Who's that with Liz Rideal?

Thursday 20 October 1994 18:02 EDT
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Liz Rideal has worked with photobooth images since 1985. In a kind of alchemical process, she ingeniously transforms them into everything from abstract representations of the seasons to renaissance paintings (above).

The photobooth, she says, is fine art's equivalent to the toilet and is therefore perfectly suited to the production of public art.

If you're desperate to know how Warhol's 15 minutes of fame really feels or what it is like to rub cheeks with Keanu Reeves or Julia Roberts, Rideal (seen with Clint Eastwood, left) is your woman. From 22-31 October, she will be creating a huge photographic collage, two metres high and five metres wide, in the foyer of the National Film Theatre, using 1,250 photobooth strips. Anybody who turns up in the foyer between those dates will be invited to pose with a photograph of their favourite movie star in the booth, and have their photostrip included in the collage.

Filtered through the suffragette colours of white, green and purple, the National Film Theatre collage makes an oh-so-subtle reference to the voting booth and women's visibility: the work is part of the nationwide 'Signals' festival of women photographers, involving 400 events and exhibitions.

Playing on notions of fame by association and artistic authorship, Rideal sees the final artwork as a collaboration.' We all have the potential to make visual statements,' she says, 'and this way art is fun.'

Bring your own image or select one from a number available on site at the National Film Theatre, South Bank, SE1, 11.30am-8.30pm

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