Brighton Photo Biennial 2016: a sense of space

: Kick Over the Statues, Fabrica, Brighton

: Kick Over the Statues, Fabrica, Brighton

: Kick Over the Statues, Fabrica, Brighton

I am determined to capture some of my thoughts about my experiences of an OCA study visit quickly for a change! Often the spirit is willing but my attention span is weak and too much time elapses between the experience and the reflections. It is also important to record my reflections quickly because yesterday was very much an aesthetic day; a multi sensory, multi-modal experience, and I recognise a need to record that while it is still fresh.

This weekend, alongside 38 other OCA photography students, I was at the Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. On the first day I went to four exhibitions – ‘Reimagine’ and ‘Into the Outside: The Story so Far’ at the University of Brighton Galleries (Grand Parade), ‘The Dandy Lion Project’ at University of Brighton Galleries (Edward Street), and ‘Kick over the Statues’ by Ewen Spencer at Fabrica.

I will pick up on the exhibitions themselves more in later posts but for now what is sitting with me is more about seeing the work in situ and thinking about the physical context of the exhibitions, something that connects my interest in both photography and design/graphic design. I may struggle to describe this because it was an embodied experience and I sense my learning involves tacit knowledge primarily. (Polanyi, 1967)

What struck me forcefully was the quality of the energy in the space at Fabrica. It was markedly different to the other venues. This may in part have been influenced by the subject matter and the fact it included a great dance beat. But it was buzzing and seemed like people were really paying attention to the photographs. This is not intended as a criticism of the other shows; they each had their own personality. I write about it now because I think it surfaced something important for me in terms of how I go about developing my own work and the relationship I want it to have with possible audiences.

The ‘Kick Over the Statues’ prints are large (deliberately billboard style), beautiful, arresting and in some cases haunting. There is music playing, the lighting is subdued apart from bright spots over the photographs and there are projected images from Spencer’s own archive spanning years of youth/music subcultures.

What I noticed was peopled engaging with the work in a way I don’t think I saw in the other exhibitions that were more traditionally ‘white box.’ People were talking about their experiences of their own youth subcultures. They were discussing lighting, composition, walking up close, standing back, and observing each other observing the works. Children were being encouraged to dance and there was chatter, and a lot of smiles. It was OK to be noisy.

The exhibition was busy and alive, an experience I will remember.