preview
i
Speeding
In defiance of cultural norms and in the name of quick thinking, CCA’s SLIPSTREAM tickles at perception and test-drives mental acceleration.
Words: William Silk
‘lf modernism is high culture where does that leave the Hell's Angels‘." Toby \‘v'ebster. co-founder of Glasgow's art agency. the Modern Institute. is talking culture and the pros and cons of cultural compartmentalisation. ln bike talk it could be Harley Davidson versus Vespa: with culture it is simply ‘high‘ and ‘low.‘ But where does that leave the Hell’s Angels‘.’
According to Webster. who is curating .S'lipstream. it is a confused and complicated matter. but one he hopes will be tackled head-on in the show. As the title
suggests. .S'lipsrream aims to focus the spotlight on what 9% 1%":3'5. f' ; ‘~
has ‘slipped‘ through the , mainstream net. alerting viewers to the process of perception. or as the press release puts it: ‘the psychology of perception . . . the slow tick-lock of understanding. brilliant flashes of inspiration. moments of connection.”
Webster describes it more poetically. as the flotsam-like leftovers of mainstream culture. He sees
CCA’s exhibition space as more of a laboratory of
information that a straight gallery. .S'lipsrream. he hopes. will resist the temptation to spoon-feed visitors with ideas. Instead it will throw down question marks and fuel thought processes.
Twelve artists form the line-up. including liiona
v . W? m Q 3.... i k. -.-. N. .;. ‘ c:.'.‘_.:’-._:-~',:.;?.‘c’f?:¥§ 24.3: "
{5‘5" 3 4 " .. .6 . xi \ ‘ .V we 3‘ e5? V‘ sis
Quick, quick slow thinking: Tobjorn Rodland's Blue In Green
Banner. who is currently showing in the Project Room of London's Tate Gallery. At CCA. her work entitled Nam will be on display. A l()()()-page flick- book. Nam transcribes. frame-by-frame. the events and dialogue of Vietnam war action movies. Weighing in at 2kg. this ‘book‘ could not be conveniently categorised under a library coding system. instead it exists in a limbo land somewhere in-between sculpture and literature. while Banner‘s twenty-hour taped reading of the book’s dialogue takes the work into a further realm.
Another artist. New York-based Aleksandra Mir. will visit Glasgow for the duration of the show to work on a new project. Her previous projects include Pick (7/) (()/2 Baby) — a broadcast of male wolf- whistles in Copenhagen‘s Town Hall Square — and ('inema For the Unemployed — Hal/yw )m/ Disaster Movies. which was sponsored by the local unemployment office and screened in a disused cinema for a week during office hours. One wonders how Glasgow will inspire her.
Another aspect of the show is speed — a theme
coincidentally explored in
. ‘3‘ Hi, H two current exibitions in .,~. ‘3‘ -
:1“ ‘ i London. at the Whitechapel 4; 323+ “Edi ° Gallery and Photographers
Gallery. For Webster. Slipstream is not so much about technology. engines or the ability of a Porsche. to do ()—()() in a few seconds; more how we perceive speed. and the speed at which we perceive. ‘Speed is the relationship between the viewer and what they see.‘ comments Webster. Taxing our ability to think quickly will be Jim Shaw‘s dense image and text drawings that need to be both looked at and read. But let‘s not forget beat guru Allen Ginsberg‘s maxim: ‘First thought. best thought.~ Get thinking.
Slipstream is at the CCA, Glasgow Sat 26 Sep—Fri 23 Oct.
preview ART
Artbeat
Eavesdropping from behind the video screen.
DUE TO TECHNICAL difficulties inherent in presenting a group show', Edinburgh's Stills Gallery has cancelled a show by artists short- listed for Scotland's largest award, the Richard Hough Bursary. The winner of the £17,000 prize, awarded to an artist based in Scotland working in photography, lens-based or digital imaging, will be decided on 2 November. A publication is to produced covering the work of the artists: Alan Currall, Wendy McMurdo, Roderick Buchanan, Dalziel 8: Scullion and Smith/Stewart.
MEANWHILE, SMITH/STEWART’S show at the Fruitmarket looks destined to tour Britain and beyond. They have also been commissioned by the LEA Gallery in London's East End to produce new work for their Pandaemonium show in October. They plan to present a two-screen work in which they pass cameras from mouth to mouth. Also invovled is Tracey Emin. Revisiting her home- town, Emin — notorious for her Turner Prize drunken outburst - will be seen riding a pony on Margate's seafront.
WORK BY EMlN can also be seen at Edinburgh’s National Gallery Of Modern Art. In a small show of recent acquisitions, Emin's drawings hang alongside Rachel Whiteread's series of photographs entitled Demolition and Damien Hirst's painting with dots, made in collaboration with The Clash's former bass player, Paul Simenon.
CURRENTLY ON LOAN from the same gallery is Roy Lichtenstein's painting, In The Car, which is on show in the touring show Speed (see preview, left). The Marshall McLuhan quote alongside Lichtenstein's picture is strangely topical in the Clinton era — 'Men have always been the sex organs of the technological world'.
STIRLING-BASED artist Ruth Pringle, invites artists to contribute works to Deep Freize, a travelling show for Greenland and Scotland. For information call The Changing Room, Stirling on 01786 479361.
Riding high: Lichtenstein's In The Car
M Sop-8 ()tt 1998 THE lIST75