I met Emma BĂ€cklund before the heatwave; during the British non-summer. As I buried myself into my light jacket to preserve heat at Crate Brewery, BĂ€cklund arrived fresh faced and smiling. It is believed that the degree show season is a demanding and exhausting experience so after a week of finishing it, I wasnât expecting to find anyone to be so perky.
So perhaps the secret is yoga. BĂ€cklund is a former dancer and now, a self-confessed yogi. She recommends a few local studios which I eagerly note down. If yoga is enough to help someone sail through their degree show, imagine what it can do for the rest of us.
Emma BĂ€cklund assembling work for the London College of Communication degree show 2015
âYoga is also one of the reasons why I am so fascinated by movementâ, says BĂ€cklund. Her series Phantom Limbs at London College of Communications is a collection of photographs of bodies and sculpture. Curling up and burying their heads into the ground, the subjects of Phantom Limbs look like tired Greek gods.
Clay, 2015
We walk over to the bar and scan the blackboards. Despite being in a renowned local brewery that prides itself in its beers and ciders that are made just next door, we opt for two black coffees to warm us up. This somewhat confuses the bar staff.
âMy work explores static activity. There is so much going on inside, but you donât see that on the outsideâ, says BĂ€cklund. âWith Phantom Limbs, I question what it means to exist in a body when we are encouraged to live beyond itâ. She paints a much too recognisable scenario of a person sitting in front of the screen, physically inactive within the real world yet extremely active within the virtual. âItâs like we are spreading our identity across many different thingsâ, says BĂ€cklund. âWe strive towards an incorporeal engagement with reality where our relationship with the physical needs to be questioned.â
Dough, 2015
Is she worried that we spend too much time online instead of living in the moment? âItâs difficult to know whether it is good or badâ, replies BĂ€cklund. I point out that many people believe it is bad because itâs seen as unnatural. âThe definition of what is natural is very complex. How do we know what is natural? We have always evolved and so how can we know that it is not part of the evolution process?â
These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruins, 2015
We sip our very strong hot coffees which are so warming that I am on the verge of becoming a source of heat myself.
In the series, BĂ€cklund interrogates our definition of the natural. Familiar forms slip into opacity; a pair of leaning legs could equally be a slab of clay; a resting back may well be a handful of drying dough. Some limbs are distorted or nonexistent. âThe sculptures are obscureâ, says BĂ€cklund. âI think the only way we can understand the abstract and the obscure is by placing it within the most recognisable and ânaturalâ context â the body.
âI question what a body will become when an artificial nature starts to complicate our biological selves and our experience of the material world.â
Works by Emma in the London College of Communication degree show 2015
Itâs uncanny how a mere 40 years ago, Business Week ran a cover article called The Office of the Future which predicted âa revolutionâ that would âchange our daily livesâ and could be âkind of scaryâ. They were talking about the potential emergence of the humble desktop computer. Four decades on, we have not only the desktop, but the tablet, the smartphone and the smartwatch to go with it. And so itâs daunting and yet irresistible to wonder what kind of ârevolutionâ could be next and how it will change us and the world around us.
For more information about Emma BĂ€cklund, check out: http://www.emmabacklund.com
At the echo-prone Londonewcastle Project Space, Jon Baker talks about motherhood, porn and medals.
MOTHERS MEDAL (KINK) 143
I arrive at the Catlin Art Prize exhibition to find Jon Baker chatting away with some casual gallery-goers about his work. He is completely at ease. It has been a year since he graduated with BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts. Since then, Baker has won the Exposure 14 Award, featured in Saatchi Sensations and has had his own solo show. His work catches the viewersâ imagination. It treads the line of the suggestive and the abject. With its alluring gloss, untamed sexuality and grand scale, it is visually gripping and enigmatic. Despite much looking it is impossible to work out who or what is actually in the photographs having such a wild frolicking. I met Jon Baker for some clues. Â
Why did you choose to name your recent series MOTHERâS MEDAL (KINK)?
I see my story of the Motherâs Medal as a great warning against power. Motherâs Medals were given to German mothers by the Nazi government. You were rewarded different medals depending on the number of children you had â effectively continuing the Nazi ideal. After the war when the allies took over Germany, they tried to wipe out all traces of the Nazi icons. To continue displaying their medals in public, some German mothers filed off the swastika. These groups were literally trying to separate ideology from achievement.
MOTHERS MEDAL (KINK) 149
Have you seen a Motherâs Medal yourself?
I found a denazified one. They are more expensive than the medals that still have the swastika because you could see the personal hand of the mother scratching away the swastika. I bought one, but it turned out to be a fake. I called the manufacturer who said that many people actually buy the fake medals. This sparked something. What kind of society would counterfeit historic objects and remove the ideological symbol from them? Itâs a story about people not questioning the things that happen around them.
Mother's Medal (Blacked) no 66
How is the Motherâs Medal linked to the series aside from the title?
The link between the Motherâs Medal and my work is for the viewer to figure out for themselves, if it seems unconnected then thatâs fine. What I would add is that I approach my work as if Iâm a painter who happens to be a photographer. I don't think a painter would have so much trouble convincing an audience of their influences but people always think photographs are of something and want to know what. Maybe itâs tricky thinking of photography as abstract?
What about Kink?
Kink is a porn website. I think an interesting way in which a culture is reflected is through the pornography of its time.
What does current porn say about our time?
You could say race is idolized. Good or bad, the different races are like Greek sculptures that are put on a pedestal and almost worshiped.
Generally though, pornography is derogatory towards women.
Yes it is. But isnât every aspect of our society sexist? Itâs another example of how porn is a reflection of the state of society.
Mother's Medal (Blacked) no 93
So why did you focus on Kink in particular?
Itâs a website that has an extreme power play between men and women. Generally however, women hold the power on Kink. Itâs confrontational and makes you question what you have been told is right.
Are you celebrating women by connecting your works to Mothers Medal and Kink?
Iâm not celebrating anything. I am asking questions about masculinity and equality.
Gape, no 58
From your degree series to pieces in the Catlin Art Prize exhibition, your work has a distinctive style. Itâs rich in colour, high in gloss and contains organic objects. What was your thinking behind this style?
Style is about display. If you look at animals, they signal information to others through their size and colour as well as other things. My style signals certain things too. For instance, these are big works. They are printed on C type paper and you canât get bigger prints than these. Especially for men, I think size is an important signal. If you go to the gym, youâll find many men working on their biceps. They actually donât give you much strength compared to other muscles. When you go the pub though, those biceps will send a clear signal of strength to all the ladies at the bar [kisses his biceps and laughs]. Size is an assertion of power. I wanted these works to have that signal. Â Â Â Â Â
Jon Baker by Jon Baker
MOTHERâS MEDAL (KINK) is exhibited in the Catlin Art Prize 2015 at Londonewcastle Project Space, London, until 31 May: http://www.artcatlin.com
For more information about Jon Baker, please visit: http://www.jon-baker.co.uk
There was no room to walk. Redchurch Street is overflowing with hip locals, inquisitive, but easily excitable tourist groups and those in search of the next big thing. In the unusually sweltering May heat, the Londonewcastle Project Space makes for a much welcomed refuge. It is spacious and cool inside with high ceilings that carry every sound through the seven gallery rooms of this former printworks. This year, it is once again the home of the Catlin Art Prize exhibition.
Justin Hammond greets me in the foyer. He is the curator of the show and the accompanying Catlin Art Guide which compiles the top 40 art graduates of 2014. As always, Hammond is in high-spirits. He has offered to give me a tour of the eight finalists that have been carefully selected from the Guide for showing exceptional artistic potential. Determined by a panel of judges, one of them will receive a ÂŁ5,000 prize. The artist that conquers the hearts of the public will receive the Visitor Vote (which is worth ÂŁ2,000).
âThe show is for the artists to fulfil their most ambitious ideasâ, explains Hammond as we walk through to the first gallery. âIt is for them to push themselves creatively. When we come to see the space, I always encourage the artists to think without compromise and we'll aim to dilute their proposals as little as possibleâ.
At this point, a deafening excerpt of Schubert is played. Puzzled, we have to stop the conversation and wait for the music to finish. But this is quickly followed by a metallic jolt of the bright yellow roller shutter as it comes down. It feels like I am no longer on Redchurch Street, but in an artier version of Panic Room. Hammond chuckles. âOh thatâs Zhu Tian. Itâs a funny one that one. During the opening, we had some people skidding under it Indiana Jones styleâ. I laugh (nervously). "Zhu Tianâs work is concerned with power dynamics in relationships: People forced to do things and behave in a way in which they donât want to.â Hammond continues. âThis is literally demonstrated by the shutter. It forces people to move around the space in a certain wayâ.
Zhu Tian, Dirty, 2015
We move through two of Zhuâs gallery rooms. One is sugar-coatedly bright with three sheepskins resembling a one child family. The other room is the opposite. Painted black, it houses what appears to be an elevated electronic message sign that pays homage to the 2001 film, The Piano Teacher. It is so imposing and with its monumental size, you feel like you are in some sort of church.
Nicholas William Johnson, It Didnât Let Us Look Very Far and Cosmic Ghetto Music, 2015
The next room is half-covered in a floral labyrinth. It is Nicholas William Johnsonâs Plant of Many Faces (The Bush Said Nothing). He has camouflaged his paintings on hoardings that are so often seen around the new property developments across London, the UK and indeed, the world. âWhenever people ask Nicholas about what he does, he always says âwell it sounds naive, but I just paint flowersââ, Hammond explains. âItâs a Trojan horse in a way â yes, he paints flowers, but he uses it to present something more sinister. For instance, if you step back from the work, you will see some faces appearing. There is a lot more going on than just foliageâ.
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Nicholas William Johnsonâs work is aptly exhibited in the same room as Oliver Hickmetâs Are We Nearly There Yet?. Â âSome of the artists come in quite often to talk to people about their workâ, Hammond adds. âOliver!â Hickmet is actually in the gallery. Surrounded by a following of ladies, Hickmet comes over to us and introduces his family.
Oliver Hickmet, Are We Nearly There Yet?, 2015
I inquire about his thinking behind his latest work. âIt is concerned with how we socially engineer lifestyle destinations for people through new property developmentsâ, Hickmet explains. Are We Nearly There Yet? is a frame of a building with CGIs (computer generated imagery) fitted in some of the window spaces to show what the planned properties will look like once completed. âI began by asking where these new property developments are and what condition they are in. Well, they are presented through a CGI which is just an image. At the site, the properties are still being built. Thereâs nothing thereâ, Hickmet continues. âI have found this painting technique that when you go to the back of the work [we step inside the frame so that we can see the back of the CGIs] and look out, the whole thing disappearsâ. As if by magic, the paintings are gone. Looking at them from the back removes all of the colour and the CGIs become almost transparent. âThere is nothing to themâ, says Hickmet. Â Â Â Â Â
Paul Schneider, Bending the Rukes, 2015
As we move on and find ourselves in Paul Schneiderâs Bending the Rules; a stretched out basketball pitch hugging the floor, walls and ceiling. It is instantly recognisable. Schneider writes of his work, âI want to create work thatâs like walking into a cartoon, computer screen or collageâ. It is uncanny to walk from Hickmetâs standardised property developments that looked identical despite being spread across different continents, and to find another universally recognisable subject that looks the same whether it is in UK or Uruguay.
Is it common to find the same running themes in each yearâs cohort of graduates? âYes. Itâs normal for artists to tap into the same things, but interpret them differentlyâ, Hammond replies. âArtists have their antennas up the whole time and so they are being influenced by the same issuesâ. Â Â Â Â
Dominic Watson, Lowbrow Ecstasy, 2015
We step into Dominic Watsonâs cupboard gallery. Everything in this room seems to be in conflict: the opulent thick beige carpet that lines the floor against the rough factory chains; the leather jackets against the kitsch paintings that they sport on their backs. âThese are the covers of Mills & Boon booksâ, Hammond points out. Mills & Boon was a publishing company that was synonymous with sentimental lowbrow fiction. âBut they are painted onto leather jackets â the icons of rebellionâ, adds Hammond. âPutting these two very different idols into one piece gives the wearer alternative roles to take when putting on the garmentâ. Â
Jon Baker, Motherâs Medal (Kink), 2015
We walk into the largest of the gallery rooms. Schubert echoes intermittently in the background. The left hand side is dedicated to Motherâs Medal (Kink), a series of four large scale photographs by Jon Baker. With their surface glistening and the subjects within them throbbing, it is almost impossible to tell what is actually in the photographs. âJon would never tell me what they areâ, says Hammond looking at the insect-like organisms in the works. The series is rich in colour. Itâs something between an opened jewellery box, a childrenâs ball pit and porn. Itâs sensational. Â âI want people to consider physical display, power and statusâ, Baker writes of his work. âThe objects in the images can be described as representations of male and female bodies. The manipulation of the objects and the photographs themselves are a celebration and a warning against powerâ.
Felicity Hammond, Capital Growth (left) and You Will Enter An Oasis, 2015
Bakerâs neighbour is Felicity Hammond. She is a photographer, but for the first time has created 3D objects. âThey are still printsâ, says Justin. âThe images are printed directly onto acrylic, but they can be bent with heat. When Felicity was installing this series, you would often see her around with a hairdryerâ. Justin looks up. âAnd these are not real marble tiles. They are plain tiles with prints of the fluffy insulation material you can find around construction sites.â It is a deceptive series where nothing is what it seems. Â
Felicity Hammond, You Will Enter An Oasis, 2015 Â Â
That leaves the last room - a darkened gallery perfect for video except, it is dedicated to painting. The series 1000 Foundlings Find Their Mothers is heart wrenching. On one wall, Strauss projects onto her paintings â a technique which makes them glow, sing and tell us a story. Amusing and entertaining, it features a mother and child, a dog and (everyoneâs favourite) the blubber fish among others.  One only needs to turn to the other walls to see a very different story. Hanging with a heavy air, there is Foundling Wheel, Italy, Mid 18th Century (closed 1875) and opposite it, Babyklappe, Germany (in use since 2000). Both are intended for giving up children. "If a mother was unable or unwilling to care for her baby, she could give it up by placing it in a foundling wheelâ, explains Hammond. âOn the other side of the wall, someone from the church would take on the responsibility. They were common in the Middle Ages and this one was around in 18th century Italy. Due to legal loopholes, baby hatches have started to appear again in Germany and other parts of Europe".
Lexi Strauss, 1000 Foundlings Find Their Mothers, 2015
We walk back through all of the galleries. The Catlin Art Prize has come a long way since its earlier days. "Originally it was much smaller", says Hammond. âNot much bigger than this foyerâ. His fantastic and unflinching zeal for emerging artists has taken the prize to its ninth year and has supported and development hundreds of art graduates. This yearâs exhibition shows once again that the Catlin Art Prize is one of the most important platforms for young artists. Despite graduating only a year ago, they are bold, fresh and original. They are exceptional.
Since time of writing, Zhu Tian has been awarded the Catlin Art Prize 2015. Paul Schneider received the Visitor Vote.
The Catlin Art Prize runs until 30th May 2015.
For more information, please visit: http://www.artcatlin.com/en
Shoreditch is heaving with its usual eclectic mix of people. It is, arguably, the perfect place to scout material for figurative photography. It would have been the perfect place to meet Annalaura MasciavĂš, a UAL graduate and a former portrait and landscape photographer. But it wasnât. And so when I met her, dressed in a red velvet dress and a purple coat, she wasnât interested in the crowds at all. She wanted to talk about her latest idea of her latest work from her latest show. We needed to talk about Masts. Â
Riccardo, 2013
âMasts came from a big crisis that I had last year. I used to only shoot portraits and landscapes, but I realised that it wasnât enough. It was limitingâ, explains Annalaura. âI had stuff on my mind that I wanted to expressâ. Â She stops to munch on her pain au chocolat. âWe live in a time when you can look at the map of the Earth and every single centimetre of that map is known. The feeling of getting lost in a space or coming across a new place has changed. I could go anywhere, but I wouldnât find anything that hasnât been found already.â
Horror Vacui (2012-14)
It is this idea that lies at the heart of Annalauraâs latest series. When we have documented all of the physical places on Earth, when we have exhausted everything everywhere in the name of curiosity, what else is there left to discover?
âWe may be done with outward discovery, but we are not done with inward discoveryâ, says MasciavĂš. âWe can get to know places digitally (especially since Google Maps), but we still donât know how we will react to them when we finally reach themâ. And so Annalaura takes masts from ships â the symbol of exploration â and reflects them in a mirror. âThe mirror is a tool for self-discovery. When you look in the mirror, you see your physical reflection. But it is also a symbol for who you are as a person â who you are inside. It can be a tool for introspection - it can reflect back how you interpret the worldâ.
Masts III.I, 2015
The idea of the unknown has shifted. Instead of finding new lands, we find new ways of responding to them.
âBy shooting landscapes, I would only be creating another version of what was already there. I wasnât creating anything newâ, she says. âFor me creating something original is discovering something new. It has the same sense of wonder as when you are in a place that no one has been to beforeâ.
Masts mark Annalauraâs first move into abstraction. If you see the work without looking at the title, you could be forgiven for not recognising the subject matter. So is MasciavĂš trying to trick us into that euphoric, albeit occasionally smug, feeling that we have discovered something new before striking the blow that we are actually looking at nothing more than posts from ships? âOf course I enjoy the responseâ, laughs Annalura. âMisunderstanding one thing is often about learning or understanding another. In this sense, itâs discovery. It is about looking at already seen objects differently. It is about returning to that sense of wonderâ.
Masts IV.I, 2015
We finish sipping our coffees. And what have the next 5 years got ahead for Annalaura? âFive years is a long time!â chuckles MasciavĂš. âI want to explore the idea further. What do you do when an important part of the unknown is discovered â where do you look to next? And what are your options?â
We descend the stairs that lead out of the cafe and merge back into the crowd. The afternoon grows colder, but that doesnât discourage the Saturday culture vultures or the bearded hipsters from overfilling the latest independent coffee shops and the pop up bars. Shoreditch - that place we already knew, the streets of which were long ago discovered.
For more information about Annaluraâs work, please visit: http://www.annalauramasciave.com
Or you can view some of her work on the Made In Arts London website: http://www.madeinartslondon.com/pages/anna-laura-masciave
The countdown to the degree shows begins. This is also known as prolonged periods of sleep deprivation, the swift promotion of caffeine to the top of your friendship rankings, erratic behaviour, twitching, the untimelylove for noughties box sets (or/and other pointless forms of procrastination) the strength of which one finds difficult to explain. Yes, it all sounds too familiar.
Degree shows, however, do reward students, albeit only at the end. Visitors flood art schools to scout emerging talent, feel inspired and to connect with the modern day questions posed by todayâs freshest minds. (And yes, these really can include people other than your family and close friends.)
But all of this also marks the end of student life. Budding artists are cast out into the world of work where they have to find a way of sustaining their practice. A profession that is often synonymous with romanticised poverty, being a practising artist demands unflinching endurance and belief.
The transition from student to artist can be daunting, even paralysing without a nudge in the right direction. And here is where Made in Arts London (MiAL) comes in. Set up three years ago by then current student, Kate Rintoul, MiAL aims to showcase and support students and recent graduates of the University of Arts London (UAL). They offer a platform where artists can promote their work as well as workshops and advice on how to navigate around the art world.
[The UAL is Europeâs largest provider of education in art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts. It compromises of six colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Art.] Â
Ahead of their annual independent exhibition, I met up with MiALâs Coordinator, Rosa Harvest. Â Â Â Â Â Â
What is MiAL?
We are a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting artists from UAL. We showcase current students and recent graduates through our online platform as well as physical exhibitions to help them sell their artwork, and we also provide support for their professional development.
Marta Barina, Inward II, ÂŁ300. Photograph: Luisa Avietti
There are other online platforms out there that sell degree art. How is MiAL different?
We are supported by UAL and work closely with the student union. It is not just a commercial online platform for degree art. It is a sincere interest in the development of emerging artists. MiAL was set up by Kate Rintoul who was at the time, a student of UAL. She saw that there was a clear lack of support for students when they left art school. There is so much buzz around degree shows, but this is unfortunately often followed by a dramatic dip in interest in the artistsâ work and the graduates are left to face the harsh realities of what it takes to be a practising artist. MiAL was established to help artists through this transition.
Annalaura MasciavĂš, Catherine and the Leave. From ÂŁ230
How can artists get involved with MiAL?
First of all, artists need to submit an application online. Then, every six months, we have a panel of external industry experts who look at everyoneâs application and select a number of artists for Made in Arts London. They provide feedback on everyoneâs submission regardless of whether an artist has been selected or not, which should prove very useful to everyone who has applied.
Karen Davies, You Know Your Problem? You Keep it all in, ÂŁPOA. Photograph: Luisa Avietti
What kind of things is the panel looking for when considering who to select?
We are not restricted by discipline. We cover a massive range of work â we have everything from illustration to video to our first clothing pieces. MiAL is a commercial platform so there needs to be some commercial element in the work. For instance, if we have a performance artist, we encourage them to have some prints or something that can be sellable.
Apart from that, the panel generally looks for consistent style and thinking so that they can see that the artist is forthright and confident in their practice. A clear understanding of their own work is very valued in the artists because this makes explaining their work easier to the panel, viewers and prospective buyers.
Mette Sterre, Ssssht. ÂŁ1,342
What happens if an artistâs work is selected?
If an artist is selected, their work is launched with the MiAL collection â a seasonal online catalogue where viewers can purchase all listed works. We also offer a range of support for professional development such as workshop and one-to-one support. These are usually led by experts in the specific fields.
There are also several exhibitions that the artists could be included in depending on the theme and the space we have. We aim for an artist to have at least one show whilst they are with MiAL.
Bigger, Bolder, Brighter exhibition, MiAL, 2014
What can we expect from the upcoming exhibition Capsule? Â
Capsule is one of our independent annual exhibitions. It is one of our biggest shows of the year â there will be over sixty artists on display. It is a chance to really show the diversity of the artists that are part of MiAL, their incredible progress and the ambition of their work - so there will be a real mix. We will be tracing six of our key artists and their journeys with us. We have asked them to make site-specific creations which will push the boundaries of their current practice. Â
Fru Kenworthy-Browne, Hand Soap is not Corrosive. ÂŁ210
We are currently approaching degree show season. If you had one piece of advice for final year art students, what would it be?
Continue your art practice after graduation. Degree shows are an incredibly exciting, but also exhausting time. Itâs important to continue your development after the degree show. Being a practising artist is hard work. You need to find ways to keep inspired and being involved. Go to events, go to talks, go to exhibitions and believe in yourself. If you donât believe in your work, how can you expect others to believe in it? Â
Capsule opens on Wednesday 8th April and will run until Sunday 12th April 2015: http://bit.ly/1AYhYlF
For more information about MiAL, please visit: www.madeinartslondon.com
Camilla Brueton, Site Specific Installation for Affordable Art Fair 2014, Hampstead.
I didnât know that Tianâs series was in the gallery. Towards the end of the day, amidst the now almost-deserted gallery rooms that were packed with lost sculptures, cutting edge installations and experimental photography, amidst the silence, I could certainly hear it. Even above the avant-garde video material, you could undoubtedly make out that piercing sound of scraping metal and jolted machinery. To say that it was unsettling would be an understatement.
Walking through an art school, you can expect little other than many middle fingers up at the system. Work is rebellious. Even in the most subtle, there is that middle finger in there somewhere. At the very back of the gallery though, I found the biggest middle finger yet. Seductively sugar-coated, bright and provocative, the neon sign lit up Tianâs daring and haunting installation.
This was Dear Boss.
What is the main motif of the series Dear Boss?
Iâm trying to comment on modern society â how we live our lives and how controlled we are. The motif is the movement of the work which is based on the childrenâs fairground ride. The movement is of a galloping horse, so you are supposed to be moving forward, but you are actually fixed in one point. You are controlled by the machine.
For the whole installation I set up a storyline â almost like a narrative â within the space. You have the different stages of the machine. Some of the machines are finished, some are half-finished, some of them move, some of them donât move.
Dear Boss, Young Gods, Griffin Gallery, 2015
So you have a timeline. You have the narrative. You also have the absent master. Who is making all of these machines? Who is behind all of this?
We have this perception of freedom, but we are not as free as we think we are. We are limited. We are under pressure to follow certain social patterns â go to school then college, get a job, get married, have kids etc. Even beyond the daily routine, we are limited by our ideology â our morals, our knowledge, our experience. Everything is actually limiting.
Dear Boss, Royal College of Art, 2014
The making of Dear Boss
The making of Dear Boss
Do you think people actually want freedom as much as they claim they do? There has been more than the odd occasion when I have met people who feel overwhelmed by choice. Choice makes life complicated. Even if itâs the choice between taking a gap year to travel or getting a job straight after university, the decision can be difficult.
It is certainly easier to follow the system. The decisions are already made for you, so you donât have to go through the trouble of making them. Itâs like visiting the countryside and walking through the forest. If you observe, youâll find that so many people stick to the narrow paths that are already there. But beyond the paths, there is actually so much forest, so many grounds you can explore. We miss out on these because we stick to the paths.
Trust Me, 2014
Babe, 2014
Doesnât the tendency to stick to the paths also come from our need to belong to a group? Following the rules, whether official or unofficial, can give us a sense of belonging.
Yes, we are social animals. We tend to stick to a group in order to find comfort. We conform. Interestingly, there are so many different sub groups now that you can be a part of. Even if you consider the simple task of eating â there are many different eating habits and labels to go with them. Before, there were those who ate meat and there were vegetarians. Now, there are vegans, there are people who eat only ripe fruit, and so on. On the one hand, there are more groups that you can belong to. On the other hand, it has become easier for people to pick up a label and run with it. To say, yep thatâs me and abide by the rules that that label brings.
Hiccup, 2014
Even though we have more choice, even though we feel free, it still feels robotic. We make one choice and our actions are programmed out in front of us.
So, often in my work, I try to make people uncomfortable. I want them to come out of their comfort zone. Only when you are uncomfortable, are your faculties truly awake. Iâm trying to evoke the most raw, root reactions and feelings of individuals.
Dear Boss, 2014
What was your thinking behind the title Dear Boss?
It is taken from Jack the Ripper. In his first letter to the head of police, Jack the Ripper addressed the reader with âDear Bossâ. In it, he stated that he has been following the policeâs announcements and progress on the murder case. He commented how the police thought themselves to be very clever. Yet he outlined his plan for the next murder and implemented it. The letter is very provocative and ironic.
The murders are irrelevant to the work. What the title is really referencing is the provocative attitude towards the institution, towards the system, towards something bigger than you that you canât avoid.
âDear Bossâ is not a specific thing. It asks the question - who is the Boss in our life?
For more information about Zhu Tian, please visit: www.zhutian.co.uk Â
Tian also has some upcoming shows:
First solo show
Dear Boss
Private View: 4 June 2015
Exhibition: 5 June - 31 July 2015
Cabin Gallery: www.cabin-gallery.com
Other shows
Off Course Brussels Contemporary Art Fair 2015 - showing with Academy Now
Performance at the Private View: 23rd April 4pm 2015
As predicted, Dominic Hawgoodâs first solo show at TJ Boulting is nothing but brilliant. Here is a visual artist who graduated only last summer and is now showcasing his work in one of the most sought after locations in London. Despite the urban arts eclectic having to wear disposable blue overshoes and the quintessential British cold and rain, the opening overflowed into the streets. And nobody was surprised.
Dominicâs work is slick. It oozes of sophistication. It is of the I-want-that-on-my-wall-now quality. You could be forgiven in thinking that it was by a fashion photographer.
Except Dominicâs commitment to detail is not for makingethereal people in ethereal bodies. It is the opposite. It is about real peopleand their very real experiences. There is no moisturising of fingertips. Thereis no covering of blemishes. His work is personal.
Here is my interview with Dominic Hawgood.
What is the main theme behind the series, Under the Influence?
Under the Influence is a response to my experiences of watching exorcisms at church services in London, and how I felt during these deliverances.
And how did you feel?
Confused.
I command you to get out, 2014
What is the core interest that has been driving your work, including Under the Influence?
My main interest is in different states of mind that goes back to when I was a kid, and my sister developed epilepsy. Â She used to have absence seizures, which are basically precursors to grand mal (fit). You essentially zone out for about thirty seconds. Your eyes go up. I always wondered what she was thinking in that space of time. When she came round, she could never remember what had happened and I found that very odd. Â When I was studying for my BA, I was more interested in staging work especially documentary photography, but with hindsight it was the image of my sister that was of greatest importance; it set the tone for and my interest in the psychological.
This is where the darkness lies, 2014
It seems you enjoyed that work because not only did it allow you to develop technically, but it also had a very personal narrative. Would you say that narrative is an important part of your work? Â
My work may present itself as cold and calculated, but itâs very personal. Itâs about me, my experiences, and through it I try to understand what draws me to a particular subject. More recently I have experimented with narrative in new ways. With Under the Influence, I released almost no information about how it was produced. I wanted a narrative to spontaneously emerge. With people forced to interpret the imagery without supporting information, theyâve relied on assumptions, whether wrong or right, and this had opened up dialogue around the work. Â
Under the Influence, TJ Boulting, 2015
What interested you about exorcism?
Watching exorcisms I was unable to determine if what was being presented to me was ârealâ - some elements were so theatrical they seemed staged. I couldnât determine authentic from inauthentic, and sometimes it appeared like people were acting. It felt so structured, strange, and choreographed yet the congregation were experienced something. Obviously experience is highly subjective, but for many they truly believed it was real, and if it was âfakeâ then they were definitely experiencing something. The questions these performances brought up fascinated me.
The spirit is leaving, 2014
Your work addresses very specific religious experiences which not everyone would have undergone before. Some viewers may be unaware of the narratives or the key themes, yet your work still evokes a very human reaction. Why do think that is?
I guess the work draws upon highly charged emotion states, may be this is something thatâs transferred through the work? The work provokes wide-ranging reactions, but I feel that people are seduced by the aesthetics that lean upon advertising, something we understand and feel comfortable looking at. This allows me to grab someoneâs attention for a short time, and communicate my ideas. I worked for many different advertising photographers over the years, and as a result I understand how to put together this kind of imagery, so in a way Iâm hijacking a visual language code. However youâre not being sold anything, and this can be unsettling.
Under the Influence, TJ Boulting, 2015
I like blurring the line between things â when something may look like one thing, but it is, in fact, something else. One person thought that Under the Influence was a fashion editorial. I like the fact that there is space in my work for open interpretation (and misinterpretation).
Who are you?, 2014
Are you documenting exorcisms?
If you read my thesis The Therapeutic Real, and consider my recent projects youâll be able to get a clear idea of the interests that shape my work. However this wonât explain the process behind Under the Influence, itâs intentionally ambiguous, the work is supposed to be mysterious, and itâs up to you, not me, to answer that question. Â
 Under the Influence will be exhibited at TJ Boulting until 21st March 2015: http://www.tjboulting.com/exhibitionspage/352/under-the-influence
For more information about Dominic Hawgood and his work, please visit: http://dominichawgood.com
Choke on Your Tongue exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute
Where is such a gallery? Most of my experiences involve awkwardly pressing the door bell to be admitted into the actual building. Talk about being inviting. This is often followed by a completely deserted space where the gallery invigilator watches me like a hawk. Mainly because there is no other living creature around to spy on.
By this point every little cough has a deafening echo and my soul feels like it is gathering dust rather than getting rid of it.
ARTUNER is not that place. In fact, it is not a place at all. Itâs a platform. It provides information on emerging artists, hosts virtual exhibitions and sometimes organises physical shows of the most promising international artists. With it, you can read up on the show and the artists and glide through the gallery entrance without any awkward door bell ringing.
I met the founder of ARTUNER, Eugenio Re Rebaudengo, and the executive editor, Nicolas Epstein, as they open their latest show in London.
What does ARTUNER do?
We offer people who love art a different experience in collecting art and accessing information about art. ARTUNER is a platform which focuses on a selected number of artists who we believe have a very strong potential.
Phoebe Collings-James, Tar Baby, 2014
Originally, ARTUNER started as a virtual gallery. Where did this idea come from?
The original idea was to fill the gap in the market for online access to art. We wanted to be a platform for people to find new art, learn about exciting artists we believe in and find new ways to engage with their work. This was the starting point from which ARTUNER was created and this idea is still very present in everything that we do. There are still shows that are purely online.
Being a virtual gallery is a good way to support the artists. A virtual gallery allows artists to showcase their work and to be noticed by collectors. I think the matching of artists and collectors is an important part of what we do. I also think that it is very important to contextualise the artworks. Itâs not necessarily enough to show one artwork or only one artist. Creating a dialogue between artists and artworks can be very interesting and revealing.
Yelena Popova, Untitled with two circles, 2014
Some people would say that nothing beats seeing an artwork in its original form. How do you respond to such remarks?
Seeing artwork in its original form will always be important. What ARTUNER offers is a complimentary experience. We provide information on artists and artworks which allows people to educate themselves about the art world. It may even encourage them to go to physical shows and see the originals.
Emanuel RÓ§hss, City face sculptures, 2014
In what ways can an online show be superior to a physical show?
Online shows offer more flexibility when it comes to selecting artists. We curate some shows that involve several international artists. To create a physical show of several artists that are spread across the world would be difficult and expensive. Even if we just consider shipping, a physical show would involve immense logistical struggle. And this struggle can have a strong impact in who is selected into the show. We donât have this problem with online exhibitions.
Nicolas Deshayes, Public Material, 2011
You have recently opened Phoebe Collings-Jamesâs solo show, Choke on Your Tongue, at the Italian Cultural Institute which is running until February 1st but will continue to be viewable online. What can visitors expect from the exhibition?
The show is the culmination of Phoebeâs residency in Nova, Italy, where she created a new body of work. Phoebe mainly deals with themes of sexuality, race, feminism and different forms of female identity. She explores different styles of paintings â for instance, some of her paintings on display were executed with her feet. She has also started to experiment with ceramics, using the medium in a very expressive way. We are very excited to be presenting her new ceramics in London for the first time.
Phoebe Collings-James. Gnaw, 2014. Glazed Ceramic
Choke on Your Tongue exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute
What do you look for in artists that you are considering to exhibit?
Of course there is that first immediate aesthetic experience â which is partially objective and partially subjective. Then, one tries to understand what the artist is trying to say â the thinking process behind the work and the commentary that the artist wants to give in relation to society. Sometimes there isnât anything. But it is generally one of the most important steps in determining whether there is potential.
 Choke on Your Tongue is running until the 1st February at the Italian Cultural Institute and will continue to be viewable online. For more information, please visit: http://www.artuner.com/insight/phoebe-collings-james-italian-cultural-institute/
If you would like to know more about ARTUNER, check out: http://www.artuner.com
Tom Farthingâs Americana: Mother and Child is a familiar scene of a family treat to one of their favourite, albeit slightly over-priced diners. A blueberry waffles and chocolate sundae paradise in which they can temporarily celebrate their newly found consumerism and brush away their increasing conformity and uneasiness. Or at least it could be.
A series of paintings based on photographs of American families.
Americana: Mother and Child, 2014
Do you know them?
No â they have nothing to do with my life. They are people I donât know in places that Iâve never been to. Thereâs a real distance there which makes them, in a way, more abstract.
0:03:58, 2013
Painting people you do know can actually be harder than painting people you donât know.
I paint from photographs because I find the absence of the model interesting. With models, it can be difficult to paint. Someoneâs physical presence can be distracting or emotionally demanding which can get in the way of the process of painting. So by painting people I donât know, I get a certain distance from them.
Everyone says you should paint from your own experience. It can seem that Iâm not doing that at all by painting strangers. But actually, you tend to start finding similarities between the people you know and the people in the photographs. So I find these paintings are like self-portraits of some ideal family, or my own family.
Americana: Girl in a Red Dress, 2014
The images that I am working from have a very specific weird quality â they are old 1950s photographs. So they give off the perception that life back then was better than it is now. They have an almost utopian sense about them. I like to have an ironic viewpoint on this and I donât necessarily believe that life back then was better. But the essence created by using these old, unknown family photos is intriguing. Â Â
Many of your paintings have the human figure as their main subject matter. What do you find so interesting about the human figure?
Itâs extremely abstract. Itâs extremely complicated. Itâs an endlessly varied structure. I got quite obsessed with working with it to be honest and had to pull away from it.
Getting Out, 2014
Model in Movement, 2013
You also have a series of nude paintings. Why did you focus on the nude in particular?
A figure without clothes on is not necessarily an erotic figure. My nude paintings are more about a primitive, primeval state â a pre-historical state. They are interesting because there are no men in those paintings. I was more interested in the relationships between the women than the relationships between men and women.
Model In Movement (The Conversation), 2013
For more work by Tom Farthing, please visit: http://tomfarthing.co.uk/
Journeys. They are great things arenât they? Well, most of the time. They give things more exoticness, more charm. As you walk into a supermarket and see an orange, you know that this is not just an orange. No, this orange has been grown and nurtured in the warm and sunny plantations of Valencia, by a farmer most probably called Pablo, before leaving the golden Mediterranean coast for the drizzly fogginess of Britain. Lovely.
But what about colours? When we look at images, do we know where those greys and pinks came from? Or that Raw Sienna? (Clue: Itâs not from Sienna anymore.) For London-based artist, Mike Iveson, the journey of a pigment doesnât stop when it has reached a canvas or a page in a newspaper. It can go on to do much more. I got the chance to ask him some questions.
You have an unusual way of making your work and sourcing the colour. What is the process that you go through?
I take white oil paint and thin it down with turpentine or white spirits. Then, I work it into newspaper images. From repetitively working the paint into the papers, the colour pigments from the newspaper images come out into the white paint. So after starting out with white paint, you end up with, say, pink. You can remove the coloured paint and use it to make other images.
Ultimately I think of my process as collage except, instead of taking an image, cutting it and sticking it with another image, Iâm taking the colour of an image and reapplying it.
Untitled, Oil on newsprint, 2013
Do you try to create a narrative between the colourâs source image and the image on to which you apply the colour?
Itâs not generally what I set out to do, but certain series have come to have a narrative. For instance I made a series called Offer of the Month during my residency to Zurich. Zurich is a wealthy city where people earn decent salaries and unemployment is low. The town centre is clean - everything is nice. But the grittier side of life is swept to the side and is hidden very well. This is what interested me most about Zurich: this dichotomy of wealth and grittier necessities of urban living. I wanted to make something that would symbolise it.
So I took adverts of watches â some of the most famous luxury goods from Switzerland â and painted over them with colour taken from images of food. I quite liked the idea of combining Switzerlandâs wealth and materialism with the basics of living that were necessary for everyone.
Offer of the Month, 2014
MachenSieIhreMarke, Mixed media, 2014
Relaxed in the future, Mixed media, 2014
You have studied both painting and printmaking. How do the two inform each other in your practice?
The repetitiveness of printmaking is something that emerges in my work quite frequently. For instance in Meat Repeat I have repainted the same images four times. With printmaking, you would be able recreate these images thousands of times. You canât do that when youâre painting. Painting is a very human process and small changes are bound to happen. So even though I am using the same image, each image cannot be identical to another because Iâm applying the paint by hand. This is where the painting and the printmaking techniques overlap.
Meat Repeat, Oil on newsprint, 2014
How do you choose which newspaper pages you use?
I stay away from having a particular preference for certain newspapers and certain pages. This is important as the initial focus for me is on the process. So what normally happens is that the finished piece grows out of working with the images. There are always ideas that you play with but these change and develop in the time it takes to make the work.
Preis Brecher, Oil on newsprint, 2014
For more work by Mike Iveson, please visit: http://www.michaeliveson.co.uk
It looks like everyone is feeling nostalgic lately. You canât go anywhere without coming across someone who loves 1980s rock, sports an 1880s moustache and carries a Polaroid. You canât go to Soho without a secret wish to find a secret bar that looks like itâs still the 60s. And who doesnât get a little fuzzy feeling when they buy a Wispa? Well, thatâs a question Cadburyâs found difficult to answer, but they were soon reminded by the generous help of the public that this product had the stamp of nostalgia all over it. (Cadburyâs was obviously not fluent in Mad Men. Back then.)
So itâs arguably the perfect timing for Carousel â the latest show by Slate Projects. I caught up with the founder of the pop-up gallery and the curator of the exhibition, Alex Meurice.
What is the main theme that runs through show?
The main theme that runs through the show is nostalgia and technology; how painting and drawing can have a powerful response to nostalgia and transform it in surprising ways.
How would you define nostalgia?
The opening text for the show is a quote by Don Draper â the central character of the TV show, Mad Men. In it there is a scene in which Kodak, following the invention of their latest slide projector âThe Wheelâ, ask the advertising agency to suggest a campaign for the launch.
In response, Don Draper delivers a powerful pitch in which he argues that the deepest connection that consumers can experience towards a product is nostalgia. He quotes that in Greek, nostalgia means âthe pain from an old wound. Itâs a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.â For that reason, he argues that the slide projector is not âThe Wheelâ, but is, in fact, âThe Carouselâ: âIt lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved.â
That, in essence, is nostalgia.
Ishai Rimmer, Father, 2009
How is nostalgia explored in the works that are exhibited?
The works enjoy a figurative content which one can explore on a sentimental level. But more importantly, these works slow down theprocess of representing and looking at the past. First, each image must be chosen from millions of others. Second, the process of creating the painting absorbs a significant amount of time and care. Finally, the act of looking at a painting takes much longer than with a photograph. So in a sense, these paintings are returning to us the time which photography has taken away. Painting appropriates the stated purpose of photography â to capture past moments â in ways which push us to reconsider how these technologies actually function.
Christopher Hanlon, Cave, 2014
Nostalgia has become so deeply reflexive that not only do we have nostalgia for banal everyday moments, we also have nostalgia for the means â the technologies â that allowed us to capture those moments in the first place. So this show is equally interested in the technologies of nostalgia. We are going to show an original daguerreotype â an early photograph from the Victorian era. We are also going to exhibit the carousel slide projector itself. We have come to associate these technologies with certain eras and return to them when we yearn for an earlier time.
Carousel, 2014
Are you introducing any new artists in this show?
We are exhibiting the work of Sheila Wallis for the first time. There are a couple of drawings that are based on daguerreotypes. In the nineteenth century, when a family member died, especially a child, it was customary to dress up the deceased in their best clothes and make them look alive. Then, the whole family would pose with the deceased for their first and final family portrait.  Â
Sheila Wallis, Knowing Where to Stand, 2014
How can you tell which one is the deceased?
Daguerreotypes required long exposure time for which the subjects needed to keep still. If the subject moved, there would be a blur around them. The deceased on the other hand, would be in focus. So you have an ironic image where the dead look alive and the living resemble ghosts.
Is this really an era of nostalgia? Are we helplessly trying to rewrite our histories in a way that is more glorious, more admirable, more elegant just like Mad Men rewrote our understanding of the golden age of advertising? Perhaps. What this shows comes to question is our original motivations for and the mechanics of that aching twinge.
All Iâd like to say is that in 2008 Cadburyâs Wispa chocolate bar came back. Big time.
Carousel is at South Kiosk, Flat Iron Square, London, SE1 0AB until 20th December.
For more information about the current and upcoming shows by Slate Projects, please visit:Â http://www.slateprojects.com/exhibitions
Why is it so easy to switch-off mid-sentence? It definitely is. As sure as eggs is eggs and coffee is that fuel you drink to keep yourself from explicitly falling asleep. Itâs difficult. There are many nagging distractions. We have a potential army of small talk conversationalists in our pockets, a never-ending flood of breakings news, fresh gossip and notifications about what our (Facebook) friends are doing. Sometimes we need some space to zone out and think. Alas, even if it does happen mid-sentence.
So it is refreshing to meet Alex Ball for whom art is a space to think. A space to contemplate. With his work, you are invited to think fully â not just by looking, but also by feeling. He is interested in how we react to art: how one small change can affect our engagement with the whole piece. I got a chance to ask him some questions.Â
What are you working on at the moment?
I am expanding my current Relief series. Itâs one in which I have been playing on the tensions between our optical and tactile sense. For instance, looking at some of the paintings, they may appear sculptural, but there are in fact completely flat.
Relief II, 2014
Why do you focus on the tensions between the optical and the tactile senses?
It is one of the most fundamental aspects of image making. The illusion of depth has been around since the beginning. It relates to how we see and experience things. So my work is more about the idea of perception as opposed to narrative.
Squiggle, 2013
Is it important that your work engages many senses?
Yes. And I am interested in how to achieve it. For example, I am intrigued in the evidence, or the lack of evidence, of the hand during the process of image making. When I look at certain works, I find that there is clear evidence of the artistâs hand, but sometimes the artist has deliberately tried to hide it.
My current series started when I was considering the brush mark paintings by Lichtenstein. It is a graphic rendering of brush marks which has a different or even heightened sensual quality. This leads to the question of how the sensual quality of a very expressive brush mark differs from a representation of a brush mark.
So if you consider Scrawl, Iâve made these expressive blue gestures. But then, Iâve returned to them to carefully paint them in. Iâm exploring how this slowing down of a gesture affects the sensual quality of the brush mark.
Scrawl, 2014
Looking back at your older works, the subject matter is more identifiable. Would you say your subject matter is moving away from that and becoming increasingly abstract?
Yes. Generally my subject matter deals with quite slight or minor subjects as opposed to grand or large scale ones. They are usually âthrow awayâ subjects â things that I donât have to think too much about when I prepare or make them. Itâs a deliberate tactic that I use to stop thinking about the subject matter and instead focus on how to paint it.
Paper, 2012
Clay, 2012
You were on a residency in Beijing. What is one of the most interesting lessons you took away from it?
I think before and after I went to China is probably the biggest line I can draw within my practice. There was a change. I havenât fully identified the complete impact of the trip, but broadly speaking, going somewhere foreign really forces you to step outside of your comfort zone. China, especially, is a very different place to Britain.
I had an amazing time looking at early Chinese paintings such as Bada Shanren and traditional ink painting. There was this idea in East Asia that the scholars would practice a number of different disciplines jointly â so philosophy, art and poetry were all studied together. Painting for them was a contemplative exercise. They would have scholar stones, which are more like jade stones, which would represent the mountains. They would use the stones as a contemplative tool to think about the mountains and paint them. This is a very different way of thinking about painting and representation. The idea has lead to my interest in minor subjects.
Window, 2012
What are your plans for the future?
Recently I have really enjoyed writing essays that relate to art and cultural theory. I think it is a good way to explore ideas. For instance, the last essay I wrote was for the exhibition Screen Space which explored the relationship between the increasingly ubiquitous use of screens, and painting.
Poster, 2013
With Alexâs work it is difficult to switch-off mid-sentence. It is difficult to pull out your phone to snap a picture (because his work will look very different online). You need to be in the gallery. You need to get rid of all the surrounding clutter. You need to be present.
For more work by Alex Ball, take a look at: http://www.alex-ball.com/
Everyone knows that bicycles are controversial. The papers say so. These cheeky, two-wheeled companions ride the roads without a number plate (making them notoriously difficult to track) and take rest at any post that takes their fancy. If anything, they seem quite arrogant. If only people could glide as smoothly along the city streets and have 8-hour snoozathons against a lamppost of their own picking. Then, folks, we would have fewer tired and irritable commuters on the Victoria Line. And that can only be a good thing.
So why do bicycles get away with it? Even the cyclistsâ paradise of Copenhagen has been under increasing pressure to consider this question. Â Because when you have a city that has more bikes than people, you have a situation of fierce competition for bike parking. And I mean, fierce.
So itâs little surprise that bikes are the main focus of Sid Charityâs latest work. As the popularity of these creatures of the road grows, Sid questions their ownership of the railing.
For the CSM degree show you exhibited three bicycles. Why did you choose these as your subject matter?
I started with bicycles because it is a good camouflage for making sculpture in public. You can lock a bike pretty much anywhere and people wonât be bothered about it, whereas you canât do that with anything else. So I used that convention to make public sculpture.
What interests you about public sculpture?
I donât really like galleries. When work goes into a gallery, itâs labelled as art, people come in, say something arty about it and then leave. I didnât want that to happen to my work.
I want my work to be an anomaly that is out there in the public that people can come across and question. I want it to be accessible so that everyone can have that moment.
The public bikes operate outside of the gallery context. But for the bikes in the degree show, they were exhibited in CSM and didnât escape "people saying arty things about themâ. Â At that point, they were superimposing the conventions of public space onto a private space. Â The bikes highlighted the similarities between public space and private space - which are sometimes not very evident. Â At the degree show, I hoped to emphasise the contradictions within the CSM building â the foyer presents itself as public, but it is much more controlled than most public spaces and hence acts more like a private space. The fact that students regularly mistake their ID cards with Oyster cards as they tap through the turnstiles is telling in this respect.Â
What societal issues does your work touch upon?
It touches upon the issues around control and definition. For instance, itâs only ok to lock something against a railing because it looks like a bike. But what if that bike is actually a piece of art? What then? Does that mean any piece of art can be locked against a railing?
You are part of the 8th Floor group that was founded at Central Saint Martins a couple of years ago. How does this group work?
Itâs a voluntary group that really acts as a forum for discussion and supplements the education we receive at the school. We meet up in different spaces and put on talks, lectures and interviews with artists and other groups. Its essence is student-led, but itâs funded by Central Saint Martins.
So next time you cross a bike, donât assume it is snoozing. It might be watching. It might be just taking some time out. Or, in fact, it might not be a bike at all.
For more work by Sid, please visit: http://cargocollective.com/sidcharity
Analogical Change (Self-Portrait with a Paper Boat), 2014
Bits of London have been heaving with arty buzz and Frieze Art Fair canvas bags. What used to be known as calm stretches of Sunday-strolling Regents Park became the epicentre of continuous human stampedes fit to rival Oxford Street at lunch time. Yes this was the week when we welcomed Frieze 2014, and all of the nervous and uncontrollable excitement that comes with it, to the capital.
But Frieze is not just about the fairs that take place in Regents Park. Frieze is also an opportunity to show off the artistic talent that inhabits this great city. During Frieze, the independent galleries open their doors to host some of the most brilliant exhibitions of the year.
Anatidaephobia is one such exhibition. Opened mid-Frieze week, this first solo show of Martine Poppe is full of boldness. It is packed with questions about how we approach art and is not going to give any answers away for nothing. Be prepared to take your time to look closely at the works. I caught up with Martine for clues of where we should be looking. Â Â
What is Anatidaephobia?
It is the fictional fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you. So I have been painting invisible ducks on my paintings.
Analogical Change (Venetian Blind), 2014
Why have you decided to make the ducks invisible?
If the ducks are invisible, then the viewer has to inspect the whole painting to find them. The ducks then become a tool that I can use to make my point about paintings â that they are objects in themselves.
Analogical Change #27, 2014
I have had issues with literary narratives in paintings. This is when people look through the paintings for a story â for a âsomething elseâ. I donât want people to do that with my work. I would like people to consider my paintings for the objects that they are, rather than just a window that you look through. My frustration with literary narrative is that people look at a painting and then dismiss it once theyâve âgotâ the story.
Analogical Change (Blooper #1), 2014
You paint from photographs. How did you choose your source images for this series?
I wanted them to be tropical, tacky and full of camera mistakes. I wanted to look at photos that accidentally included the photographerâs shadow, or funny instances where the photographer would take a photo of a figure, but not register that there was a foot poking out of the subjectâs ear in the background.
Analogical Change (Somewhere, Somehow), 2014
Why did you want to focus on photos with mistakes?
I wanted to see whether transferring these images onto paintings would help people register these mistakes. Itâs funny that one doesnât notice these mistakes when taking the photo because, at that moment, it is all about looking through the image to the subject and the setting. So the mistakes are not immediately picked upon.
When you put this into a painting, the mistakes are emphasised further because paintings are traditionally composed from sketches and are carefully planned in advance.
Analogical Change (Where Is My Mind), 2014
And have viewers being registering these mistakes on paintings?
No! They have been reading the paintings in the same way they read the photographs which is really interesting. So I have added interruptions such as folding, masking tape and even putting strips of white canvas on top of the image. I hope these interruptions would pull people back, at least a little bit, from their search for âthe storyâ.
Analogical Change #26 (White Whale), 2014
Many of the paintings have a holiday setting. Is there a particular reason for that?
Yes the holiday setting gives the humorous fictional phobia a darker undertone. For instance, if you look at Analogical Change (Blooper #3), the setting has no clear focus â itâs just a white mattress by the pool side. But, if you look closely, you will see that I have painted an invisible human figure. This draws a parallel between the duckâs and the humanâs presence. It suggests the idea of that somewhere, somehow, a person is watching you.
Analogical Change (Blooper #3), 2014
Indeed, I cannot agree more. At art fairs and exhibitions, I feel like most people spend more time looking at other people looking at art than looking at art itself. And when we are not looking at other people looking at art, we are looking at our phones â checking what everyone else is doing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Itâs as exposing as standing in the middle of Regents Park during Frieze week. But as the last tent of the grand art fair is dismantled, hopefully we can really stop and look at the actual art in this very artistic city.
Anatidaephobia is at the Kristin Hjellegjerde gallery until 16th November: http://www.kristinhjellegjerde.com/anatidaephobia.html
For more info and works by Martine Poppe, please visit: http://www.martinepoppe.com/
Disclaimer: there is nothing wrong with spending over 8 hours a day in front of a screen. Sure, there are several health implications, but looking at the data, the average UK adult spends more time looking at media devices than sleeping. There is no need to go anywhere, no need to experience the sweaty Central Line, no need to endure a two-hour queue at a no-booking establishment. Itâs all there online. When a smug receptionist asks you to empty all of your personal belongings into a see-through pencil case and leave your phone and your pen in a designated locker, oh and wait twenty minutes for a library desk, you can respond âthis is an interesting request. THIS IS LIKE GOING BACK TO THE 18th CENTURY!â.
But sooner or later, we all need a break from the digital screen and interact with the world around us. And for all of us, this is where it gets interesting. After all that time in front of the computer, how do we approach the real world? Â After all that time googling, tweeting and sharing (sometimes all at once), how do we look at visual objects off-line? In the upcoming exhibition, Screen Space, organised by the pop-up gallery Slate Projects, eight artists explore these questions. I caught up with the founder of Slate Projects and the co-curator of the exhibition, Alex Meurice, about Screen Space.
What is the main thread that runs through the exhibition?
The main thread that runs through âScreen Spaceâ is the relevance of painting in a world saturated with digital screens. Image processing software, flat screens and smartphones are a new step in the history of vision, to which the works in this exhibition respond to, specifically in the representation of space, texture and volume. The screen is a super-flat surface which nevertheless contains a sense of layering in windows and tabs. So, many of the paintings in âScreen Spaceâ share these characteristics while maintaining a strong sense as objects.
Christopher Page, A Party in Seville, 2014
The digital screen has affected paintings in many ways. Which effects do you focus on in the exhibition?
What has been fascinating in developing this exhibition was to discover that by imitating screens they take on three-dimensional qualities. There are elements of sculpture and architecture in the creation of these works as well as in the artistsâ backgrounds and practices. As a result these works appeal to our tactile senses and our optical sense equally. After all, we now interact with screens as much with our hands as with our eyes.
Thomas Hutton, Hearth, 2014
When perspective was formalised in the early Renaissance, painting was described as an âopen windowâ onto a virtual space lying beyond the painted surface. The viewer has to stand at a specific spot, at a specific distance from the picture. Many of the works in âScreen Spaceâ break with this convention, nudging the viewer to try various points of view. I find it intriguing that flat images are having this effect.
Why has the response to the digital screen by these particular artists attracted your attention?
Possibly itâs because they belong to a generation which experienced the digital revolution at a formative time. Younger generations are taking the screen for granted, and older generations feel less need to articulate a strong response. So there is a drive to locate traditional painting within the context of screens which comes at the perfect time.
Ben Cove, Interloper, 2014
So is everything going to end up being online? Probably not. Are we going to judge paintings by whether they can look just as good on the digital screen? Unlikely. But what this exhibition goes to show that the physical world and the virtual world are closely intertwined not only when it comes to reading, researching and socialising, but also when it comes to painting.
Screen Space opens on 30th September and will run until 10th October 2014 at the Pickle Factory in Hackney, London.
For more details about the exhibition, please visit: http://www.slateprojects.com/exhibitions
Slate Projects will be participating in the Art Licks weekend (3rd â 5th October 2014) and will be an East London hub during the festival. For more information about Slate Projects, check out: http://www.slateprojects.com/
For more details about the Art Licks weekend, please see: http://artlicksweekend.com/
What was one of the most interesting lessons that you have taken from CSM?
One of my tutors from CSM once told me that sometimes the process of making art can be taken as the actual art. The process can also be the product. This idea was the starting point of many works that I would go on to create.
Samsara, 2014
At the CSM degree show this summer you exhibited a series of drawings. How is the titling of works such as Foundation linked to the general concept behind the series?
Yes so if you takethe drawing Foundation, it is a massive work, with a focus on scale. It measures 2.4 metres by 1.5 metres. Looking at it, it looks strong and heavy. To some, it could even resemble a large steel structure. But when you look closely, itâs simply charcoal on paper, which was then mounted onto wood. It can be so easily moved, so easily pierced. It is, in fact, fragile and quite light. However the distance surrounding such an object helps sustain its appearance.
Foundation, 2014
You can apply this thinking to broader concepts. If you think about an individual: an individual has this thing called âidentityâ which seems so certain and tangible. Yet identity is made up of so many volatile and fluid influences that it is arguably a concept in constant transition.
In a similar way you can apply this to society: the concept of society seems strong and certain, yet it is composed of so many different elements which are, in fact, chaotic and extremely fragile.
Was Foundation a very personal work?
Yes, it came to speak about the nature of my beliefs and ideas at the time of its creation. I was experiencing a lot of doubt as well as a resolute conviction. I poured everything I had into it. So not only does it stand as an architectural metaphor, it is also a psychological one. The uncertainty was of my own philosophical foundations that were under constant examination.
Foundation, Samsara and Capitol Complex, 2014
I think Iâve come to examine questions of my own identity. Sri Lanka is a nation that recently emerged out of civil war, independence from British colonial rule, and, over the course of several centuries, the rule of the Portuguese and the Dutch. This historical background certainly plays a key role where my individuality stems from and, as a result, the work.
The structures of our identities can be so vast - I think itâs important in this respect to know where one comes from, to know oneâs roots. Foundation in particular seems to speak about beginnings and ends, and their interrelationships.
Capitol Complex, 2014
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to travel to some places. For the moment I have returned home to Sri Lanka. Before I go anywhere, I would like to get my work out there: ideally every single piece. I want to get it all out there, out of my system and see where it fits within the contemporary art scene in Colombo.
Entropy, 2014
So canât Kavan just take us on his adventures across the globe in search of inspiration? Guess not. But there is a host of other live streams to follow him on. The likes of Facebook, Instagram and, of course, tumblr never fail to disappoint with an array of holidays photos of the idyllic and unexplored. Despite these perfect snaps overcluttering most of the social channels, this traveller looks very much a worthy follow.
To see what becomes of Kavanâs travels and for more of his work, please visit: http://studiobala.tumblr.com/
B: We were both in the same class and we both took an interest in what the other was doing.
M: Yes when we started talking we realised we were drawing from the same influences and worked from the same principles.
Fatherâs Yacht
What principles were you both working from?
M: The English male idiosyncrasies of building and making things. Itâs an attitude. There is a definite sense of nostalgia and an effort to recreate that nostalgia. The references that we make have been passed down from generations â whether itâs from Bobâs dad and brother or my granddad.
And what attitudes do you tend to focus on?
B: The attitude of never being wrong.
M: Yes the constant checking of each otherâs work and the belittlement of any minor mistake. Itâs constant quality control.
B:Â Itâs competition.
M: Itâs our own exploration of what manhood is.
Dead Lift, Video still
So what is manhood?
M: We couldnât tell you. But we perform the kind of things that typify it.
B: What we perform is the extremes of manhood. Itâs so extreme that itâs really farcical.
M: Completely. We really play on the stereotypical aspects of âbeing a manâ. So we wear vests, flex our muscles, build things and really play up the idea that here are two strong, self-determined males.
Tea Race, Video still
Are you critiquing or celebrating the stereotypical man?
M: We are questioning it.
What did you do for the CSM degree show?
M: We were just making things. It was about the process of making things. It was a performance and the tools were there to aid the performance. We take great care in choosing the tools for our performances and spend a lot of time researching the delicacies of making things.
B: We were cutting out doorways, making door handles, but the products are really secondary.
Work 26/09/2014, Video still
What kind of reaction did you receive at the degree show?
M: Dads loved it. Anyone over 40 would stand and watch it.
Is this a demographic that you are happy to attract or would you prefer it if your work appealed to a wider audience?
M: I think we are quite happy with attracting the people we do because those are the people who also know and have an interest in the way we make things. They start questioning us and challenging how we build things. And thatâs perfect because this is exactly what our work aims to do â to get people to question what we are doing.
And on that note, they finish their teas and walk into London on a continuous look-out for inspiration. To be honest, sometimes they donât need to look far. The Pret a Manger coffee queue at 5.31am seems to be where many unleash their hidden strengths. Shame that some of our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses.
For more work by Mark & Bob, please visit: http://twits.virb.com/
