Positive Negative + - a-n The Artists Information Company

Venue: The Church of St Bartholomew the Great
Location

Drawing lightning from the clouds:
Mark Maxwell's Positive Negative + – at the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London

The church of St. Bartholomew the Great is a formidable structure tucked away behind pubs and the Smithfields market, only a couple of minutes' stroll from the Barbican. The Norman church (built in 1123) has long had a relationship with the arts – William Hogarth was baptised there in 1697 – and is now the setting for a new installation by Mark Maxwell. Positive Negative is housed within the east walk of the church, a cool dark passageway that was once the site of the monks' burials. The installation takes elements and influences from the space it occupies, and is composed of two sculptures and two video pieces.

Meter is a sculpture consisting of over two hundred kilograms of microcrystalline wax, holding six blue cathode lights. The piece draws on the experiments of Benjamin Franklin: inventor, man of Reason and one of the founding fathers of America. Franklin worked in the Lady Chapel (a printer's at that time) and lived in nearby Little Britain in 1725. One of his most famous experiments was ‘drawing lightning from the clouds' with the use of a kite, thus harnessing the power of electricity. Meter resembles the smooth surface of a laboratory table, with the lights and wires assembled on top; an experiment in progress. Franklin would have appreciated the order and regularity. It is nature harnessed by reason, a cross section of humankind's progress. The cold carbon lights in the wax act as the flame to the candle, without the erratic, uncontrollable properties of fire.

Next to the stoic order of Meter, the form that the two video pieces are projected onto seems almost to be in motion. Atonement and Jacob's Ladder are alternate on a structure of manipulated candle wax that gives the appearance of a discarded shroud. Its seemingly chaotic placement is the result of an intricate, delicate process of heating, cooling and wielding the wax into shape.

Atonement is ostensibly an observation of the processes metal undergoes during electroplating. The effect of this produces myriad visualisations. The microscopic sediments floating in the liquid resemble a macrocosmic universe. There are skyscapes; glimpses of a cruciformic figure; and a subtle suspension that curves slowly across the screen, resembling a serpent snaking slowly to the sound of Augustinian monks chanting Vespers, and Armenian duduk music. Jacob's Ladder draws again on the theme of early electricity experimentation. An arc of electricity is discharged between two electrodes, which in turn emit a pulsing, ethereal sound, resembling first the rattle of guns on a battlefield, before slowing to a steadily expiring heartbeat.

The great weight of religious symbolism and the church's historical connections have been considered and implemented in these works, which are in place until 24th August. The church of St. Bartholomew the Great is open from 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday, and 12:00 to 16:00 on Saturday and Sunday.