Visual Art
ln-between art
‘THE WORK OF THOUGHT BECOMES WORKS OF ART'
Slow motion (from. Texas to Taxes) by Melik Ohanian
Alexander Kennedy looks at the poetry and politics behind relational forms at the
Fruitmarket Gallery.
ot topics among pseudo-intelIectuals these
days are ‘relational aesthetics’ and 'project
art‘ — two ‘theories‘ loosely associated with institutional and social critique. environmentalism. and neo-contextualism.
A! the .vumc Iimr' .\'(llll(’)t'/I('l'(‘ c/sr' . at the liruitmarket (iallery champions these concerns. Webs of spiralling correspondences link praxis to context. aesthetics to social concerns. and unite the work shown by Melik ()hanian (Paris). Pia Ronicke (Copenhagen) and Sean Snyder (Berlin). The artists marry elements of conceptual art to film and photography. examining the rhetoric of these media in order to unravel and exploit their connotative and poetic aspects. This approach celebrates the 'post— medium condition‘. were everything is up for grabs and can be pulled into the artist‘s creative maelstrom. Political positions are adopted. but as rallying points for differing. diffuse ideas. not as foundational soapboxes.
Snyder. for example. creates works that reverherate with the war in Iraq. He gathers together reports. information. press releases. photographs from media agencies (such as Associated Press) and other sources from amateurs ‘in the field. recording events as they happen. ‘l'ntitled (Iraq) ()ngoing' is glib and leaves no room for subjective. expansive thought. liach position is bracketed and underlined. trapping interpretation. Some of the photos are interesting (presented as large groups of diptychs). presenting stilted insights into personal narratives under Sadam’s waning rule. Iividence is everywhere. but you‘ve seen it all before.
78 THE LIST 3') 1‘.) Jun Iy’lliiii
Ronickos practice comprises animations. collages. sculptural installations and drawings. The film ‘/,onen' is interesting in its seductive banality. and reiterates Jeremy Heller‘s position that serious takes on reality are farcical. 'The /.one‘ is shot outside the Danish city of Aarhus. where a team of architects who recently won a planning competition play at being themselves for the camera. ‘Self‘ and performing self separate and unite: the artifice of art and life successfully overlap.
()hanian also shows a new film. ‘lnvisihle I’ilm‘. attempting to poetically underline the political elements of Peter \Vatkin's film l’nnis/inn'nt Park from |‘)7l. By reappropriating the original and projecting it over sand dunes at night. ()hanian hopes to unpack the themes of Watkin‘s film: characters considered a threat to national security are stripped of their human rites and humanity. becoming abstract propositions in an ahstract landscape. This is an unnecessary tautological intervention. and is ()hanian‘s weakest piece (second only to Snyder‘s video '(‘asio. Seiko. Sheraton. 'I‘oyota. Mars'). IIis ‘Slow Motion (from Texas to Taxesi' installation (pictured). and large photographs titled ‘Selccted Recordings‘ demonstrate a confident and fully formed aesthetic personal interpretations are courted and the work is generous. There is a clear style. which is occasionally lacking in much work examining relational forms. This is art that ‘looks good on paper". proposal art based on brain storming sessions. It 'show‘s it's working” art becomes long division.
The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 19 Feb.oooo
Ilit
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
i ‘ 1
.15;
1‘ Charles Rennie Mackintosh in France
1 923-27: Landscape Watercolours Mackintosh's eye for detail and exquisite design is let loose over the landscape of the South of France. The luminous and brightly coloured watercolour gems record rockfaces, fields and streams, demonstrating the architect and artist’s sense of underlying construction. See review. page 79. Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 5 Feb.
* Generation KKK: Passing the Torch James Edward Bates documents his seven year stay with Ku Klux Klan members in southern America. The photographs examine the activities. beliefs and traditions of the organisation. Children are brainwashed as crosses are burned and violent racism becomes an everyday occurrence. See review, page 79. St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow, until Sun 9 Apr.
* At the same time somewhere else . . . Melik Ohanian (Paris), Pia Ronicke (Copenhagen) and Sean Snyder (Berlin) exhibit film, photographs and sculptural installations examining Truth and truths. The artists analyse the way information is framed and presented as fact and as art, and how these overlap creating a relational aesthetic. See review, left. The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sun 79 Feb. * Selective Memory: Scotland and Venice The critically acclaimed work of Alex Pollard. Cathy Wilkes and Tatham and O'Sullivan returns from this year's Venice Biennale to the NGMA and the Collective Gallery (Echo Echo). Mural, sculpture, installation and a film are brought together, with new pieces shown alongside work first shown at Venice. National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Sun 5 Mar.