Paperwork is a new body of work which developed from a residency at Backwater Artist’s exhibition/project space, Studio 12 in November 2023. This period was spent dismantling and reassembling a long-standing archive of collage material in order to reflect on the broader themes behind this collection of intuitively selected images.

A key influence during this period was Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle (1967), and Debord’s assertion that ‘the spectacle is capital accumulated to the point that it becomes images’. With this in mind the ensuing work examines how illustrative conventions in modern encyclopaedic editions showcase not only visual information, but a catalogue of colonial imperatives.

Working closely with Benjamin Stafford (Carlow Visual), as part of Backwater Artist’s Curatorial Programme, provided key input regarding which areas to develop, in order to generate a relationship between the selected works and their placement within the Studio 12 Exhibition Space.

Tom Doig is a Visual Artist based in Cork City, Ireland where he is a member of Backwater Artist’s, Cork Printmakers and Outlaw Studios.

Tom has exhibited work at Feedback, Studio 12 (2024), Associative Relations , Studio 12 (2023) and Terra Incognita, Skibbereen Arts Festival (2018). He was a recipient of the Cork City Arts Individual Artist Bursary in 2019 and the Irish Arts Council Agility Award in 2021.