vicki fong: June 2010

Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Francis Alys's work is engaging and humorous. I was particularly drawn to his piece 'Re-enactment' which consisted of two videos shown side by side, on the left the original footage of Francis purchasing a gun and walking through the streets of Mexico until he is arrested, and on the right a sensationalised re-enactment of the event.

Much of Francis's work consists of video pieces, and despite my issues with motion sickness combined with his shaky camera footage I did really enjoy the exhibition even though much of the time was spent fighting the waves of nausea.

Re-enactment

Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes-Making-Something-Leads-to-Nothing)

Kim Sin Hye, a.k.a. SSIN

Harry Clarke

Tim MacPherson

EXPOSED: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera @ Tate Modern

I absolutely loved Oliver Lutz's piece, The Lynching of Leo Frank. The viewer is presented with a black canvas printed with specialist inks, facing the canvas is a camera and monitor that exposes the true contents of the canvas and allows the viewer to interact with the artwork.

(monitor showing cctv video of underpainted image based on a photograph of the lynching of Leo Frank)

Helen Levitt

Sophie Calle

In order to execute her project The Hotel (1981), she was hired as a chambermaid at a hotel in Venice where she was able to explore the writings and objects of the hotel guests. Insight into her process and its resulting aesthetic can be gained through her account of this project: "I spent one year to find the hotel, I spent three months going through the text and writing it, I spent three months going through the photographs, and I spent one day deciding it would be this size and this frame...it's the last thought in the process." wikipedia

MA Textile Futures 2010 CSM

I recently visited the MA Textile Futures graduate exhibition at Central Saint Martins, a course that constantly enquires and gives meaning to textiles and its future.

Laerke Hooge Andersen

Moon Young Lee

'The official grove is textile incorporated with gardening, in other words, the initial idea is that plants can grow on the textile.

The word ‘official’ comes from the meaning of ‘certified’. ‘The official grove’ is a small gardening pet for the individual but at the same time its`
certified effects are huge as plants have a lot of benefits. Moreover, its application is within the work place, so it may have some connection with the term of ‘office’.

‘The official grove’ suggests a new way of gardening without soil, easy to apply on steel objects in the office such as notice boards, and bookshelves because it has magnets inside. This is portable, clean, and re usable. Like a pet in your home, it can be your desk pet at the workplace.'