The Unit

Are we seeing what we’re supposed to see? What clues are being hinted at and how are we, the viewer or reader, caught up in the narrative? This new work by Glasgow-based artist Sarah Forrest takes on the detective novel as its starting point in order to unravel how our attention is shifted when we are on the trail of a sleuthing mystery.

In detecting, the act of inquiry means that our senses become heightened as every object encountered could be laced with apparent or hidden meanings. The detective novel supposes that logic will ultimately triumph over dark forces. We are led from A to B to C in a sequence that foregrounds rationality and precision. It is the triumph of close looking. And yet in many instances the detective is male and presented as a kind of rational saviour. This patriarchal trait is subverted and problematised in Forrest’s tightly wrought new work.

The Unit was commissioned for Glasgow International 2021. Supported by Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and Maryhill Burgh Halls.

The Unit could be viewed via the video link below with captions by Valery Tough.

ONE ARTIST | ONE WORK was a series of online events established in response to the first lockdown in March 2020. Focusing closely on a single work, these generous discussions provided an opportunity for an artist based in Scotland to present a recent work and talk through how the work came into being. These events since developed into a more substantial part of the programme, and included a month-long online screening and a specially commissioned written response that was published on the LUX Scotland website. The series now provides an opportunity to think more deeply about the work and provide a record of the discussion events.