ELYSIUM HIGH STREET GALLERY- MARK FOLDS “CRISES”
Mark Folds is made a sculptural/installation response to “crises”, both global and individual. This exhibition contained dominating pieces of sculpture, including giant animal figures (primarily rats), among other sculptural pieces. “If something is described as a crisis, this initiates a response in us, we react in some way and think or act in a way that either confronts or tries to distance ourselves from the issue”- this exhibition demonstrates Folds’ response to the word Crisis; in terms of sculpture, painting, and creating more work in response to the audiences engagement with this exhibition. I found this exhibition interesting in terms of how Folds explored the theme through large scale sculpture- with a dominant use of animal imagery. The repetitive use of rats scaled to much larger than life was unsettling, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere- but also intriguing in terms of the message folds is trying to convey.
In collaboration with CRISIS SWANSEA, a charity dedicated to helping homeless people, Mark Folds made sculptural works to explore how homeless people, or people in crisis, are seen. Saying he wanted to “put a slight wobble in someone’s everyday experience”, the work created provokes response from the audience, And encourages critical cognitive thinking in order to understand what they are seeing, and how they identify with it. I personally found the exhibition poignant and nard hitting- a reminder of the situations people are in extremely close to home. It creates a sense of being invisible also, you can see the imprints of peoples bodies on the sculptural works, but nobody is actually there. This is reminiscent of how people walk straight past homeless people daily without a second though- a daily examples of how we have lost touch with our humanity, barely practicing a simple acknowledgment of another human being. This ties in greatly with the research I’ve done on the human condition- and the apparent breakdown of the human condition as society develops and technological advancements are made. The works exhibited also emphasise a theme of displacement- the action of moving something from its place or position. The imprint of human bodies aren’t fixed into place, they are merely shadows on the pieces- cut out from the bed, and the wooden bench. This creates a poignant link with the experience of not having a home that is too widespread in this contemporary society- in terms of homelessness, but also displacement from war torn countries (multitude of refugee experiences), etc.
BOURDON BRINDILLE: BREAKAGE AND REPAIR
“Once, I found peace. I found a place of perfect crystalline stillness, a quiet place where I understood all that I was and all that I wished and all that could ever matter. Until I no longer did”.
“This shattered me, this finding and then loss of contentment, it tore me apart, but then we are all broken, in part. We are all a collection of fractures and breakages, patches and repairs. Yet perhaps it is these very seams of distress, these fissures, that create the strength and beauty that we each become after such events, it seems to me that ‘the cracks are where the light gets in’”.
This exhibition explores the Japanese art philosophy of Kintsugi- repainting broken pottery with gold, treating breakage and repair as part of the history of an entity, and strengthening and improving the entity. Stepping into the exhibition space felt a little like stepping into frozen time, almost like being in a parallel universe. The space is the scene of a drawing room, the sand spilled and wind blown across the room; broken pottery and pieces dotted around the room. On the walls are paintings reminiscent of the Japanese art philosophy ensō, painting the incomplete circle. It truly feels like time has stopped, a fracture in a moment. Right now more than ever, this message is extremely fitting. In the aftermath of quarantine and corona virus pandemic- time feels like it has stopped. Outdoor spaces feel sparse and sometimes desolate; people are existing from one moment to the next in anticipation for how this situation will develop. It feels like life has stopped on some level- the virus being the cause for a fracture in time.
As well as installation, Brindille practices as an illustrator, creating images that are playful and absurd, ruminating on pains and pleasure of life. The artist works in a spontaneous manner, allowing the process of producing to dictate where the artwork goes- in an organic flow. I love Brindille’s illustrations, the colour, composition, theme, and narrative of each piece intertwine seamlessly, creating visually intriguing images. Each illustration also has an air of surrealism to it, hinting at themes within the dream world- which are mildly unsettling but also visually arresting as a viewer.
Caitlin Noble 