Inspired by a strand of the FrenchMottershead Shops Project which explores shopping habits in Romania, young journalists from Cube Magazine carried out their own creative investigation into the habits of Sheffield Shoppers for a feature in the magazine in print.
Before embarking on the project, the summer 2009 editorial team met with artists Rebecca French and Andrew Mottershead who gave them a Show & Tell of their work to date and explained the strands of their residency at Site Gallery. As trainee journalists the team asked questions, shared ideas and sought advice for their own shops related project.
Using a similar approach to the Romania shops project, which culminated in a door-to-door style supermarket pamphlet, the group then set out to use journalistic techniques to explore shopping habits in their own city. A selection of interviews and photos from the project was later made into a feature – I Shop Therefore I Am, and was printed as part of the autumn 2009 issue of Cube with the intention of also highlighting FrenchMottershead’s subsequent exhibition at the gallery to younger audiences.
“Wow. I didn’t know artists got commissioned to travel and explore in the way these guys have. Kind of creative detective work! It’s been a real insight into new styles of art I didn’t know about and it’s been great to actually take part as well”.Conor Lewis, Trainee Journalist, Cube Magazine
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July 2009
Participants: Young journalists [14-19] from Cube Young People’s Magazine [www.cubeweb.org.uk]
I shop Therefore I Am is part of: Shopping Landscapes – a series of creative projects explored and produced by young people around the themes of shops and shopping. The work responds to the FrenchMottershead Shops residency and subsequent exhibition at Site Gallery [Nov ‘09 to Feb ‘10].