No. 56 (Islands)

Judith Schalansky’s book Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands and its subtitle Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will was the catalyst for Richard Ayres’s new work. As a child, Schalansky would travel through the pages of an atlas as a form of escapism, visiting exotic places within her mind. Ayres has replicated this idea through No. 56 (Islands), a series of short and strange standalone pieces exploring imaginary locations. Perhaps this is why artists and musicians are important Ayres says, as ‘they can dream beyond restrictions in the world.’