21-26 May 2011
Artists: Jakob Dietrich and Kai Majter Rothe, Ekw14,90, Susanna Flock, Pamela Litzlbauer, Katharina Loidl, Leonard Mukkner, Sandra Lilian Obwegeser, Doris Prilc, Christian Stefaner- Schmid.
at the Bristol Diving School Hanover Place
Bristol, Avon BS1 6TZ
Open Thu 6am-9pm; Fri-Sun 12pm-6pm
Review for blog:
21-26th May, 2011,
“Das hab ich sa nie gesagt”- “I never said it like that”
What do I want to write about and why?
The long railing of a rusty train station creates part of the structure for this little cove which neatly hides the diving school building, in this quaint little, surreal ‘world’ of its own. On arriving, simultaneously exhausted and anxious, I was startled to discover life at the Diving School. A cleaner, I thought, mopping the floors, well it was the opening night, and other volunteers sat outside on a beautiful antique two piece suite, partly staring at me and partly accepting an outsider. “I felt unnerved, as you do in a professional sense, state your name and politely introduce yourself: “Hello I’m Liah”, I confidently pursued, “hello, I’m Doris”, replied the soft, timid voice. I immediately felt welcomed, and was ushered into this group of eight to ten ‘volunteers’. “Who are you?” a tall, young looking man with blonde hair asked in a gentle voice, “I’m Liah, and I’m here to invidualte and help out with this exhibition”. “Oh! We are the artists.” The blonde man stated in an Eastern European accent, all worries and first impressions were broken, the ice was finally broken. “Come and take a seat!” Human from their core to their external components. I stepped inside the industrial fortress, smooth, imperfect grey surface revealed itself when voluntarily meeting with the grip less bottom of my slip on shoe. A mass of white met my eyes; a clean sea of white paint swamped the interior, and complimented the contrast of the bold, black painted skirting. The large, full length windows were partly hidden by a thick black tape, manipulating my view of the outside world. It was all very alluring, yet surreal. Noticing a large, plain window infornt of me, I was cornered by a gang of floating shower caps, threatening to pounce at any moment, as they fluttered due to the installation of fans, violently infornt of me. The only thing which was protecting me from this school of deranged, ‘jellyfish like’ shower caps was the plain, glass window pain. Steering reluctantly away from this fascinating specimen behind glass, I was immediately stopped in my tracks by a strong, solid, crisp, white plinth, with sturdy black headphones sitting elegantly on top of this provoking tower. Once the headphones enticed me, I became absorbed in a whole, new world. A woman, talking to me, her voice, soft, gentle but giving me strict instructions, with sounds of vehicles echoing her words, on how to find her piece of work: “take three and a half steps out of the Diving School building, ascend the stairs, walk 33 steps right.
After failing miserably at this task, I came back in and walked into an arch, another, more darkened room followed. However I caught a glimpse of something shiny and black hidden beneath the ascending, matching black stairs. A flat screen simply projected the words “Currently no information can be displayed.” At first I thought there was something wrong with the technical aspect of the set up. I soon came to realise that this outstanding piece of work, made a bold statement and sat there, defying all congenial stereotypes concerning the joy of visual viewing pleasure. After being impressed with this cluster of unique creation, already hypnotized by this collaboration of genius joy, I entered the more darkened, hidden part of the building. A room filled with magical wonders, including a lamp, portraying shadows of objects created by hand, from canvas coloured material and stuffing. The specimens gently twirled around, in a peaceful state, as if in unison with a lullaby, in 360 degree synchronization. Authentic shadows appeared on the wall, changing shapes, shedding their skin, morphing in one disguise to the next, much like the human species in some respects.
Whilst crouching to the level of the objects, completely mesmerised by this little duo of specimens, my gaze was interrupted by a loud “mooooooo!”, a cow, walking around on the wall behind me, had caught my gaze and stood triumphantly protecting its territory. I came closer, subconsciously terrified although it was only a film projection, people can be scared of cows, right? This film played on a loop, throughout my visit to this unique, one time exhibition, I felt I was lucky to visit and voluntarily help with this fantastic opportunity, I felt it was such a privilege to meet artists made of flesh and bone, as appose to coming readymade, fresh out of a ‘YBA wannabe’ factory. These artists have experience, life experience, they are brave, and this definitely shows in their work.
The phrase translated into English: “I never said it like that”, is spoken through each piece of work, to the audience who receive this message, which provokes thought. A text piece, fixed neatly to the wall, subtly spoke to me, as I read each word; the phrase and theme of the work became a lot clearer. “Do you know what I’m talking about?” Do i? I asked myself, or am I yet again, interpreting a message in the wrong context. Was this the point? Yes it was. I could hear something simmering behind me; a rusty, or white and partially burnt pan was fixed to the wall. Its simmering contents splattered all over the crisp, white wall. This was most definitely aesthetically pleasing, the fiery orange of what I believe was a full portion of tomato soup, abstractly splattered over the wall, to create a surreal ‘firework’ scene in the middle of a hidden art space, on a single wall, this was absolutely phenomenal and I will never forget it. Do you know what I’m talking about?
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