In the latest edition of Buzz, we shared the latest Campus Curiosity article on Portrait of Sir Oliver Lodge by Sir George Reid. This portrait is currently part of the exhibition Terms of Engagement, which is on at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. A selection of portraits were moved for this exhibition; we asked artist David Rowan to fill the temporarily vacated spaces. Here, David describes his artworks and process.
In January 2015 I was contacted by RCC in about producing new work to become part of an exhibition that would exist within the University’s buildings and corridors.
I was asked to produce new work in response to six portraits of former University figureheads. Six portraits of six very different individuals that would be moving into the Barber Institute for the Terms of Engagement exhibition. The empty spaces left behind would require something in place for the duration of the temporary exhibition. I began working with RCC curators and staff to research and develop the new work. The brief was open, I had free rein to pretty much produce whatever I wanted. I realised early on that the individuals depicted in each portrait, were very different people, spanning almost 100 years. I decided to research into each of the their lives, histories and legacies, rather than to focus on the painter of each picture or the visual content of the pictures themselves. During an extensive research period I uncovered extraordinary histories and fascinating information about the six people and connected histories, hidden narratives and myths. I decided that, in some way I wanted to incorporate this information into each of the six works.
I worked with multiple archives and utilised material from King Edward VI School, the MI5 archive, The United Nations Audiovisual Archives as well as the University of Birmingham's own Cadbury Research Library. I also researched and used collections from Birmingham Museums Collections Centre as well as online research culminating in purchases from Amazon, eBay and deadstock from a long closed carpet warehouse. What follows is a brief summary.
Ether Communication Device
C-Type Photographic Print 1330mm x 1000mm
Copyright David Rowan
For the Sir Oliver Lodge works, I became interested in Lodges key work with radio and his concept of 'Ether'. Lodges 1929 book, 'Phantom Walls was a real inspiration in producing this work and the title of my exhibition. I also researched photographic archive material from the Cadbury Research Library. The resulting works are 'photographic reconstructions' of these Lodge Ether machines based on Lodges own scientific experiments circa 1907 and they are reconstructed here for the very first time. I have produced several of Lodges experimental 'ether' machines, one large framed photographic print features in the exhibition. As well as this, we also produced a short 'hidden' film to accompany the print, this film features a spoken word transcript of a seance that Lodge himself attended and was filmed on location at the University. A version of the film, entitled Séance, can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/142001517
Jeans Girls
C-Type Photographic print 750mm x 1000mm
Copyright David Rowan
Jean Wilks, the only woman to feature in my work and the University’s first female Pro-Chancellor. I produced work based on her time as principle of Birmingham's King Edward VI Girls School. She believed in greater equality for both men and women, she democratised responsibility amoungst the girls she taught, doing away with the 'head girl' and encouraging greater independence for young women. I interviewed her friend Joyce Stevens who worked along side Jean at the school. She confirmed that Jean’s Uncle had a profound influence on Jean. Jean’s uncle was once imprisoned for not paying his wife’s tax, while in prison he was sung to by several suffragette women, to keep his spirits up. The work I've produced uses several archival photographs of each school year that Jean would have presided over as principle of the school. Along with the colours of the suffragette movement. The triangle is often said to be the strongest shape, here it represents a top down distribution knowledge and the concept, that one person can, in Jean's case, positively influence many other people's lives over a long period of time.
Chocolate Socialist
C-Type Photographic Print 1000mm x 1330mm
Copyright David Rowan
Dominic Cadbury’s grandfather George Cadbury, the founder of Birmingham's Bournville Estate and chocolate factory empire is clearly the basis for the themes explored in this work. Chocolate - Socialism, the key ideals at the heart of the historical and almost mythical Cadbury Family. To produce this work, I sculpted a small chocolate Karl Marx (Marx being the father of socialism) This work although informal in concept is perhaps the most formal of final works, its sculptural shape and formal photographic style is intentionally reminiscent of the formality of traditional 18th and 19th century busts and statues. The Karl Marx, could be George Cadbury, or in-fact a bust of virtually any bearded man from the last two hundred years of history.
Oleg Lyalin's COKOΛ (PП 310) Radio 1971
C-Type Photographic Print 380x380mm
Copyright David Rowan
Julian Bullard, prior to his work for the University, was head of Her Majesties Diplomatic Service during the early 1970s'.During that time he was responsible for the expulsion of 105 Russian diplomats accused of spying. This revolved around a scandal the centre of which was Russian man Oleg Lyalin. Lyalin defected to the UK and was later relocated by MI5 in exchange for giving up information on over 80 Russian colleagues, who like Lyalin, worked for the Russian Trade Delegation, but who were actually engaged in covert intelligence operations. Inside the vitrine case is Lyalin's personal archive, it is on exhibition here, along with six framed photographs of his 'faked' identity cards, radios and cameras. Lyalin's cover story for spying, was that he was a traveling carpet and textiles salesman. He sold textiles in the West Midlands. Lyalin is perhaps the antithesis of Bullard, I find it fascinating these two, very different men have had such a profound affect on each of their lives and the course of each others personal histories, despite having never met.
Special thanks must go to the MI5 archive for the loan of the 1971 archival material. Of specific interest to me, is Lyalins 'Minox B' spy camera (containing a half shot roll of film) and the black and white press photograph, which shows the Russian Trade Delegation receiving U.K expulsion documents.
Matrix Churchill Machine Parts
Photographic Print 1100mm x 727mm
Copyright David Rowan
This work looks into the part of Lord Hannay's history when he was the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations; archives played an important part of my research here. Hannay took office less than a month after the start or the 1990 Iraq War, a tough appointment to say the least. This point in history is politically very complex, the stories and accounts of the time are discussed by Hannay in his book New World Disorder.
My work makes reference to The Scott Enquiry that follows the war. The UK government was investigated for its part in The Arms to Iraq Scandal, A scandal that involved Coventry firm Matrix Churchill who were accused of supplying weapons parts to Iraq (or in this case the 'machine parts' that feature in the first photograph). During the investigation the then defence minister Ian MacDonald was asked about the truth of the matter, his reply 'The truth is a difficult concept' This phrase can be applied to the concept of truth in portraiture as well as an individual’s relative points of view.
The Burman Engine
4K Video Presentation with audio 2 minutes 37 seconds
Copyright David Rowan
This video piece The Burman Engine is a high definition video animation made up of 100 still photographs of the 'Four Square' Burman Motor Cycle engine, this engine was designed as an 'exhibition piece' to show off the company’s expertise in producing high end industrial components. The engine is part of Birmingham Museums’ collection. Here the engine could represent the Roger Burman's creative endeavour and here it is elevated to high status, it auto displays itself for the viewer like a piece of 21st century technology, rather than a 60+ year old object. The audio that accompanies this piece is made from samples of motor cycle engine sounds, stretched, processed and re-presented. A peacock makes a brief appearance at the end of this work, this is to signify Burman's love of birds and creates a visual link to the peacock sculpture that features in the original portrait.
Of course there could be a lot more to say about the production of these works and the information acquired during research into these amazing peoples lives, there is more information and other material on my website:
http://davidrowan.org/work/phantom-walls/
A preview of the Phantom Walls video works are here:
https://vimeo.com/artistdavidrowan/videos
Its been very interesting developing and producing this new work and a real pleasure working with all the University of Birmingham staff, especially University Curator Clare Mullet and Exhibitions and Loans Officer Vicky Skelding-Bloor, as well as Anna Young, Nadia Awal and Clare Marlow. The exhibition continues until January 17th 2016 in the Aston Webb Building.
And all the while that you were waiting
for love to keep the light from waning—
it's pain that stops the heart from hating,
that cures the mind of hesitating,
that helps the soul in separating,
from everything that it's been blaming...
