- Venue
- Kingston University
- Location
- London
Kingston University 3rd Year students have recently completed an intense two-week workshop, which culminated in an exhibition in two parts at the KU Knights Park Campus.
Upon entering the first space (Project Space) you are confronted with Georgina Richardsons The Stump House Gallery. The wooden lean-to is made out of reclaimed tree trunks, doors (with the keys still left in them) and stained class windows is every children's dream tree house, but without being in a tree, being rested on elements of it. It reminds me of Charlotte Posenenske's work 'Revolving Vanes Series E' at Documenta 12. She transformed doors, and openings – a way to enter and experience a structure, as a structure in their own right. In different formations the doors changed position and relationship with each other. It would be interesting to see the materials in Richardsons work in a different formation. The title of the work suggest another aspect to the work, as opposed to the childlike wonder, and awe that it may suggest. It declares the work is a gallery, you expect some work inside, but the only work nearby is all the work inside. It is interesting to consider how Richardson sees her structure as a receptacle for showing work and as a home.
In a continuation of this dark, childlike, fantasy theme, Peter Georgallou's sculpture (and performance) is a Heath Robinson looking construction consisting of an orange tall bike, an old cabinet encased in metal and solder. Influenced by Mitch Clem's webcomic NNTS there is a tongue-in-cheek ridiculousness to the work. Although not much is given away by the title, from reliable information, what the viewer encounters is a bicycle powered death machine. The wheels turn and generates a Van-der-Graph generator which sends up sparks to the metal case at the top. The structure looks half finished, with boots hung up, masks attached, a hammer, a few saddles and other equipment still on the cabinet at the back. It almost seems as if the artist, or whoever is supposed to work it, or on it has gone on a break and the exhibition has taken place around it.
Georgallou himself, in tweed regalia (including jewel adorned animal paws on his cuffs) powered up the generator during the night to intriguing results. Having the creator on the creation completes this circle that I think the work misses being left on it's own. As he cycles it, elements break which he promptly fixes by bashing, twisting and tying. I would like to see more of this work, perhaps as a time-based piece that would rely on the piece working continuously.
As you walk around the gallery a small breeze disturbs the various hanging work. The large bank of closed windows is interrupted by a small window box wedging one open. This is in fact Clare Revolta's piece in the exhibition; 1, One. The small box is made from unfinished wood and as you consider and examine the gap in the middle a number of tightly strung strings bisect the centre of the piece. It appears to be some kind of musical instrument, one which plays when the wind is particularly strong. As a viewer you consider and wonder whether you have heard it playing whilst in the gallery, this question repeats as you notice the directional breeze it causes.
Two works were similarly suspended from the ceiling, although initially visually different, the pieces by Jessica Hannan and Louise Frances Smith. Hannan's triptych of buoys; 01-062: 01-646: 02-191 seep and ooze smooth looking thick acrylic paint. The work oozes sexuality and femininity, not only from the candyfloss-pink paint and the simple forms on the ground but the objects are sensual and relate to female curves. The harsh gashes relate to the rough exterior of the buoys, which are battered and rough with paint and effects from the sea.
Louise Frances Smith's hanging hair sculptures; Untitled (Locks) relates to the female, fetishistic notion Hannan is also alluding to. Smith's sculptures are interesting, calm forms that seem delicate yet powerful in the strong lines the locks of hair that create the form. They hang down, like much hair should but high up which gives the viewer a sense of wonder as they stare up at them.
Smith was not the only one to use hair in her work. At the back of the gallery, Ruth Hamilton's work uses hair on the various element of her piece; Untitled. On the night was likened to work by Olaf Breunning, and as I find out more about his work the more comparisons can be made between the two. Hamilton has created a kind of ridiculous, kitsch, absurd object that is a pastiche of pop culture, and strange zombie b-movie film. Unfortunately it's more silly than scary.
Structurally, the work relates to Richardsons tree house. The fantasy-like ghoulish character Hamilton has created looks like a blown up children's Halloween drawing. But unlike Richardsons, this work has a temporary, short-lifespan-the materials are cheap and won't last forever.
You wouldn't be wrong to miss out Ana Sekulic's work in this gallery space. Her contribution to the show was a clever reinterpretation of the white piping that surrounds the space. The work is easy to overlook, a cursory glance around might lead the viewer to believe there is an error in the exhibition map.
She seems to give a clear nod to work by Susan Collis, who's practise involves the viewer to discover more about her objects that at first glance appear ordinary and unexceptional. When you learn more you realise her concerns, for example; The Oyster's Our World (2004) first appears to be a well used wooden step ladder, on closer inspection the paint drips and splatters are in fact painstakingly inlaid mother of pearl, coral, opal and diamond. She is interested in the shift of perception that takes place upon discovery of this. Unlike Collis' work, Sekulic's work is as simple as it looks. There is no hidden agenda, and no wow factor as I think Collis' work has. Essentially this makes Sekulic's work more worthwhile, as she doesn't conform to this formula of value that Collis does. Her works are clever, and produced incredibly well but once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
As a group exhibition, the work in the Project Space seemed to have this element of fantasy, and a need to explore the notion of working and making art outside the safe boundaries of the art establishment the artists are in. This is evocative of them being third year art students, building up to the big degree show at the end of the course. The ambition is clear with a number of large, strong pieces but also revealed in smaller works by Revolta and Sekulic. Their quiet romantic relationship with the building and the architecture opposes work by Hamilton, Georgallou and especially Richardson. Their large, imaginary structures that dominate the space and give the viewer a clear route around the space.
The works together have a clear inspiration from nature, and from the outside. Works not mentioned above such as Rosemary Moore and Hannah Luxton's window intervention "Hogsmill Dream" and Nick Greenwoods architectural light piece/projection "Untitled" display a realisation of the outside world, and what they are in it.
