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Tom Pope

@tom__pope

3.3K

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1977

following

Artist / player / educator
The club: @onesquareclub
@anartistsinfo Artists Council 2022-26
Collaborative project: @almostnothingbutblueground

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Top Table, 2025, suit made from used snooker baize

Top Table is a tailored suit made with Beggars Run @beggarsrun using the old baize from the top snooker table in Old Hastings Club.

Old Hastings Club consists of two snooker tables: the top table, and the other table. As a regular player at the social club, I have played the baize along with the other club members. Throughout the time on the snooker table the baize has witnessed wins, defeats, spills, tears, frustration, and celebrations. The memory of the matches and socialising is embedded in the fabric of the suit.

To bring the work full circle it was only right to wear the suit for a game of snooker on the top table of Old Hastings Club. Going forward the suit will be worn during performances.

A huge shout out to Beggars Run, who were onboard from start to bring my ideas to life in the most fabulous and sharp style.

It was great to collaborate with Derek Man to shoot the Top Table at Old Hastings Club by @tom__pope

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a year ago

Terminating Martin Parr by Tom Pope
Edition 100
2024
Available now, message me for a copy.

The book documents my performance of the same name where I destroyed 17 photographs created by Martin Parr. The 7-hour 47-minute performance took place on 19th May 2022 at ArtHouse Jersey

2 years after the performance on 18th May 2024, we launched Terminating Martin Parr at a performative book launch at Peckham24 where I semi-destroyed the book cover with a cyanotype-soaked tennis ball and a drill.

The book was designed by Johanne Lian Olsen and Published by Folium, who also assisted during the performative launch with preparing the books for drilling, editioning and selling.

The publication brings together the destroyed images and records of the performance. There is an in-conversation with Alice Maude-Roxby and a creative text contribution by Becky Tanner-Rolf featured in the publication.

Images from the performative launch shot by Jim Riseley

@folium_publishing
@j_lianolsen
@becky_t_r
@martinparrstudio
@peckham24photo

#terminatingmartinparr #artistbook #photobook #publication #performance #martinparr #autodestruction #folium #foliumpublishing #tompope #performanceart #peckham24 #abiggerbookfair taken in Peckham 24 by @tom__pope

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2 years ago

Two days left to experience One Square Club (@onesquareclub) at Frieze (@frieze) Los Angeles.
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A big thanks to Beggars Run (@beggarsrun) for helping complete the quintessentially British, yet flamboyant look with a beautifully made to measure suit. And much love to House of Flora (@houseoffloraofficial) for the epic HOFMAN hat.
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One Square Club is a unique art installation of only one square meter, fully functioning private members club and performance work. I’m in LA hosting the Club for the entirety of Frieze. Experience the Club – which includes a champagne, music and games – live in the backlot at Frieze Los Angeles, February 14–17, 2019.
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#onesquareclub #beggarsrun #houseofflora #HOFMAN #hollywood #champagne #performance #games #parlourgames #contemporaryart #privatemembersclub #art #suit #FriezeLosAngeles #Frieze #deutschebank #FriezeArtFair #membersclub #tompope #la #losangeles taken in Frieze Art Fair by @tom__pope

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8 years ago

Steady On, Mate, (Ardbeg 10), 2026

A series of bronze beer mats patinated in various alcoholic drinks.

The wobbly table is a great social leveller. It doesn’t matter whether you are drinking in a social club, wine bar or private members’ club, there is always a wobbly table. The beer mats used to create each bronze have been collected from social clubs, champagne bars, private members’ clubs, restaurants and pubs. Each carries the marks of the table it was left on, the chair it was shoved under and the person who folded it.

Every beer mat in the edition is unique. Cast in bronze and patinated in an alcoholic drink informed by the establishment where the original beer mat was found.

Drop me a message for details if you’re interested in any of them.

Steady On, Mate, (Thatchers Gold), 2026

A series of bronze beer mats patinated in various alcoholic drinks.

The wobbly table is a great social leveller. It doesn’t matter whether you are drinking in a social club, wine bar or private members’ club, there is always a wobbly table. The beer mats used to create each bronze have been collected from social clubs, champagne bars, private members’ clubs, restaurants and pubs. Each carries the marks of the table it was left on, the chair it was shoved under and the person who folded it.

Every beer mat in the edition is unique. Cast in bronze and patinated in an alcoholic drink informed by the establishment where the original beer mat was found.

Drop me a message for details if you’re interested in any of them.

Steady On, Mate, (Veuve Cliquot), 2026

A series of bronze beer mats patinated in various alcoholic drinks.

The wobbly table is a great social leveller. It doesn’t matter whether you are drinking in a social club, wine bar or private members’ club, there is always a wobbly table. The beer mats used to create each bronze have been collected from social clubs, champagne bars, private members’ clubs, restaurants and pubs. Each carries the marks of the table it was left on, the chair it was shoved under and the person who folded it.

Every beer mat in the edition is unique. Cast in bronze and patinated in an alcoholic drink informed by the establishme by @tom__pope

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9 hours ago

Important recruitment news from Fair Play.

Meet our first Chief Play Officer, @Tom__Pope.

Tom will head up our new Play programme, taking over the greenhouses at One Marylebone with participatory performances, interactive artworks, tarot readings, personal poems and attempts at gloriously improbable world records..

Some things will invite you to take part, others to watch, and none will behave quite as expected.

Full Play Programme coming soon.

One month to go. Tickets via the link in our bio. by @tom__pope

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14 days ago

A few shots from The Thinking Hand exhibition that was on @devonshirecollective. Thanks to everyone that visited.

Pictured -
Last Day at Snooker City Bristol 2025, 2026, cyanotype

Looser Buys the Round, 2026, cyanotype

I Never Win My First Game… Or My Second Game… Or My Third Game… Or My Fourth Game…, 2026, Cyanotype

Toad in the Hole with 4 Pin Bar Billiards World Championships 2026, 2026 lead, wood, brass and cyanotype

Ash stool, steam bent ash, snooker cues, 2026

7 Balled, cyanotype darts flight, 2026 taken in Devonshire Collective by @tom__pope

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a month ago

🌱 Introducing the Green Manifesto for artists

Created by artists, for artists, this new resource will help you take practical steps towards a more environmentally responsible practice.

The Green Manifesto combines shared principles with achievable actions across making, exhibiting, shipping, travel, administration and digital working.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about recognising the changes we can make, sharing knowledge and taking action together.

Whether you’re starting small or rethinking your approach, explore the actions that work for your practice.

Read the Green Manifesto online or download the PDF via the link in bio.

Researched and written by @tom__pope, @alysscotthawkins and @melanie__wheeler, with input from artists across the Artists Now community. by @tom__pope

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2 months ago

Join us for a two part workshop designed by artist Tom Pope taking inspiration from local pub games 🎯

🗓️ 29 & 30 May 2026, 12 - 3pm

You are invited to join The East Sussex Association of Play (ESAP) a newly formed research group, founded by Tom Pope for East Sussex with one rule: there are no boundaries on where the play might take the association. Through field trips, research and development sessions, play is embraced and interrogated in all its forms.

Launching within The Thinking Hand exhibition ESAP will hold its first gathering:

In the first session on Friday 29th May 2026, the group will explore the area surrounding the gallery to experience first-hand local pub games.

During the second session, Saturday 30th May 2026, the group will experiment and develop a new pub game together for Eastbourne.

You are welcome to sign up for both days, or for one. Email polly@devonshirecollective.co.uk to register your interest and to find out more.

This is a free, informal and social event. Refreshments will be provided. No prior knowledge of pub games is required. by @tom__pope

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5 months ago

The Thinking Hand
13 May - 20 June 2026

Tom Pope works across performance and photography, with play at the core of his practice. It operates both as a subject within his works and as a method, shaping how he engages with and utilises the photographic medium. In The Thinking Hand, Pope turns his attention to the pub games found along Seaside Road, using them as a point of entry into shared, everyday rituals of leisure and interaction.

You are invited to participate in the East Sussex Association of Play, a newly formed research group that sits between art and the social, foregrounding play as a mode of collective inquiry.

The Thinking Hand is a process-led exhibition by artists Tanvi Kant, Richard Phoenix, Tom Pope and Anne-Marie Watson. The project unfolds through participation and exchange, engaging with our neighbourhood and local communities, turning Devonshire Collective’s gallery into a site of shared making. by @tom__pope

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5 months ago

We recently had the pleasure of hosting Almost Nothing But Blue Ground, a performative lecture by Tom Pope and Matthew Benington.

Through projections, story telling and archival objects we learnt about early photographer Anna Atkins’ experiments in photography with her father, chemist John George Children (1777 - 1852), and their attempts to perfect the photographic process of Sir John Herschel.

Tom sketched us through Anna's obsession with the cyanotype - a technique stumbled upon by John Herschel in his attempt to create colour photography. We heard too about Anne’s friendship with Anne Dixon, the woman she collaborated with to create their photographically illustrated book Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns.

A huge thank you to Tom, Matthew and everyone that came. We hope we didn't leave you feeling blue...💙

📷 Ian Wallman

#AnnaAtkins #Cyanotype #PhotographyHistory by @tom__pope

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9 months ago

Tonight was the last performative lecture in what has been an incredible 14 date UK tour of @almostnothingbutblueground. A huge thanks to all the people that came along to see the show, performative lecture or participated in the workshops. This has been a project that aims to open up and hold space for conversations and knowledge sharing around the work and life of Anna Atkins.

The performative lecture tour:
Natural History Museum, London
Linnean Society, London
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Ferring Village Hall, Ferring
Ffotogallery, Cardiff
Saltspace, Glasgow
Manchester Metropolitan University
Kingston Museum, London
University of Salford
History of Science Museum, Oxford

Exhibitions:
Forma, London
Original Projects, Great Yarmouth
Old Big School Gallery, Tonbridge
East Gallery, Norwich

A big thanks to all the organisations we have worked with over the past few years. With a special thanks to the @formaartsmedia team for allowing us the space and time to develop the performative lecture and exhibition.

The tour was supported by an @aceagrams grant. The grant also supported the commissioning of 4 pieces of writing that contextualises some of the research threads within the project and explores some of the topics in more detail.

The commissions:
Unanchored Seaweeds: Anna Atkins, Two Readings by Caroline Douglas

When archive gives no answer: Anna Atkins, Jamaica and the natural history of photography by Zakiya Mckenzie

How to Give a Fresh Lens & Re-Focus to the Big Picture by Roger Griffith MBE

Photography, plants & personhood by Sui Searle

We are currently working on a text that will accompany the History of Science Museum holdings to offer more histories on the work and life of Anna Atkins for people viewing their collections in the future.

In 2 weeks, I will be performing Almost Nothing But Blue Ground and speaking in the symposium at Botanics and Symbiosis: Expanding Photography at University of Gothenburg and Hasselblad Foundation.

Almost Nothing But Blue Ground is @matthewbenington and @tom__pope by @tom__pope

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a year ago

We are excited to announce an upcoming event, Almost Nothing But Blue Ground, coming to the History of Science Museum 23 Oct. Just the thing for an autumnal evening 🍂

Storytelling, archival material and collaboratively made cyanotype prints are combined in this performance lecture by artist Tom Pope, made in collaboration with Matthew Benington.

Join us in exploring the life and work of Anna Atkins, the first person to publish a book of photographic images in 1843. Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions was Atkins’ self-published book of botanical images that used the cyanotype photographic process.

The performative lecture and following Q&A will delve into the Victorian fern craze, land ownership, capitalism, and colonial links with botany.

🎟️ Free (booking required) https://ow.ly/Yi4350X0GXA

Want to find out more about the artists and their research? Follow @almostnothingbutblueground on Instagram.

This event is part of the @oxford_if festival - check out their wonderful programme! by @tom__pope

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a year ago