Image © Otiose, Passage, 1999. Photo by Paul Couillard.

Ailith Roberts and John Dummett, known collectively as otiose, are rising stars on the British art scene. Their intriguing investigations into the acts of archiving, documenting, and witnessing combine a strong conceptual bent with a penchant for obsessive, repetitive physical activities. Based in Leeds, England, the duo have been working together for the past three years, presenting actions and installation works that invite us to reconsider our relationship to the world while calling into question the nature of public space.