Exhibition | Graphically Speaking

A wooden box

Five dead birds

Nakedness

Nature as redemptive

Light as transformational

Solitary

Suspended animation

Dirt and debris

Water

Container and contained

Search for meaning

Ordinariness and intensity

Tumbling responses

Framed and framing

Intimate gaze

There are a myriad of possible responses to the Cathedral of Pines and I know at this point in time I am far from having them organised in my head. Crewdson talks of the work in this series as being more personal, and as optimistic. It has emerged out of a period of change for him that brought him away from his usual cityscapes and into nature. He talks eloquently of light and nature being redemptive. My response seems to be an embodied and emotional one. I am at once moved, frightened, enthralled, appalled… This leaves me torn in terms of writing for my blog, it takes me from an aesthetic and emotional response to having to move to a more cognitive domain.

The images have an extraordinary quality that I feel draws you in. As someone with an deepening interest in still life I enjoy their carefully constructed nature, I see them as Vanitas on a grand scale. I like the relatively low-key palettes, the multiple frames within each frame and that the images are ambiguous enough for me to bring my own meaning to them. I found I was constantly moving between the image as a whole and the details. Tiny fragments of life become repeated motifs – nail varnish, emery boards, tablets and pill pots. I find I become a little uncomfortable with the intimacy in some cases.

Several images stand out for me:

Mother and daughter, 2014
The Barn
The Disturbance

I can read these in many ways either negatively toned or positively toned. My initial response to Mother & Daughter is one of concern and anguish. The door is open, the snow has drifted in, interior and exterior are intermingling.

The images take me into theory in two ways – the first is the psychoanalytic concept of ‘container/contained’ from Wilfred Bion and the second is the notion of ‘frame’ and how we assign meaning through our frames of reference.

Cathedral of the Pines design

The exhibition and promotional designs are spare and minimal, in some ways in contrast to the works themselves. A delicate pine sitting above wide spaced sanserif text. I think it conveys a sense of openness that can be seen in some of the images. The accompanying catalogue is substantial and exquisite. It sits in harmony with the exhibition and while it cannot replace the experience of seeing the actual prints it definitely does them justice.

I am left with a slight question about what the images are saying about women but that is for another day.

: 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.