Blank Media Collective has excelled itself with their latest exhibition based at the Nexus Art Cafe. Combining multi media installations, interactive puppet wizardry, spoken word and music, there is something for everyone at this event.
The launch night featured live performances from Blank Media stalwarts John Leyland and Dan Bridgwood-Hill as well as many other diverse artists on hand to bring their creations to life. Denmasons at Denquarters by Taneesha Ahmed and Alex Moore combines the childish activities of building dens and drawing on chalk boards with lofty concepts of new world orders, secret societies and alternative ways of living. With an ideology similar to that of the Stone Masons, or rather a play on the perceptions we have of the Stone Masons, these two artists introduce us to a world that doesn’t involve Championship Manager and Hollyoaks. They discuss a need to change the world and inspire people through nature, and although they are sat outside in a den of their own making, we can recognise the words and feelings elucidated in this film. Who hasn’t sat in the pub with friends and put the world to rights?
Practice I, Formation & Practicing For When We Need Each Other More by Renee Rhodes is the second series of films on offer at the exhibition. Like a flock of birds, a group of people move in formation with each other, almost like they are dancing but not quite. The way they move together is not perfect, but it’s not meant to be. It’s more a reflection of the attempt humans make when trying to move in sync with each other in their daily lives. The result is strange and slightly heartbreaking, and would lack this quality if they were all professional dancers. It represents the desire of people to fit in with other, and the capacity people have of trying something new, regardless of whether they can do it or not.
Is This As Far As You Can Go? By Productofboy displays photographs of what seem to be a quiet, suburban area. However, houses, streets, alleyways are recast as prisons and barriers by the text on each picture. It asks questions such as, ‘Is this as far as you can go? Can you go here? Is this a good place to be?’ It challenges our perceptions of where we can and can’t go, what is safe and what isn’t, and what we mean by community by playing on the fears and anxieties of people who live in cities. There are no judgments cast on whether we are right to feel these fears or not, but rather serves as a reminder that people can be locked by more than keys behind their front doors.
Throughout the evening, Edwyn Butler breaks into spontaneous song, classics by Ray Charles and Bill Withers suddenly crash land on the piano, delivered in a honky tonk fashion. The art lovers gather round Edwyn after he starts playing without warning, and he provides an enjoyable interlude for those in-between installations. Without the usual announcement and tedious banter of a compere, John Leyland and Annette Cookson launch into their tandem poetry performance; a response to the artwork exhibited. Whispered lines from the poem dropped into people’s ears as they weave through the audience towards the stage. With a perfectly timed delivery, strong vocals and insightful statements they give us a moment of words and go. Leaving the audience wondering what to expect next.
This review continues in the next blog entry and was written by Liverpool-based independent reviewer Elaine Wilson. For further information about Elaine please visit www.futurelegendmusic.wordpress.com
