- Venue
- Alana Ecology
- Location
- West Midlands
Lin Charlston and Liza Harding at Alana Ecology, Ludlow.
This is an empty shop exhibition promoted by Art in Ludlow. Two very different artists have joined forces to make an exhibition that explores concerns about humanity. They have each taken a window in the now empty Alana Ecology shop to present their work.
Lin Charlston is an artist who uses the book as a vehicle for the exploration of ideas. She uses text and form to produce highly individual, sculptural books. Her background as a scientist informs her work and she has the scientist’s desire for precision and inner logic. Much of her work centres on language and understanding, and the translation that occurs when complex scientific subjects are rendered in simple terms for popular consumption.
“Epithets for the Human Genome” is about the sequencing of DNA in the human chromosome 22 that took place in the year 2000. She has made a spiral book using text markers, one above the other, as in the rungs of a spiral staircase. Each marker represents the joins between the double helix skeleton of the chromosome. Each piece of text takes the form of a phrase used by journalists or sometimes scientists to describe the human genome; for example, road map, a scientific bombshell, the ocean of life, a complete library. These phrases were collected from newspapers or the radio and present a gloss over the highly complex nature of DNA. She is playing here with metaphor; with understanding and misunderstanding. The whole piece is encased within a perspex tube. It has been metaphorically frozen. This work was made in 2000 while the research was being done and it remains frozen in that moment, as the thinking of that moment remains frozen.
Bat Wing is a book without words, but it is still very much about language. The sub title Notes without words is a reference to the artists’ study of 19th Century naturalist’s notebooks, where drawings often stand in for written explanations. The research (undertaken with Art’s Council funding) had the working title What is it like to be a bat?. Lin was interested in the idea of taking on the subjectivity of another being, whilst remaining as objective as possible. She is interested in the philosophical notion of intersubjectivity. During the process of research she tried to make her reactions as unbiased as those of a baby. The book is also based on close observations of the natural world. The body of a bat is structurally very like the leaf of a plane tree. The images of the bat, the leaf and the baby and the metaphors contained within them, have become part of the construct of the book, which is in itself like the naturalist/scientist notebook. The words are present but have been removed. The book can still be read and has taken on a sculptural dimension with the image of the bat emerging from the page.
The calm pages of the private world of the research scientist are on display to the public in this unusual exhibition space. People walk past and idly stare in and then become engaged in the work. The window is creating a dialogue between the private and the public.
In the other window Liza Harding is exploring her concerns for the ecology of the planet. This work is concerned with sustainability and humanity. She has made a series of collaged and altered silk shirts. The shirts, sourced from charity shops, have been worn by the artist and then recycled into assemblages using newspaper cuttings, photographs and photomontage. Books such as The Hidden Persuaders and The Wastemakers by Vance Packard appear in the pockets of the shirts. They are made pairs, climate change and credit crunch; and human rights and women’s issues. The shirts themselves are symbolic of the luxury clothing market being sustained by third world workers. The shirts are hung in the window and the political nature of the work is very clear. However, on closer examination there is a diagnostic and experimental approach to these issues. What is really going on in the world around us, and what do we really think about it.
Liza Harding relates to the modern world through the use of myth. Much of her imagery is archetypal. She has another group of works in the window that offer a more contemplative and interior view of humanity. Two artist’s books made up of a series of etchings, Moon Tree and Eleusinian Moon Tree are a response to the fusion of two ancient myths; the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece and the Babylonian Hymn of Ereidu. The Eleusinian Mysteries are about birth, death and regeneration as well as the great goddess Demeter, and her daughter Persephone. They are also about the seasons and the fertility of land. She describes her approach as shamanic and animist, encompassing a holistic respect for the universe. The imagery has become simple, direct, abstract and universal. The technique of etching gives the motifs a reverberative power. Echoes of the ancient world together with a deep knowledge and love of legends and fairy tales are present in her work. Liza is a primarily printmaker and it is in her prints that the full richness of her work becomes apparent.
The work of both these artists is well suited to the space. Books and garments are naturally at home in a shop window. The use of text in art is always compelling and it is almost impossible not to read it. This is helpful in a shop window where the fleeting passer by needs to be slowed down and their attention engaged. The different levels of meaning, which play an important role in the work of both these artists, can then start to emerge.
Although very different, there is a common thread running through the work of Lin Charlston and Liza Harding. There is a sense that nothing should be taken for granted, that truth will only emerge with objectivity and questioning, that language can be slippery, and conversely that there can be more truth in metaphor, myth and allegory.
Lin Charlston is a member of Faction.(www.faction.org.uk) she runs book arts workshops at Westhope College(www.westhope.org.uk). Both are members of the Rodd Printmakers at the Sidney Nolan Trust (www.sidneynolantrust.org) where Liza Harding teaches safe etching techniques. They were at Alana Ecology from 26 September to 18 November 2009 www.artinludlow.co.uk
