- Venue
- Grey Area
- Location
Intuitively eight sculptural and video pieces in Brighton's independent Grey Area is too much for the space. As it happens this was most definitely not so for Jonathan Gilhooly's recent show there: now you don't. When everything was up and running – moving parts and technology included two television sets playing looping video with sound, one projected video with sound, a strobe light pulsing through a stencil, a horizontally oscillating fan blowing onto a suspended sheet of aluminium (turkey) foil and various lights – the individual works were not compromised and the exhibition as a whole sat there comfortably. A more pretentious artist might refer to this as an example of ‘immersive installation' but here the surroundings appeared immersed in the work, not the other way round. Spectators were not trapped by the collection nor immersed in the two rooms which make up the artist-run venue: navigation between the gaps felt natural.
In fact, thanks to consistent intelligent curating, shows at this unusual space always extend beyond its physical confines. This was literally the case in June when Bob and Roberta Smith launched himself offshore on a raft he had built, before bringing the precarious wooden construction and other associated materials back into the gallery. In the case of Gilhooly's show, the pulsating strobe mentioned above shone outwards through a window onto the entrance staircase to greet visitors as they arrived. The text message, now you don't, flashing repeatedly every two seconds, undoubtedly provided something intimidating but not overwhelming. The impact had been tuned so as not to appear pointlessly aggressive.
Jonathan Gilhooly latches onto magic in his artistic practice and ostensibly that's what this show was about. At the Private View he facilitated an exercise in table levitation using a number of the individuals present. How this was achieved I do not know nor really care but at a guess two of the volunteers were ‘plants', prepared in advance to help with the illusion. Participants laughed as the table began to float. Generally a degree of comedy framed the exhibition even if this was presented in the form of weak puns relating to the concept of 'the magic circle' say. There were some other genuine tricks on display and intriguingly these were set up so that technique tended to be exposed.
More interesting was the overall visual, aural, spatial impact. Too often the audio aspect is not considered properly by visual artists. Here everything appeared thought-through and honed. The fan blowing onto the foil caused it to oscillate producing an artificial and disarmingly soothing sea-wave rhythm. The soundtrack for two video loops of spoons dancing sporadically in glass jars included the familiar urban (and rural for that matter) background noise of cars passing which was surely deliberate. This combined with the portion of real traffic noise which seeps into the Grey Area made for another curiously comforting contemporary equivalent to the clichéd music of nature.
What's being communicated through this show might be complex or meaningless. The small image made of toe-nails threw me initially. A challenge to the law of gravity here, a simple trick with scale or reflection there and the overall use of space made any kind of too-logical engagement impossible. Serious attention had been given to timings generally and the idea of suspense. Certain patterns may have been designed to lull visitors into a kind of complacency but in doing so give an experience which can be appreciated on its own terms.
I haven't even begun to delve into the possibilities for play with ideas nor describe the full experiential force of this collection of work. The objects utilised in producing the eight works on display, which included a large stained circular table, balloons, mirrors, beakers and the typical materials one associates with magic such as velvet appeared to emit an eerie or seditious signal. It is not easy to avoid thoughts of a ‘world turned upside down' nor to miss analogies to the stuff of religious ceremony being put to use for more disrespectful purposes.
Magicians were distrusted or feared in more naïve times. One of their roles is to undermine concepts of blind faith and this explains hostility from certain quarters. It is interesting to note that one of the most significant artistic mediums, film making, was developed in its early days through the motivation of characters such as Georges Méliès and George Albert Smith (the latter of Brighton) who performed as stage magicians. So perhaps Jonathan Gilhooly is giving attention to an important aspect of culture: the only profession for which illusion is an openly stated objective. On the other hand the world of magic is just subject matter and the outcomes on display at Grey Area might easily have been appreciated through some other set of criteria.
