(above:The Dad Directives #2: 'Hi Dad, Take a photograph of a photograph you wish you had taken')

THE DAD DIRECTIVES 2008 (With Kevin Sykes)
Framed inkjet prints and text

One of a series of five projects devised and completed whilst on a six week residency at Platform in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland.

For 'The Dad Directives' - my first collaboration with my father, a keen amateur photographer - I emailed him each weekend with a different instruction. He was free to interpret these however he wanted and then make one print of each - using his new A3 printer - and send them out to me.

I then framed and displayed the series in the solo show 'Tree Hugger' at the end of the residency. The project was run under strict conditions so my father and I never discussed it until after allthe prints had arrived by post, just prior to the exhibition opening.

(Above left: Installation view in 'Tree Hugger - New works by Barry Sykes' Platform, Vaasa, Finland / Above right: The Dad Directives text



1. 'Hi Dad, Go outside after dark and photograph any house with a window you can see someone through.'

2. Hi Dad, take a photograph of a photograph you wish you had taken.'



3. ‘Hi Dad, Build something from scrap wood in the garage, paint it with left-over paint,
give it eyes. Then photograph it.'




4. ‘Hi Dad, Collect together as many things you can find that you've been given as presents.
Pile them up and photograph with a strong flash.'




5. ‘Hi Dad, Take a photograph of something you don't understand.'



6. ‘Hi Dad, What is the heaviest thing you can lift in the house? Take it out into the garden and photograph it.