’s position as a site for municipal buildings, along with numerous political and scientific monuments, P. Staff's narrative employs the disruptive potential of overgrowing weeds, traveling diseases, bodily fluids and our human contributions to unexpected ecologies. Exploring ideas of immunity and the possible effects of ingestion and the constitution of substances on the body, P. Staff's Observer’s Walk reflects social concerns such as: sex, gender and the construction of community.

Composer: P. Staff
Sound Engineer: Jules Gimbrone
Clarinet and Alto Sax Musician: Logan Hone Supervising Sound Editor: Tom Sedgwick

A limited edition scented print has been created by P. Staff to accompany the commission and is available to buy from Collective's shop.

P. Staff (b.1987, Bognor Regis, England) lives and works in Los Angeles, USA and London, UK.Their work has been exhibited at Serpentine Galleries, London (2019); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2019); Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland (2019); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2017); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2017); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2016); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2015); Tate Liverpool, England (2014); Tate Modern, London (2012), among others.