Sonia Boyce The Audition in Colour , 1997/2020 75 photographic panels Variable Dimensions
The making of The Audition took place at Cornerhouse arts centre (now called HOME) in 1997 as part of a residency by Sonia Boyce at The University of Manchester. An open call invited participants to the Cornerhouse to try on an afro wig. Each individual was photographed with and without the wig and 900 photographs were taken in one single day. For the participants, the act of putting on the wig was a performance, with the introduction of an imagined 'otherness', thus opening up a space for discussion and the exploration of identities and how it can shape our perception. Half of the images, those in black and white have been printed as a one-off installation measuring 17 metres wide (now in Tate collection). The remaining images are in colour and a selection from each of the sitters (one with the afro, one without) will eventually be made to comprise The Audition in Colour.