VisualArt
REVIEW CONCEPTUAL ART ROBERT BARRY: WORDS AND MUSIC The Common Guild, Glasgow, until Sat 6 Nov ●●●●●
When an artist has been around long enough to obtain the luxury of reputation, all new work is read against the history of their practice. After five decades, it comes as no surprise that Glasgow was eager to see Robert Barry’s work in the flesh. The show starts on the outside of
the building, where one can see parts of his vinyl words across the windows. These glittering silver letters continue inside to form words from all angles on the walls, across the ceiling and floor, transforming each room and corridor space into a cube of text, spelling out the likes of ‘anticipation’, ‘purpose’, ‘meaning’, and ‘inevitable’. The words then lead to a black and white video in the corner upstairs, where fellow artist William Anastasi is playing the piano in his studio. With his back to us he is the amateur pianist, we are the voyeurs. It is a classic composition: a painting on an easel in the foreground and a bookcase with books in the middle ground lead the eye to Anastasi as the focal point at his upright piano in the background. The frame is fixed, but superimposed across the screen runs a changing set of words ranging from ‘somehow’ to ‘familiar’, and so on. Linguistic meaning is the central
concept here, but his choice of words is mundane, as if to erase significance from it completely. They remain everyday words, denoting concepts that are so general that they would depend entirely on other words for any connotation. (Talitha Kotzé)
98 THE LIST 23 Sep–7 Oct 2010
REVIEW FILM CORIN SWORN: THE LENS PRISM Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 17 Oct ●●●●●
A man steps into the spotlight of a theatre, hangs up his jacket, takes a sip of water and begins the narration. A series of vignettes will weave together autobiographical anecdote with history, and past events with present-day interpretation. Corin Sworn’s video piece deals with the discursive wanderings of the actor’s mind. His voice is confident and convincing throughout, yet the narrative thread tangles and we become witness to the fractals of a subtly short- circuiting thought process. Canadian-born, Glasgow-based Sworn uses the
concept of the lens prism to package the discrepancies in reading a text. By adjusting a lens prism, it is possible to treat muscular imbalance in eye orientation by displacement of what is seen through the spectacle lens. It is the subtle alteration of our own subjectivity in the attempt to see what others see that can confound the story of the past. Employing scientific measures, in this case optics, can trigger superficial moments where stories align, but Sworn is not interested in these,
instead she takes delight in the collision of accounts, where elements of space blend with time, motion and experience. Her film’s script makes use of theatrical props and
stage lights to highlight fragmentation. At one point the figure casts a double shadow in green and magenta. Continuing the theme of illumination, a framed drawing that accompanies her video is lit by RGB filters that merge into a single white light, though hints of the three distinctly coloured beams show subtly on the picture’s periphery. The focus here is not befuddlement, instead we are presented with intricate facts and elaborate fiction, involved story-telling and hidden emotion, and the extended invitation to draw our own conclusions is in no way patronising. The artist has done her bit.
Still desperate to make sense, our narrator finds himself in hospital converging in a split-person dialogue. He is asked to describe the pain, loses his train of thought and utters that he cannot remember. His lucid mind has let him down, the light dims behind the closing back door, and he may start yet again. (Talitha Kotzé)
REVIEW PRINTMAKING 3D2D: OBJECT AND ILLUSION IN PRINT Edinburgh Printmakers, until Sat 30 Oct ●●●●●
Devout traditional printmakers look away now – but at your own risk. There follows an exploration of modern processes in printmaking which happily combine art, science and theory. This collection of work from the Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol offers up a chance to see how 3D technology combines with print to create a new direction in the field. The 3D image of a distant pulsar star sits on a plinth near the door, appearing
more sculpture than print, until you read the theory behind the shape: Kate Davies and Peter Walters have interpreted astrophysical audio data and translated it into both 2D and 3D works. The theme continues with Conor Wilson’s approach to mapping and rendering a tree, and the almost psychedelic image of a manta ray by Brendan Reid – here the 2D image appears to crackle and glow as you flick between fore and background. The 3D ray is somewhat muted in comparison but serene and a beautiful colour.
There is yet more on offer too, from Lesley Dill’s laser-cut paper works, cleverly layering image and space to Jeremy Gardiner and Anthony Head’s exploration of Dorset’s coastal boundary. Visitors can also watch a film about the work – and learn more about technologies that have, until now, been used only in the application of engineering and architectural prototyping. Inspiration is as readily offered up as awe in this collection; this is the future of printmaking. (Miriam Sturdee)