Alice White

Ordinary People Have More Power is a quote from a local participant during a planting and art project I worked on at PEER. Taking place across multiple community sites, the project navigated bureaucratic structures and encouraged questions around power, authority and ownership in relation to public space, tastes and values.

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This work has taken different forms. It exists as an A3 collaged print, which was originally intended to be a mock up for a larger scale wall hanging. However, this was scanned digitally and has since been exhibited in various places. Towards the end of 2021 it was finally scaled up into a large wall hanging that includes printed and appliquéd calico.

In 2021, Ordinary People Have More Power was on view at the boating lake near Alexandra Palace and in Wood Green as hoarding for a vacant shop as part of Artists Walk 2021. It also featured in Airspace Gallery's, Stoke-on-Trent, SpeakEasy exhibition and was on display in their window from 16 – 23 April 2021.

Accompanying the work at Airspace was another work, Breaking a culture of domination. Quoting American author, feminist and social activist bell hooks, this artwork proposes a re-examination of the systems that govern us. Upon whose authority are our decisions guided if all members of a community are not treated fairly? The depiction of a crowd alludes to threats on people’s right to protest.

These prints use leftover ink that has been pressed into paper, taking on a new life as a material to collage and test ideas.

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