At Grizedale

London-based artist Harold Offeh employs many different strategies, but mostly produces simple performance-based videos that assess contemporary popular media representations of race and identity. His interest in video stems from his research into early video practitioners such as Vito Acconci, William Wegman, Bruce Nauman, Adrian Piper and Martha Rosler, all of whom used the medium to address the usuals of late 20thC art: body, space, race and gender as well as the relationship between addresser and addressee.

Harold started his residency in June 2007 and is still developing a body of work in relation to the Grizedale programme. In May 2008 he formed part of the group of artists who went to the Chinese mountain village of Nanling in the project Happystacking. Over the 4 week residency Harold developed a Happystacking Day Parade with the children of the village, as well as, memorably teaching the Communist Party Workers Women's Union to booty shake like Beyonce.

As part of Agrifashionista, Harold worked as part of the Urbania Collective to thrash out some ideas, in collective form. Staying at Low Parkamoor (Lawson Park's more isolated and rudimentary sister farm) and dressed entirely in red (to the amusement of local farmer John Atkinson), they explored the neighbourhood and their own minds with a view to making a contribution to the Agrifashionista project and the Royal Academy's GSK Season. See some excellent documentation efforts here.