September 2015
Emma Gibson: SHELLING OUT
Preview: October 23, 7 - 9pm October 24 - November 1, 2015
Part of an ongoing series of environments known as "The Other Room", this new exhibition by Emma Gibson uses a
backdrop of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics to pinpoint a turning of the tide, when things that
were once child's playthings on the beach came to have the price of jewels.
Conchlymania or ‘shell-lunacy’ in the 17th century referred to the hysteria around collecting, acquiring and dealing these ‘works of art from God’.
Collections became declarations of wealth and faith (the gathering of shells on the beach coffered spiritual status) and the collectors themselves had surprising similarities to dealers and collectors of fine art today- both caring passionately for the status of possessing something strange and unusual from a distant land, preferably before anyone else.
Seashells are naturally occurring and no two shells are ever alike.
Presented inside this parallel universe are two areas, one Production and one Display. Using seashells and their complex and once extremely coveted natural beauty and mythology as a metaphor, it confronts how we consider value and originality today.It is up to you to decide on the origins and meaning of these shells and ultimately, if they have worth.
CRATE Graduate Project Space Award Artists: Madeline Jones
MADELINE JONES
In recent work, Madeline has been questioning the balance between what is real and what is a projection of she subconscious. She has been investigating how perception of the natural environment may be affected by viewing it through digital media, and how this may lead to disengagement with it. She has been interested in the way that mobile phones are used as a form of visual memory, and how they are used to curate personal histories as well as informing us of our cultural identities.
Madeline uses mobile phones, predominantly, to construct her work, which are then edited within a range of installation sites. She selects sites depending on their intimacy, hoping to reflect the visual viewpoint enforced by mobile devices. Works can be viewed from within an installation, making visible the mechanics of its construction.
CRATE Graduate Project Space Award Artists: Layla Moore
LAYLA MOORE
Materials used in construction and tactile household situations form the basis of Layla's adhoc modular sculptures. She aims to subvert the role of the object in art by inviting apparent functionality back into sculpture. With them she investigates the commodification of objects and questions how 'usefulness' and 'need' do not correlate in modern society.
She is drawn to materials that she finds 'useful' and able to control or change to fit her needs, rather than focusing on their contextural or monetary value as an art material. Layla builds with the interest of how the materials feel, connect and can be handled. A playful, and sometimes comical approach to form evolves naturally from the construction of the basic materials.
CRATE Graduate Project Space Award Artists: Verity Hime
VERITY HIME
In her work, Verity pursues the idea of the self-portrait, without using an image of herself. Her most recent works have turned to cataloguing, a recurring tool that began due to her obsession with the organisation and cleaning of her surroundings and possessions.
Previous works have focused on capturing physical time and organisation via colour, size or topic.
Her latest work focused on her time spent at University. Cataloguing the contents of the rented room she lived in whilst studying; including a collection of new items including a bonsai tree, a collection of old items including a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird and a collection of presents including 18 empty Nutella jars. In doing this was the hope to create a time capsule of her university life.
