Posts Tagged ‘Art’

Resistance: Subverting the Camera at The Fine Art Society

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

Last week I went to the opening of Resistance: Subverting the Camera at The Fine Art Society.

The exhibition included work by a variety of artists, photographers and experimenters all challenging the meaning of photography and cameras in the modern age. Curated around the notion that everyone is in their own way a photographer these days — whether they shoot a few quick snaps with their digital camera or post a series of photos from Instagram on social networks — the ability to effortlessly record moments in time is unlike it’s ever been.

My favourite pieces included (previously mentioned) Rob and Nick Carter who assembled over 100 diamonds in the shapes of constellations, and then captured the images by exposing the configurations to a single flash of light on light-sensitive paper.

Also noteworthy was the work of Turner Prize nominee, Steven Pippin whose response to the phenomenon of the everyday photographer was to fire a gun straight at the lens of a vintage camera, and to capture the moment before the camera is destroyed. The result is an eerie depiction of somewhere between inside and outside the camera, a photograph and a void.

Lastly, the brilliant works of Chris Bucklow were on display. Somewhat lost in the digital version, these vibrant pieces from his “Guest” series were made by drawing a life size silhouette on a sheet of aluminum foil which is then penetrated with thousands of pinholes that act as the camera’s lens. Using a homemade camera, the artist then exposed the work on photographic paper using direct sunlight, resulting in an ethereal and ephemeral portrait.

The exhibition is on at the Fine Arts Society until the 26th of May and is definitely worth a visit.

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The art at the heart of WOMAD

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Womad is a free spirited, laid-back and unpretentious family affair held in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, which celebrates the ‘World Of Music, Art and Dance’; hence the name WOMAD. It is in no way a festival purely about music and/or dance. Art had a huge presence on site and made it a real delight to photograph. Everybody had a chance to be creative and get involved in artwork around the festival.

There were craft workshops all around the site: in the kids area there were activities encouraging children and parents to get involved creatively, there was the Roots Architecture Project where four stages were built over four days (with the help of festival goers) out of reclaimed materials from the park itself. Sculptures were also placed amongst the trees in the arboretum and seven sea containers showcasing Giving Soul- Film Animations by Six Leading Artists were on display. On the final day a celebratory procession of the creations made over the course of the festival made its way around the site providing some great opportunities to capture the spirit of the festival.

Giving Soul was a fantastic example of the world-art displayed. The title was taken from the translation for the Greek word psyche and the Latin name anima, the “animating principle” – the vital force inside every living creature – close to the Christian concept of soul. So “Animation” would be the technique of giving “soul” to inanimate objects, drawings, etc.

The Six artists who displayed their work were Edwina Ashton, Sebastian Buerkner, Simon Faithfull, Melanie Jackson, William Kentridge and David Shrigley. The work by the South African artist William Kentridge stood out in particular: He uses a stop motion technique of filming charcoal drawings, making erasures and changes, and then filming it again. The palimpsest-like effect creates a fitting atmosphere for what is often fairly dark subject matter.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvK7A84dlk

I would recommend Womad to anyone. As a photographer it was an amazing experience in itself to be able to photograph such a colourful, fun, friendly and diverse festival. It was unlike any festival I have been to and there was always something interesting and creative happening. It is a delight for all the senses, a festival of inspiration and great discovery.

 

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William T. Wiley Exhibition at the Mayor Gallery

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Having roots in the Bay Area and feeling rather homesick, I jumped at the chance to attend William T. Wiley’s exhibition at the Mayor Gallery this past week.

Deemed one of the founding fathers of West Coast Funk Art by the New York Times following his retrospective at the Smithsonian last year, Wiley presented a collection of his work that spanned across 40 years alongside the work of Wally Hendrick, a dear friend of his.

Trying to describe one of Wiley’s pieces is a bit more difficult than referencing a certain style. The best way to think about it is multiple layers of thoughts, ideas, images, references and words. What I love about his pieces is is that they include surreal, make believe characters collaged in with pieces of graph paper, sketches, cut outs and type. Each collage becomes interactive as you can’t help but try and read the phrases that say things like “Dude! No one has time to read all this stuff!” and “I’ve got it all on the line — and the time it takes — to make mistakes — if there is such a thing.”

Having taught the likes of Bruce Nauman and Deborah Butterfield, Wiley’s influential style and intriguing works of art can be seen across the Unites States and now in the UK until the 29th of July at the Mayor Gallery.

Close up of  a piece at the exhibition.


I Visit Bob
1981


Alchemical Lyon Tortured with Abstractions
2005


Meridian Moons Overwhatarewe
2006

 

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