September 2002
Running for cover - Review of Somewhere: Places of
refuge in art and life at the Angel Row Gallery |
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| Sleeping bag: Exhibit at the Angel
Row Gallery |
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I didn’t expect
to confront the nightmare of my reoccurring dream as I walked through
the doors of the Angel Row Gallery.
Report by Imogen Gray
NTU Platform article |
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I used to have this recurring dream involving a small
tent, a high mountain-top and bad weather; it was frightening as it
always concluded with an eventual terrifying descent.
I didn’t expect to confront this horror when I walked through
the doors of Angel Row on my way to check out the latest exhibition
titled "Somewhere: Places of refuge in art and life".
Mounted upon the wall is a paper cliff held up with delicately thin
strips of masking tape, a red tent sits upon the absolute edge waiting
for that sudden gust of wind and an inevitable fate.
As cold shudders run down my spine I wonder at the reality of Neal
Begg’s experiences as a climber that has inspired this work,
living out part of my nightmare for real.
A sequin encrusted sleeping bag seems to hint at the level of protection
that this covering has provided for Begg, something that has kept
him alive, a place of survival becoming his place of sanctuary and
an object of ultimate beauty.
Wandering around the sculptural village which hosts the presence of
sixteen national and international artists, I experience the diversity
of work which has all spiralled out of ideas based around sanctuary
and refuge.
Dens, garden sheds, cardboard-boxes, huge labyrinth installations
made from card (Hew Locke) to miniature wall mounted houses balanced
on wound threads (Tasmin Pender) are placed, amongst others, around
the initial two rooms of the gallery.
As I take I final look at the strange tent structures that have been
mixed with clothing made by Lucy Orta I look around the corner into
the projections provided by the seven separate video artists.
These artists seem to of looked at refuge on a much more real, human
level. Jordon Baseman’s ‘born to run’ starts as I sit
down.
Normally it takes a certain level of endurance for me to sit through
video art, I’m not saying I don’t like it but a lot of it
I find difficult to sit and watch for longer than a few seconds, but
when I came out of that room I realised I had been in there for twenty
minutes.
Jordon Baseman’s film caught my attention and seemed to epitomise
the truth of what refuge is really about. Set in a roadside snack
bar two men banter with each other, their customers and the camera.
Unravelling the truth of the mans current situation Baseman films
this emotional retreat of a man who has just been left by his wife.
Inside his caravan you realise that his refuge isn’t just with
his daily routine or his business but more about the comfort of another
mans friendship. Maybe friendship is what keeps us protected, perhaps
that was the safety net that always prevented me from meeting the
jagged rocks at the bottom of the mountain in my dream.
Perhaps we should all take a head on approach, face our fears and
get down to see this exhibition.
"Somewhere: Places of refuge in art and life" continues
at the Angel Row gallery until the 2nd November. |
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