More More More, 2019

We are on the brink of irrevocable environmental disaster, staring down the precipice of the decay of social cohesion, and yet, we want MORE.

Barnaby Barford’s body of work ‘MORE MORE MORE’ presents the culmination of the artist’s investigation into society’s incessant need for more and the detrimental effect it has on us as individuals, as a community, and on the planet.

‘MORE MORE MORE’ continues Barford’s exploration of the politics of happiness but with a new source of inspiration: the Apple – nature’s ancient, primary object onto which we have long projected our myriad fears and desires.

It is the fruit that caused the downfall of humankind, it is The Judgement of Paris, the labours of Heracles, Cézanne, Magritte, it is Newton, Steve Jobs, it is Freya, Alan Turing and The Beatles, it is even the American Frontier.

In mythology, art history and religious symbolism, the most unassuming of all fruits has been imbued with every imaginable human desire, both good and bad. It has been a symbol of immortality, death and beauty, innocence and experience, sin and redemption. These tropes are repeated in secular stories from William Tell to Snow White, and contain all the dilemmas and dualities of the human condition, epitomised by Adam and Eve’s original ‘more’ moment in the Garden of Eden.

Also in the exhibition is a huge wizened apple entitled ‘Land of Hope & Glory’. In contrast to the seductive, fairy-tale quality of the ceramic apples, the fruit is wrinkled, past its best, on the turn. It’s a piece that reflects Barford’s view on the state of the country right now, and also on what happens when the powerful exercise their unscrupulous want for more. The deeply creviced sphere is a call to action.

The urgency of this dilapidation is reiterated in Barford’s film , shot over 2 and a half months, of a real apple, scarified with the word ‘more,’ rotting imperceptibly. You cannot see the change until it has occurred. Much like the effect of our incessant need for more, the detrimental effect it has on us is imperceptible until it has happened and we are left wondering why we feel like this.