part of The Everyworld Season
Fri 23 Jan - Thu 19 Feb (more dates to be announced)
An installation, exhibition and celebration of collaboration between a father, a daughter and an ever-expanding family of cooperation.
In The Everyworld, Andrew and Eden Kötting invite you into an exuberant kaleidoscope of visions, snippets, memories, and collisions.
Drawing on elements from multiple artworks created over the last 20 years, The Everyworld brings together the work of the renowned experimental filmmaker and his daughter Eden in one multimedia exhibition.
From VR to giant inflatables of lost relatives, from moving image pieces to detailed sketchbooks, The Everyworld is an archaeological deep dig celebrating family, the creative spirit, grief and togetherness.
"From the remotest pre-human galaxies, he gallivants joyously, accompanied by forefathers, great-grandfathers, deadads. And an always present and always absent daughter. Sometimes he dictates and she inscribes. They are quite an act. They are in this together."
Iain Sinclair, Writer, Filmmaker, and Friend
When you arrive at The Everyworld, a Gallery Assistant will welcome you and give you time to settle before experiencing the VR piece The Tell Tale Rooms. This 15-minute father-daughter collaboration explores Louvyre, their Pyrenean family farmhouse, in virtual reality on a Quest 2 headset. Blending animation, archive material, and live action, it celebrates the wonders of Eden’s rare neurological syndrome and her distinctive fantastical world.
In The Wake of a Deadad sits at the far end of the gallery, with two towering inflatables of Andrew’s father and grandfather – the ‘Deadads’, accompanied by a poetic looping film of a journey taken with the inflatables to places of family significance. From the family grave in Germany to nieces kissing the inflatable deadad in a brother’s garden and trips to the Faroe Islands and Mexico, the piece is a powerful and surreal reflection on grief, memory and the tangled relationships many of us have with close family members.
The rest of the exhibition includes more films and artworks from two decades of shared artistic practice, a bricolage including sculptures, costumes, objects, and books from Andrew and Eden's lives working together. This is likely to take around 30 minutes to explore. If you'd like longer to dwell and we're not fully booked, you are welcome to.
See more about their work on Andrew Kötting's website.
The Tell Tale Rooms is shown in VR (virtual reality) and requires the use of a Quest 2 VR headset. There are some custom features such as volume and brightness control. Anyone with epilepsy who has not used VR before should avoid this part of the exhibition.
There are seats and benches available in the gallery, as well as spaces where you can lie down. Gallery Assistants are happy to help if you need extra seating.
When you arrive, you enter our welcome area, a Gallery Assistant will greet you, explain what to expect, and answer any questions.
In the main gallery you will have a few minutes to explore the space. Then the assistant will help you get set up with the VR headset. The piece runs for 15 minutes.
Continuing from the virtual into the real world, you can experience the rest of the exhibition in the gallery. This will take you around 30 minutes. You can see artworks, films and inflatables. At the end, we invite you to share your feedback and tell us how the exhibition felt for you.
Our gallery assistants are on hand to help throughout your visit to Undershed.
Please arrive on time for your session or you may not be able to complete the experience within your time slot.
If you are running late, don’t worry. We can hold your spot for up to 10 minutes after your session start time. After that, we won't be able to hold your space as it would delay other visitors. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late, just pop over to the box office and they’ll help you swap your ticket for another available session.
If we can do anything to make your visit to Undershed easier, please email us and we'll be happy to help.
Mon: 12:00-19:00
Tue - Thu: 10:00-19:00
Fri - Sat: 10:20-19:20
Sun: 10:20-16:40
There is a maximum capacity of 15 people in the gallery at any one time, with 5 people starting their session every 15 minutes.
The full experience, from arrival to departure, takes around one hour.
We recommend pre-booking in advance online, in person at Box Office or by phone on 0117 927 5100. Any unbooked slots are available for walk up customers to Box Office.
Tickets are priced on a sliding scale for adults, £5 - £12, and £4 for children, based on a pay-what-you-can basis. Further details are on our booking pages.
Companion tickets are available.
In the welcome area of Undershed there are spaces to leave your belongings while you are inside the exhibition. A Gallery Assistant will be in this area at all times.
The Everyworld is a multi-media exhibition anyone under 16 must be joined by a parent or guardian and the VR experience is recommended for ages 8+.
Please do not bring in outside food or drink into Undershed. Watershed Café & Bar is on the first floor for refreshments before and after your visit to Undershed.
You are welcome to use any of the toilet facilities in Watershed then come back into Undershed.
Photos & videos are allowed in Undershed, but please do not take or share images of people without permission whilst they are participating in the work.
Undershed Gallery is located on the ground floor of Watershed – the entrance is to the right of the Box Office desk.
If you haven't been to Watershed before, check out the Watershed Visit page for access, location and transport information.
Please ask the Gallery Assistant if you would like these activated.
Anyone under 16 must be joined by a parent or guardian, who will support them with putting on the VR headset with guidance from our team. Gallery Assistants cannot supervise children if a parent/guardian chooses to do the VR experience.
The Tell Tale Rooms VR piece is not very triggering in terms of lighting, but if you haven’t used VR before and have photosensitive epilepsy, we recommend avoiding this part of the exhibition.
Benches and stools are available, as well as yoga mats and blankets on request if you need to lie down.
If you cannot find a seat and would like one, please speak to a Gallery Assistant.
We welcome resting at any point while you’re in Undershed.
You can breastfeed anywhere in Watershed. If you would like a bit more privacy, a Gallery Assistant can advise on spaces that may be available, though we cannot guarantee a private room.
Changing facilities are available in male, female, gender-neutral, and accessible toilets. Gallery Assistants are happy to help if you need any support during your visit.
Films will be captioned, and we are working on getting the VR experience captioned too. We will update soon.
Using an mp3 player, you can experience The Everyworld with audio description. This will outline the visuals in the gallery to enhance the experience for any blind or partially sighted visitors. There is a single track and not specific audio description for each film.
There is no audio description available for the VR experience.
The Everyworld is designed to be as inclusive and relaxed as possible. There are no specific relaxed sessions.
Some spacious sessions are available for visitors who prefer more room to move and less people in the gallery. There are two of these each day. The VR experience can be slightly altered; the brightness and volume can be adjusted to suit your needs.
The experience is a single-person VR setup, and each participant is already spaced in their own section of the gallery. You are very welcome to wear a mask, but we cannot guarantee that other visitors or staff will be masked.
If you would like a tour to familiarise yourself with the environment, then please contact the Undershed team to arrange this.
If we can do anything to make your visit to Undershed easier, or you have any questions or feedback please get in touch, we'll be happy to help.
We know there will be things we can improve on and adapt.
Find out more about general Undershed access
Overview
The Everyworld is a multi-media exhibition exploring themes of home, family, grief and joy. The space includes films, inflatables, books, sculptures and objects arranged in an immersive environment.
The VR experience is recommended for ages 8+ and the tone is playful, familiar, and sometimes irreverent.
Credit: Paul Blakemore
Undershed is a gallery for showing the best immersive and interactive artwork from all over the world. The first of its kind in Bristol and rare across the UK – this dedicated space will stage themed exhibitions that change every few months.
Undershed is a place to come together and experiment with new forms of storytelling. Come on in, keep an open mind and tell us what you think.
With thanks to our sponsor Redcliffe Imaging
Or call Box Office: 0117 927 5100
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