Joanna Peace

As a writer I create texts that traverse fiction and non-fiction, in essayistic, prose and poetic forms; I also write beside and amongst artist projects and exhibitions, and collaborate with others on words and publications. 

As an editor and proofreader I have worked with, amongst others, Hayward Gallery Publishing; Bergen Assembly; Cultureshock Media; Christie's Magazine; Undercurrents Magazine; The Photographers' Gallery; and a number of individual artists and academics. 

A selection of writing projects are included here.

How to Tie a Knot and Why, 2018

Text commissioned as a response to the exhibition Personal Structures by Jessica Ramm at Platform, part of Glasgow International 2018. Read the text here. 

Under the Dome, 2017

Selected for publication in 2HB Vol. 22, published by the CCA, Glasgow, 2017. 'Under the Dome' was the title of a magazine produced by patients of Bethlem Hospital in the 1800s. The name was taken from the hospital’s only decorative feature, which was a central cupola, later replaced with a glass dome. Read the text here. 

Thank you for looking with such attention, 2016-2017

Text commissioned for the exhibition and publication For All But Finitely Many by Iede Reckman at Billytown, The Hague, 2016.

This text was adapted and later published under the name Dorylaiou 1 as part of the publication Athens We Have a Problem, published and performed in Athens in 2017. Read the text here. 

A bruised orange kinda ecstasy, 2016

Commissioned for Don Levy: Time Regained, published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name as part of Glasgow International 2016. Publication edited by Alexander Storey-Gordon.

Don Levy (1932–1987) was an artist and filmmaker with an intense interest in the material, temporal and poetic qualities of film and video. Read text here. 

UNLIMITED, 2015

Commissioned by nowshowspace, London, as a response to the exhibition 'Sera Tansel Unlimited', 2015. Printed in two parts and available as a downloadable PDF from noshowspace. It can be read here. 

Broken Waters / Honey Steps, 2015

These two short stories were written in Athens during June and July 2015. With the political events of that summer humming in the background, each story centres around a woman that inhabits a distinct space in the city and features specially commissioned song lyrics by Serra Tansel 'Ana's Song'.

Though entangled within the publication, the two stories can be read separately by flipping the booklet. The end of one story is the beginning of the other. Publication designed and printed in collaboration with Talc Design Studio, Athens.

In 2016 Serra Tansel and I commissioned the singer Gülru Höyük to interpret Ana's Song. Text and audio for Honey Steps available here. Broken Waters can be read here. 

Universe of Women, 2015

Text commissioned as a response to the exhibition 'Concrete Ribs' at Govanhill Baths, Glasgow, featuring artists Helen de Main, Sarah Forrest and Carla Scott Fullerton. Read text here. 

Lover of Rock, 2015 - 2016

The first iteration of 'Lover of Rock' was written during a MAP writer's residency in the Playwright's Studio at the CCA, and subsequently published in their edition 'Manners'.

In April 2016 I voiced a re-written version for the project 'Voicing the Archive'. This version became part of an audio installation of readings and recordings by past MAP contributors at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (4 April - 31 August 2016) and the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (2 May - 31 July 2016).

From Within & Without: The Dutch Anchorite Suster Bertken, 2014

Research project resulting in an illustrated paper, first presented at an interdisciplinary symposium organised by the Archaeology department at Southampton University titled 'Buildings & the Body'. 

The full text and images were later published online on past-forward.net.

Script for Umwelt, 2014

Published in Paraphernalia Magazine Issue 1. Read text here. 

It’s not that we think so much alike, 2014