This website – earf.info – was created on the occasion of the exhibition Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure by Dan Guthrie at Spike Island, Bristol (8 February – 11 May 2025) and Chisenhale Gallery, London (6 June – 24 August 2025).
Dan Guthrie is an artist and writer whose practice explores representations and mis-representations of Blackness, questioning not only what is shown, but what remains unseen. His latest body of work, Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure, was co-commissioned by Spike Island, Bristol and Chisenhale Gallery, London, and toured both venues in 2025, with the accompanying online platform earf.info publishing new writing by Guthrie and invited contributors throughout the year. His moving image work has been screened widely across the UK as well as internationally at film festivals including IFFR, Prismatic Ground and Berlinale. From 2026 to 2027 he will be a resident artist at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.
Spike Island supports, produces and presents contemporary art and culture across an 80,000 square foot former industrial building in Bristol. Its diverse artistic programme includes free major exhibitions, events and engagement activities taking place on-site and online. Championing outstanding work by emerging and underrepresented local, national and international artists, the programme enhances access to contemporary art for audiences from all backgrounds.
Chisenhale Gallery was founded by artists. The same experimental vision and spirit of possibility that changed an empty veneer factory and brewery warehouse into an art gallery guides the programme today. Chisenhale Gallery commissions and produces contemporary art, publishes books and online material, and actively engages in social projects.
Lead Artist: Dan Guthrie
Editors: Olivia Aherne, Carmen Juliá
Assistant Editors: Rachel Be-Yun Wang, Zhejun Gao
Editorial Support: Phoebe Cripps
Research Assistants: Holly Antrum, Tommy Madison
Web Development: An Endless Supply
With the generous support of Frank Bowling and Rachel Scott.
Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure is commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and Spike Island, Bristol.
Headline Supporter: Henry Moore Foundation
With additional support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund.
Chisenhale Gallery’s Schools’ Programme 2025 is made possible through the generosity of Goodman Gallery.
The 2025–26 Asymmetry Curatorial Research Fellow is hosted by Chisenhale Gallery.
Empty Alcove, 2025
Single channel video, stereo sound, 5 minutes
Lead Artist: Dan Guthrie
Camera Operator: Holly Antrum
Sound Recordist and Sound Designer: Felix Taylor
Colourist: Nielsan Bohl
Producers: Olivia Aherne for Chisenhale Gallery, Carmen Juliá for Spike Island
Assistant Producer: Oscar Abdulla for Chisenhale Gallery
Captioning: Carefuffle Collective and Dan Guthrie
Audio Description: SoundScribe and Dan Guthrie
Rotting Figure, 2025
Single channel video, stereo sound, 5 minutes
Lead Artist: Dan Guthrie
CG Designer and Animator: Salvi De Sena
Sound Recordist and Sound Designer: Felix Taylor
Producers: Olivia Aherne for Chisenhale Gallery, Carmen Juliá for Spike Island
Assistant Producer: Oscar Abdulla for Chisenhale Gallery
Captioning: Carefuffle Collective and Dan Guthrie
Audio Description: SoundScribe and Dan Guthrie
Dan Guthrie would like to thank all of his collaborators and co-conspirators, especially Olivia Aherne, the teams at Spike Island and Chisenhale Gallery, Robert Leckie, Zoé Whitley, The Arts Foundation, Ben Broome, the Cast in Stone team, Devonshire Collective, Ama Dogbe, Layla Gatens, Sarah Hayden, Hospitalfield, Siavash Minoukadeh, Barnie Page, Hannah Rose, Stroud District Council, SVA, his friends, his family, and most importantly, his parents.
If you have any thoughts or questions about this website or the wider project, please send them to dan@danguthrie.net and they will be responded to at the artist's discretion.
Illustration by Gwyn Willey, in Ramon R. Willey’s The Black Boy School, Stroud 1844–1914, 1970. Edited by Dan Guthrie, 2024.