Be Our Guest (2013) was a project by myself and Chris Bird-Jones. Chris is an artist and educator working primarily in glass. As a visual artist and researcher my praxis is in the media of video, installation and performance. Collectively we are known as Bird-Jones & Heald and are based in Wales, UK.

Bird-Jones & Heald collaborated on various artworks and performances as part of an exhibition called Be Our Guest at Oriel Davies Gallery, and The Gro guesthouse, Wales (2013). Reviewing the exhibition in Artist Newsletter, Ellen Bell, wrote:

'Prior to the rise of the 1970s' cheap package deals to Magaluf and Benidorm, holidaying at seaside guest houses was the main option for the British working class. An extension of the boarding house, these were meant to be a home from home - affordable, convenient and friendly. Be Our Guest, featuring work from over 30 artists, is a wry look at the institution of the bed and breakfast and its awkward smudging between what is public and private, and a stranger and a guest.'

'In one of the bedrooms Bird-Jones & Heald's The Swing, 2013 projects a juddering line of light across the floor in which a child can be seen swaying back and forth. Such imagery holds us together in the warm embrace of universal memory.'

Ellen Bell, a-n Interface, 2013.

The Swing, duration 9' 13", Bird-Jones & Heald, (2013).

Writing in This is Tomorrow, Billie Tilley notes:

'The artists and curators involved in Be Our Guest have reached into the B&B's pilgrim past and tourist town soul to create an unmissable exhibition in a gem of a gallery... In Bird-Jones & Heald's The Swing (2013), footage of an idly swinging girl is projected onto the mirror of an antique wardrobe. The ghostly reflection beautifully evokes the fleeting quality of dream and memory.'

Billie Tilley, This is Tomorrow, 2013.

The Pillow Series IV, Bird-Jones & Heald (2013).

The Pillow Series IV, duration 9' 13", Bird-Jones & Heald, (2013).

Bird-Jones & Heald also exhibited additional site-specific performances and works in The Gro Guest House, Newtown, where Chris and I stayed to research ideas for the show at Oriel Davies Gallery.

During the site-specific exhibition The Gro guest house welcomed visitors to view the artworks as well as offering afternoon tea.

For further information and artworks please visit our website at www.birdjonesandheald.co.uk