jonnybaker: blind light

reach out
Originally uploaded by jonnybaker

i got to go with joel to anthony gormley's blind light exhibition at the hayward gallery today. it is truly stunning. i have already raved about event horizon, the figures on rooftops around the area that you don't have to enter the exhibition to see. but there are some amazing pieces in the exhibition. the big hit is blind light, a huge fog box that you walk round and can only see about 2 feet in front of your face. it's very disorienting. then there are some huge scale pieces - one weighing 27 tonnes - all exploring the body and the spaces the body is in - cities and landscapes. there was one piece that could easily be replicated or adapted for worship somewhere related to communion - a huge screen made out of slices of mothers pride bread with a crouching figure seemingly eaten out of it. i pretty much loved all of it. here's a couple of quotes from gormley that struck me from the exhibition guide...

drawing is an attempt to fix the world, not as it is, but as it exists inside me. so the drawings are mental diagrams... drawing is not so much a mirror or a window, as a lens which can be looked at in either direction, either back towards the retina of the mind, or forwards towards space.

the key qustion for me is how to unhinge people's comfort with the existing dimensions of their habitat. in doing this, a certain space is created that hopefully triggers feelings of exposure, nausea, perhaps fear yet also excitement.

(both of these quotes relate to any art as far as i am concerned. the second reminds me a lot of marshal macluhan's notion of the role of the artist being to create anti-environments)

Comments

there are times when i wish i lived in london... this is one of them.

Posted by: jon birch | June 01, 2007 at 03:39 AM

Thanks, for the description jonny. I'm really excited at the prospect of visiting the exhibition soon.

And those quotes; it strikes me that the work of Christian Community/the Spirit 'unhinge people's comfort with the existing dimensions of their habitat.'

Posted by: Dean Ayres | June 01, 2007 at 12:31 PM

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.