VisualArt HITLIST THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre Is it theatre? Is it sculpture? Is it an installation? It’s all these things and more, and bursting at the seams with idiosyncratic craziness and black humour. See review, right. Trongate 103, Glasgow, until Thu 1 Nov; St Enoch Centre, Glasgow, until Sun 26 Aug.
K R A L C H T U R
James McLardy: The Swan and Hostage Pedestal objects with playful, highly descriptive titles from the Glasgow-based artist, the result of a six-week residency at the gallery. The Duchy, Glasgow, until Sat 25 Aug. Futureproof 2012 Works gathered from art school photography graduates from Dundee, Aberdeen, Elgin, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, until Sun 16 Sep.
E D N Y E N A V M O T
Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since WWII This excellent survey of work by female artists since the 1940s, curated by Dr Sarah Lowndes, gives a strong flavour of women’s contribution to the current thriving Glasgow scene. Mackintosh Museum, Glasgow School of Art, until Sun 30 Sep. The Clipperton Project Fascinating exhibition of work created following a three-week trip by artists to the remote, uninhabited island in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, that asks questions about the links between local and global issues. Glasgow Sculpture Studios, until Sat 20 Oct.
Jannis Kounellis New and old works from the influential Greek artist, presented as part of the ongoing Artist Rooms series of touring exhibitions. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 23 Sep.
Alistair Frost: Image Coming Soon A new exhibition of work from painter Frost, who is represented by the Mary Mary gallery. Mary Mary, Glasgow, Sat 8 Sep–Sat 20 Oct.
THEATRE/SCULPTURE SHARMANKA KINETIC THEATRE Trongate 103, Glasgow, until Thu 1 Nov; St Enoch Centre, Glasgow, until Sun 26 Aug ●●●●●
Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre is a bizarre collection of automated hand- carved sculptures made from wood, sewing machines, bike wheels, lawn mowers and whatever else Russian-born artist Eduard Bersudsky could lay his hands on. As the show starts the contraptions, described as Kinemats, shudder and thrum into action, revealing disturbing and grotesque Hieronymus Bosch-like characters acting out all the weird and wonderful parts of life, as puppets in a great and pointless play; relentlessly grinding wheels, operating unfathomable machines, banging instruments, dancing and dangling. The machines light up one by one, with the audience rushing between them, unsure of what will happen next, while lights of many colours and eccentric folk music give these monstrous dioramas real and powerful emotions.
The first section of the show is contained in a small room, just a few metres square, engulfed by the moving sculptures. The room is a recreation of Bersudsky’s only live and work space at the time he made this display back in Russia. It gives you a feel for how large a part of the artist’s life these puppet machine were, and still are, although times have changed – his workshop is now in the back rooms of the theatre in Trongate. The name Sharmanka is the Russian word for barrel organ, a wind up instrument with preset tunes which became a profoundly depressing symbol to Bersudsky.
This home-made theatre, run by Bersudsky’s long time collaborator, Tatyana Jakovskaya, is a glimpse into another world, perhaps behind an iron curtain, or just the solitude of a small room and a furtive mind. It speaks of the many miseries of the world, the struggles and comic triumphs of the human spirit in the incessant circle of life and death, as the organ grinds on. Similarly it has the ability to instill a kind of wide eyed enthusiasm, and it’s easy to marvel child-like at its craftsmanship, drama and design. An esoteric jewel, and a must see for anyone who values idiosyncratic craziness and black humour. There should be more of this. (Michael Davis)
VIDEO INSTALLATION FIONA TAN: DISORIENT Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, until Sun 24 Feb ●●●●●
The Gallery of Modern Art presents Disorient, a twin-screened video installation by Fiona Tan. Originally shown as part of the Venice Biennale, Disorient uses a reading from The Travels of Marco Polo to examine discordant perceptions, identity and geography. One video displays contemporary footage of some of the locations described by Marco Polo in his oriental travels, while the opposite screen shows a fictional storage depot filled with exotic goods, spices and animals associated with the places described. The room is pitch dark with viewers invited to sit or lie on the floor between screens and allow the image and sound wash over them. The characteristic hyperbolic brevity in Marco Polo’s narration of countries and cities, combined with the double screen display is, indeed, disorientating, leaving the audience unable to pick up on much beyond the immediate fictions and jarring incongruities of historic accounts and (often war ravaged) current documentary. In fact it is at times so bewildering that it makes you wonder what the point is. Disorient captures the colonial urge to explore, subjugate, and bring back exotic goods, which Polo certainly did much to inspire, but falls somewhat short of actually questioning this ideology. The installation itself, as is proudly proclaimed in the blurb, has been brought back from its more apposite context in Venice, and the world’s premier art fair. A slightly self-contradictory exhibition, then, but also a relaxing place to spend some time in the busy centre of Glasgow. (Michael Davis)
23 Aug–20 Sep 2012 THE LIST 89