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Video: Headingley artist asks what's in a kiss?
What's in a kiss? That's the question Headingley artist Claire Blundell Jones posed in Leeds city centre.
The 26-year-old has paid nine pairs of actors, including two gay men, to snog the face off each other for her performance art work, Kissing II.
Claire, who spent three years at Wimbledon School of Art before moving to the city in 2004, is using her work to provoke public reaction.
And the part-time community art teacher has been surprised by some people's respones.
She said: "Most of the actors are couples, including two gay men. They all gather in a public area of the city and kiss for about 10 minutes.
"I have to say Leeds is finding the two men kissing quite shocking, which is surprising in this day and age.
"Kissing II has been paid for by a 2,500 grant from the Arts Council England. The actors get minimum wage for the kissing, which is pretty hard work to keep snogging continuously for so long."
Last year Claire, who also works at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, used a garden leave blower to push a tumbleweed down the high streets of major cities including Leeds.
It was featured in the Open Show at Leeds City Art Gallery
Her Kissing I project was also shown at the Leeds Metropolitan University Art Gallery last September and then moved to the Tate Liverpool.
Claire said: "I decided to make Kissing into a series and this is the second.
"There's a long history of the act of kissing being used in art throughout the ages with Rodin's The Kiss sculpture probably being one of the most famous.
"Kissing firstly is to think about public displays of affection and questioning how we show it, especially as the British are famous for being so reserved.
"Secondly it's about making art outside of galleries and thirdly, whether a performance like this can look beautiful and aesthetic."
* Visit: www.claireblundell-jones.co.uk
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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