an article

14th june 2004

duality exhibition analysis

[waterstone’s gallery, nottingham, 29th May – 5th June 04]

update may 2005 - you can now download booklets of both dreamscapes and morgue in the books section.

overview

Duality gave me the opportunity to re-exhibit pictures from the dreamscapes series along with some new work. The morgue series is completely opposite in terms of both concept and style, but the large gallery space enabled the hanging of both series. The combination of these two disparate series also served to throw both concepts into shaper relief, with dreamscapes creating an idealistic and aesthetic space which morgue attempted to breakdown and overrun.

duality

themes

dreamscapes

This series is an attempt to recreate the strange fusion between reality and fiction that occurs in our brains. When we’re asleep or daydreaming or in some other far-off state these places occur, the brain riffing on visual input to create a beautiful fantasy.

morgue

A series of black and white pictures of a place I used to walk past. The morgue series is confrontational, unsettling; it is cold, harsh reality. But more than this, it is also a project of memory. An attempt to preserve a time and place before it disappears from my brain. In this sense there is an underlying warmth to the series, but this only arises from the profound sadness of lost time implied by the date-stamped pictures.

< read duality blurb pdf // dreamscapes blurb pdf // morgue blurb pdf >

location

Duality was displayed at the Waterstone’s Gallery, housed on the 4th floor of Waterstone’s bookshop, Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham. The gallery is fairly large, so I had plenty of space to play with (much to my surprise, more on that later).

< view larger gallery pics >

genesis

The creation of duality was infused with serendipity. I actually work at the store and had brought some sample images into work with a mind to booking the gallery at some point far in the future. As it happened there had been a cancellation so there was an opportunity to have the gallery fairly soon, the snag being that I only had 2 weeks to prepare. At this point it seemed fine, I had the 12 dreamscapes pictures from my last exhibit and these could fill part of the gallery. The rest was to be filled by one of my colleagues. And I can never be bothered to advertise anyway, so a short notice period didn’t really upset me.

But then 2 days before hanging I was told that I had the whole place. Excellent opportunity, but very, very short notice! This was when I began to think about the morgue series. I had recently prepared this as a book-based project, primarily because I thought the pictures needed to be displayed as a fairly long, coherent series – thus making them unsuitable for small exhibitions or photographers with little money to spend on framing! However, there were some old clip-frames available and I had all of the pictures already printed, albeit in a two-sheet A4 format that was suitable for a book mock-up. Additionally I had seen the series as happily co-existing with dreamscapes in my book project – two opposing chapters that both form an integral part of my work and create a dialogue. The large gallery had the potential to enable a more spatial rendering of this juxtaposition.

Thus the idea for duality was formed. The gritty, realist pictures were printed and hung in a very basic way that served to enhance their themes (old, scratched clip-fames as artistic statement!); the dreamscapes pictures were segregated, given a wall or column each to facilitate the suspension of disbelief they encourage. Some of the morgue pictures were also displayed in plastic wallets hanging from the ceiling. This harked back to their origins as book mock-up, but also gave them a very attacking and disturbing presence in the exhibition, as well as being an unusual method of display. Again the sense of encroachment on the dreamscapes works and intrusion on the viewer was played on – these pieces were impossible to ignore, they invaded the personal space inside your head by literally bashing into you. Conversely this technique also plays on the fragility of these memories – the deeper theme running through much of my work – as they dance in the breeze from the air-conditioning, memory held together by nothing more than ink and string and white-tack, ready to vanish into the ether without so much as a by-your-leave. Hopefully I’m having my cake and eating it here...

comments

I recently started posting on the Nottingham-based arts site You Are Here (YAH), and this seemed an ideal place to try and get some feedback on my work. At the time of writing I’ve had a few comments posted on the site, and several in the comments book from the exhibition. I’d like to take a little time to discuss some of these, primarily in reference to how they relate to the ideas above, but I may also wander into territory of why I want this feedback when so many others don’t.

size

One recurring comment I’ve had is that the dreamscapes pictures would work better as larger prints. I’m always in two minds about large-scale work, often the size is used to generate a bit of wow-factor and after that initial hit it doesn’t seem to matter if the work is all that good. An extreme example of this trend is Hirst’s oversized anatomy figure. The scale was the point.

But in this case I tend to agree, I think larger prints would help to draw the eye into the picture and block out peripheral distractions. This time I tried to counter this problem by hanging the pictures far apart from each other against a neutral background. I actually rather liked the effect this created, as though the dreamscape were a small window in the larger landscape that we desperately want to climb though. A larger window would be easier, but does that make it less interesting?

Look at me ramble! Anyway, the main reason the prints aren’t any bigger is cost. When I had them printed A3 was all I could afford, so A3 it is. However, I would certainly like to see them in a larger format, hopefully I’ll be able to get use of a projector somewhere and exhibit them that way. They won’t retain the presence of a physical print, but at least scale won’t be a problem.

harsh urbanity

Very few people actually liked the morgue pictures. In some sense I expected this, part of the reason I’d originally put them together as a book project was because I found them interesting and compelling, but not necessarily so visually pleasing and instant as the dreamscapes stuff. And they are much more challenging in concept, so again work as more of a ‘think-piece’ than the colourful aesthetic hook of dreamscapes (not to say that there’s no thought behind dreamscapes).

But, but, but, as at least one person mentioned, this was part of the point of the series. They’re not meant to be easy, instant and accessible. The series is focussed as much on process and repetition, the act and purpose of taking these pictures, as the aesthetic of the final result. In fact, if you didn’t like them they’ve probably worked better as art than if you had liked them, at least in terms of engendering a response in fitting with the subject matter.

As I stated in the exhibition blurb, I am interested in both these extremes and most stuff in-between, so I do still see a lot of beauty in the morgue pictures, particularly the close-ups of the steel shutters and the security camera. But I appreciate that black and white, harsh, urban-scapes are not to everyone’s taste. And that’s one reason why it was always going to be interesting to hang both collections concurrently, and hear what people thought of both extremes of my work.

colour cross-over

I had one comment that the exhibition would have been more interesting (and perhaps more cohesive) if there had been some colour in the morgue series and some b&w in dreamscapes. In terms of the latter it is worth noting the folder containing a short story plus dreamscapes pictures was in b&w; used as a proof it is clear that some of the stuff looks good, but other pieces loose their vitality when the colour goes. In short I think that the ideas behind the series are brought out best by vivid colour, although this doesn’t preclude the existence of almost monochrome segments within a given image. However, I would like to expand the series more along the lines of the original statement I wrote – i.e. to include more nightmare scapes – and I think that some of the ideas I have in this direction will benefit from a limited colour palette, if not pure black and white.

In my draft of morgue I used bright green for the date/time stamps on the pictures. This would have been retained, except that my printer handles a black and white image with a small section of colour very badly, managing to give the whole thing a nasty purple toning. So I just printed them all in black and white. I definitely think they work best with green numerals, the contrast further enhances the jarring clash of death and the everyday, and the brightness adds an extra hook for the eye. So when I put them on here they’ll definitely be black & white & green – I just haven’t decided how best to present an online version yet.

impressionist photography

Another interesting comment was about how digital technology seems to be encouraging photographers to create more painterly works, despite the fact that for centuries painters have been trying to make their works more realistic. With regards to this exhibition this only applies to dreamscapes, but it is certainly worth exploring in more detail.

Personally this stems from a combination of my interest in computers and a complete inability to paint or draw. Thus I found that I could create art using photos as my raw materials. This doesn’t stop me wanting to carry on with unaltered, ‘vanilla’ photography, but it certainly broadens the horizons of the possible, and of what I can achieve with a camera and a mouse. This is something I’ve talked about before (see place of digital essay), but the short of it is that I see digital technologies as enabling a melding of traditional disciplines. So, for example, I can create painterly scenes from photos; someone else may use their computer to meld their paintings with photography, or use a computer to generate art in completely new ways (for example via programming, see www.complexification.net). None of these possibilities is intrinsically better or more interesting than any other, what is important is that the technology is there and we can then pick and choose our techniques according to our strengths. And what is also important is that some of these new methods lead us to something new and different. That’s at least one of the hopes I have for dreamscapes, that my particular style and desires have created not only some original photography, but some images that become more than that. Perhaps it is fatuous to try and separate digital imaging from straight photography in this way, but the fact remains that many people see the point and click of the camera as less legitimate than the dab of the brush; perhaps digital imaging will help to create a new form that is viewed as just as skilful as painting.

creations versus criticism

So why do I want all this feedback? I’m relatively new to this whole game, so I want to know what other people think of my work. Sometimes I feel like I’m in complete isolation creating my photography. It’s mostly a sensation I hanker for but, after a time, it is easy to feel that this isolation has lead to a loss of objectivity. So I want others to tell me their opinions. I may not agree, I might feel let down, but at least it’s a dialogue that can help me sharpen my ideas and direction.

I’ve often talked with friends about the point of exhibitions. I feel that art should be done for oneself, not planned to appeal to potential buyers or a target audience. It is easy to do this kind of work then keep it to yourself. But on the other hand, if you never exhibit your work what chance have you to share your ideas and interests with others? And, in a sweeping philanthropic gesture, what chance to add to the rich culture that exists in the wider world? Again, receiving commentary with this in mind should be constructive, if for no other reason than to see how your ideas fit in with the wider culture and, perhaps, bring legitimacy to your own work.

And in terms of this wider culture, I often have lots to say about other people’s work. It hardly seems fair to do this if you’re not prepared to listen to other people’s thoughts about your own! As I posted on YAH:

“I want your comments. I am an artist/critic offering myself up, for surely there is no truer defence to a critic than "if you don't like it then do something better yourself". So before I start mouthing off about stuff I've liked/disliked recently I want the chance to see where my work stands. So if you don't like it tell me, but tell me why.

What's my point here? Just that exhibiting is a difficult thing to do, and if it's bad then at least us critics should give back some constructive comments rather than just muttering "what a load of old toss" under our breaths as we leave. No one likes criticism, but it's sometimes a necessary learning experience (as Simon pointed out in his degree show article he wasn't being cynical when he criticised people, just honest) - especially when you're just starting out and still flailing around in a vain attempt to find direction and inspiration. And we shouldn't be scared of that.

And I want people to see my work!”

conclusions

In sum I was pretty pleased with the exhibit. I think the arrangement of pictures in the gallery space worked as I intended, and hopefully produced some feeling within people looking at the show. Given the chance to redo the show I don’t think I’d change much, except possibly use bigger prints for both series. I would also have liked longer in the gallery, one week was not long enough to get many people to come and see the show, especially working on word-of-mouth advertising.

Comments wise I hope some of the above is of interest, it certainly was to me, so thanks to all who made it to the exhibit and left me a note. Hopefully I can expand on some of these thoughts/ideas/discussions in the future.