Myopian fields , proposal (2010)
This exhibition uses the notion of a virtual landscape as its structural foundation, materialised as a small theatre set or abstract film studio, playing with our conceptions of the natural and the man-made, the environmental and the controlled.
The visual elements of the show offer variations in speed, movement and medium, bringing to mind the different temporal modalities that we inhabit in our daily lives.
Entering this land of cultivated disorder, viewers first notice the familiar yet foreign sight of a refugee tent, which stands oddly poised in the centre of the gallery space. Beyond this the glow of a video projection renders the entire far wall as an unsteady theatrical horizon. Across the entire floor-space a multitude of disused crutches stand on end, perhaps offering assistance or navigation, interspersed with what appear to be household plants sat upon small television sets, elements that seem still and rigid against the moving backdrop. In the near corner of the space, a small booth-like construction hangs at eye level, inviting the viewer to take a look inside.
Stepping into the refugee tent we are confronted with Stephanie Gerner's installation “In Between” which incorporates moving photographic elements. Depictions of the body-parts of several people hang at corresponding “natural” height to the viewer. Suspended in space and actuated by the movement of the viewer, the work explores the interplay between a two-dimensional medium and a three-dimensional space. Rather than forming a complete picture, these fragments are dispersed throughout the volume of the tent, diffusing photography’s kinship with self-preservation, and calling to question the nature of communication and human interaction.
In Stephan Halter's project “Solid Opinions” the crutch, an instrument to support and help wounded or disabled people, is used as a symbol for fixed ideas. Attached to the floor of the gallery in an uncompromisingly upright position, the original intention of the instrument becomes overturned to the point of absurdity that on the one hand critiques our reliance on mental positions, at the same time suggesting the darker social impact of these belief-systems in the history of mankind.
James Edmonds’ work consists of several “TV plants” sporadically placed around the gallery. Each “plant” is made up of a video monitor with one houseplant placed upon it. The monitors show subtle movements within the stillness of natural environments, captured on analogue film from fixed camera positions. The stillness of the pieces offer a quiet yet playful space between “real life” and recorded environments that suggests our tendency to domesticate nature and also brings to mind the notion of the “still life”.
Lauren Moffatt’s cinematic-scale projection “Myopia Studies” forms a backdrop to the scenery of works that make up the exhibition’s floor space. The piece presents the gaze of a viewer while walking and running through natural and industrial landscapes. Although the diverse sceneries are of “real” footage, the dynamics of the video are reminiscent of computer animation in particular the video game genre of the “ego-shooter” in which the action all unfolds from the position of a “first-person” perspective.
“Take a break” by Lan Hugh creates a multi-dimensional apparatus that acts as both performance platform and interactive installation. This is in the form of a small chamber into which visitors can place their head. Within this private bubble we are fed live audio and video from a remote camera worn by the artist for the duration of his performances, in which he navigates the gallery without speaking, letting audiences react accordingly. At the same time, a communicative loop is created by a hidden microphone inside the viewing booth, broadcasting any verbal reaction or sound to a speaker, which is also attached to the artist’s body. Questioning our social interaction by imitating communication technologies, the piece poses a dilemma between the observer and the observed, as well as echoing the ideas throughout the show.
All the works appear to offer something unobtainable by appealing to our general acceptance of the dominance of spectacle and entertainment and then placing in front of this a psychological barrier. Via a subtle subversion of the normal modes of consumption, the viewer’s unconscious expectations as a conditioned spectator are not fulfilled. Within this landscape of five artist’s intertwining dialogues is an opportunity to notice the underlying field of perception, a space not only for conceptual reading but also simply for awareness, perhaps one that extends to the further landscape of the everyday world, beyond the horizons of the gallery.
Myopian fields , proposal (2010)
This exhibition uses the notion of a virtual landscape as its structural foundation, materialised as a small theatre set or abstract film studio, playing with our conceptions of the natural and the man-made, the environmental and the controlled.
The visual elements of the show offer variations in speed, movement and medium, bringing to mind the different temporal modalities that we inhabit in our daily lives.
Entering this land of cultivated disorder, viewers first notice the familiar yet foreign sight of a refugee tent, which stands oddly poised in the centre of the gallery space. Beyond this the glow of a video projection renders the entire far wall as an unsteady theatrical horizon. Across the entire floor-space a multitude of disused crutches stand on end, perhaps offering assistance or navigation, interspersed with what appear to be household plants sat upon small television sets, elements that seem still and rigid against the moving backdrop. In the near corner of the space, a small booth-like construction hangs at eye level, inviting the viewer to take a look inside.
Stepping into the refugee tent we are confronted with Stephanie Gerner's installation “In Between” which incorporates moving photographic elements. Depictions of the body-parts of several people hang at corresponding “natural” height to the viewer. Suspended in space and actuated by the movement of the viewer, the work explores the interplay between a two-dimensional medium and a three-dimensional space. Rather than forming a complete picture, these fragments are dispersed throughout the volume of the tent, diffusing photography’s kinship with self-preservation, and calling to question the nature of communication and human interaction.
In Stephan Halter's project “Solid Opinions” the crutch, an instrument to support and help wounded or disabled people, is used as a symbol for fixed ideas. Attached to the floor of the gallery in an uncompromisingly upright position, the original intention of the instrument becomes overturned to the point of absurdity that on the one hand critiques our reliance on mental positions, at the same time suggesting the darker social impact of these belief-systems in the history of mankind.
James Edmonds’ work consists of several “TV plants” sporadically placed around the gallery. Each “plant” is made up of a video monitor with one houseplant placed upon it. The monitors show subtle movements within the stillness of natural environments, captured on analogue film from fixed camera positions. The stillness of the pieces offer a quiet yet playful space between “real life” and recorded environments that suggests our tendency to domesticate nature and also brings to mind the notion of the “still life”.
Lauren Moffatt’s cinematic-scale projection “Myopia Studies” forms a backdrop to the scenery of works that make up the exhibition’s floor space. The piece presents the gaze of a viewer while walking and running through natural and industrial landscapes. Although the diverse sceneries are of “real” footage, the dynamics of the video are reminiscent of computer animation in particular the video game genre of the “ego-shooter” in which the action all unfolds from the position of a “first-person” perspective.
“Take a break” by Lan Hugh creates a multi-dimensional apparatus that acts as both performance platform and interactive installation. This is in the form of a small chamber into which visitors can place their head. Within this private bubble we are fed live audio and video from a remote camera worn by the artist for the duration of his performances, in which he navigates the gallery without speaking, letting audiences react accordingly. At the same time, a communicative loop is created by a hidden microphone inside the viewing booth, broadcasting any verbal reaction or sound to a speaker, which is also attached to the artist’s body. Questioning our social interaction by imitating communication technologies, the piece poses a dilemma between the observer and the observed, as well as echoing the ideas throughout the show.
All the works appear to offer something unobtainable by appealing to our general acceptance of the dominance of spectacle and entertainment and then placing in front of this a psychological barrier. Via a subtle subversion of the normal modes of consumption, the viewer’s unconscious expectations as a conditioned spectator are not fulfilled. Within this landscape of five artist’s intertwining dialogues is an opportunity to notice the underlying field of perception, a space not only for conceptual reading but also simply for awareness, perhaps one that extends to the further landscape of the everyday world, beyond the horizons of the gallery.