Couldn’t make it for the private view, but I was very pleased to see the exhibition on Saturday. Every time I see Sarah’s work it is growing on me further and I feel I learn more about her subtle visual language. Margaret Harvey Gallery is a delightful bright space that gave extra presence to her work. Each of the two monochrome monitors were showing a short animation on loop, one delineating a wire frame of a balloon expanding and contracting as if it was blowing air into the other monitor. The animation on the second monitor, which was placed facing the first one, showed a series of nodes connected to one another by straight lines creating an image not dissimilar to human lungs drawn by joining the dots. Both images were moving with the same rhythm, but it was impossible to see them both at the same time.

The artworks on the walls were originated by arranging some string objects and dry wild flowers or grass, all combined with direct pencil drawings on the whitewashed surface. The drawings conveyed a feeling of mystery and the faint shadows of the objects which were positioned slightly away from the wall created an added depth to this mystic experience.

Sarah’s last animation, Scape, was being screened behind the partition, but its music travelled through to give warmth to the space between the four walls.

Abbas

There were a number of points made during the open discussion on 17 April 2008, some of which came up in conversation over lunch in the window room the day after, that I wanted to make a note of on the blog…..in the hope that maybe the discussion will continue, either here on the blog, or in person…

The words ‘performative’, and ‘performativity’ were used several times during the discussion and I wonder what people mean by these exactly? I think there is a significant difference between performance and performativity……

The idea of the gallery as a place to slow down. If this is the case, what is the significance of slowing down? Does work that exists outside a gallery context not require slowing down in order to experience it?

Last Friday during lunch, I mentioned my interest in the idea of art as an experience, rather than a product. I do not want to look at the ‘work’ I make as a product, or myself as a producer and anyone who comes into contact with the ‘work’ a consumer. (I use ‘work’ because I’m not speaking exclusively of video one might see in a gallery, but the processes and conversations which form part of that work for me). I thought I’d put this quote on the blog, as it’s far more eloquent than I was being last week:

“….Stop thinking about art as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences….Art is something that happens, a process, not a quality, and all sorts of things can make it happen. Then suppose that what makes a work of art good for you is not something that is already ‘inside it’ but something that happens inside you - so the value of the work lies in the degree to which it can help you have the kind of experience that you call art…”

It is thoughts that run along similar lines that make me question the idea of “the art world’, as if “the art world” is one defined, self contained entity defining what art is and isn’t. I don’t think it does define art for me, or it is only one specific context in which I might have an experience I might call art. The currency of such a system is the value of our confidence in it, (singularly or collectively, I don’t know).

Here are a couple of pictures taken at Sarah’s private view last night at Margaret Harvey Gallery, St. Albans.

Sarah’s P.V1

Sarah’s P.V2

Congratulations to Sarah on a beautifully and sensitively presented Solo show.

I approached Mark Dixon to make some work for the window room. We decided to experiment using his (static electricity?) machine to make a simple a straight line drawing . However, due to the nature of the machine it creates a series of extraordinary marks on the surface of the wall.  They are created from a piece of wire dipped in ink. The wire does not make direct contact with the wall at any point. (I will save the true technical description/explanation for Mark).

The overall effect is interesting but it is when you get up close to the wall and see the minute detail that the drawing is most intriguing.

When people know how the drawing was created they seem to derive more interest from the work.

RE-MOVED

Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow international 08 (11-27 April)

two way corridors structure for partecipatory video live istallation

 stills from footage from scottish screen archive and from recordings of dialogue of people with Elena Cologni

The Remnant of Being, 6 months of pulped re-cycled office paper, Taken from ‘The Invader’ 2008

March of the Hybrids, Taken from ‘The Invader’ 2008

Cocooned, 50 Sheets of Coiled A1 Paper, Taken from ‘The Invader’ 2008 

for details go to: www.tattonparkbiennial.org

Click on screen grab to view the full post.

CJ Mahony in the window room

I asked CJ to take part as the next artist for the window room exhibition. Since I saw her sculptures for the first time some seven years ago, CJ has been producing many powerful pieces and installations. Although, as she moves on from one project to another, some dramatic changes take place in her work, the common emotional elements runs through all her creative output like an unbreakable thread. CJ’s visuals, on a smaller scale, in the window room are no exception, and this time she uses words to express what has been simmering in her mind.

Once you notice where the lines are, you cannot stop yourself reading them and by the time you reach the end, you might find yourself still staring at them, perhaps staring at between the lines.

Abbas

I was asked by one artist that I should post a photograph of my window room images on the blog before I take them down - for the records only, of course. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who commented on my work either on the blog, or verbally, or by email. I find your responses very helpful and incouraging.

Abbas