Utilising both found materials and self generated representations, the tone of these various works has ranged from the inane, comic and absurdist to the tragic, acerbic and fantastic. Present throughout, however, is a running commentary voiced both through a number of recurrent, alienated characters, The Fat Cop and John Saxon for instance, and our doppelganger selves. It is a commentary which seeks to examine the impacted sites of the mind and body, to narrate the complex and contradictory forces at work in the destruction of both.

During the past two years of collaboration we’ve strenuously attempted to create a large body of work capable of reflecting the absurd, grotesque and humorous character of British culture. Starting from the belief that art isn’t autonomous from mainstream culture, that nothing about it makes it innately superior, we’ve developed a practice which fuses the best aspects of art with those of cinema and music. Our work has been likened to a Samuel Beckett meets Morecambe and Wise hybrid.

Shifts in tone, subject or medium are central to our practice, and in an attempt to fuse an overheated imagination with a limited budget, our intention has been to operate like Cecil B de Mille on skid row. In massive undertakings, like the ever expanding wall piece 5000 Blows to Babylon Boy's Head , the drawings, texts, slogans, and characters were arranged so as to give a panoramic slice of British culture.

In the two hour programme of videos for Goodnight Goodnight at the Collective Gallery Edinburgh, the viewer was greeted by a whole host of deviant characters. Frequently absurd, daft and tragic both in their actions and inertia, this grotesque assortment (Fat Cop, Gary The Misunderstood Toddler With A Flamethrower, and the doltish Beagles and Ramsay doppelgangers amongst many others) acted as guides on a cut price tour of some of our nation's less salubrious hot spots. Jumps in tone take us from the hyperactive, charged environment of Gary, to the gruff rants of Derek Blades and onwards to the poignant perversity of The Chimps and A Momentary Lapse of Equality Control.

So, do not adjust your set and please bear with us as we descend into the Ninth Circle of Derek's Inferno. Your journey will take you down a long and winding road, through this cut price dropout boogie Safari Park. So roll up your windows , put your foot hard down on the accelerator and catch a glimpse of some of these dubious characters.

Graham Ramsay & John Beagles.
1999

© The artists and
Courtesy of the artists.