About this project

“I came across an article in a newspaper which listed 33 things you should do before you’re 10 and realised I hadn’t done them all. Did I miss out on some important activities as a child?!

Marriage is a big step toward leading an adult life and because I’m getting hitched in May 2008 I thought I better complete this list ASAP, in-case missing off some of these things makes me mentally unstable further down the line.

Tess (my future wife) will be doing the tasks with me as a cathartic experience and, well, because we are really competitive with each other: who can make the best mud pie? Whose pooh stick will travel the furthest? Whose rose perfume will actually smell of anything? But we will also complete a few of the tasks as a team.

Some of the things I did as a child and some I didn’t, but it’s performing these activities/tasks from an adult perspective and physicality that will become interesting.”

About the artist

James R Ford is a British artist whose practice is concerned with childhood past-times, pursuits and obsessions. His body of work consists of projects and investigations based around observations, process and play: ranging from a formula predicting Bond film plot structure, to tracking the lives of cigarette lighters, to covering a Ford Capri in over 4,000 toy cars.

…and his fiancée wife

Tess is a New Zealand girl who likes brightly coloured clothes, handbags and curry. With experience as a nanny she is used to looking after kids and behaving like one, which is good for this project.