Polarised development and production

Polarised Laura Buckley + Kim Coleman Block 336

first you look so strong
then you fade away
the sun will blind my eyes

Block 336 is located in a rather anonymous building in Brixton, South London. Formerly this location housed the archives of Coutts, one of the world’s leading private banks, which gives the architecture a certain heightened quality. From the road there is no sense of the history contained within. Nor is there much evidence of what lies within now. This underground bunker has operated as a not-for-profit gallery for a number of years and the team involved have done incredible work on tiny budgets.

Between mid-February and late March, Laura Buckley + Kim Coleman spent 7 weeks on a form of residency where they worked each day creating this exhibition from scratch. Whilst some of the technical elements were edited elsewhere the bulk of this show was made in the gallery space. There is a sense of intensity prevalent in this exhibition that comes from the knowledge that the work was created within the architecture that one is now viewing the show. Buckley and Coleman met whilst studying for their MFA’s at Chelsea almost a decade ago, but this is the first time they’ve collaborated on an exhibition.

On entering the space one immediately feels propelled backwards towards a misgotten youth spent in underground clubs fuelled by alcohol and the promises of copulation. There are pulsating rhythms, no natural light and projected images and films. If there was dry ice this could be the 1990’s all over. But I digress.

The most immediate appearance are two large, coloured, Perspex lenses suspended from the ceiling which dominate the installation. These aviator-style shades pose a complex question – are we, the audience, gazing through these lenses or are we being observed by someone more malevolent, cooler, angrier?

Aside from the shades there are no other physical objects in the space. Disjointed, fractured even abstract light, film and sound works perforate the gallery showing the exhibition making process, alongside Buckley’s ever wonderful screen-based oscillations confounding and astounding the viewer. The cycle of moving image lasts about 7 minutes, but time slips away and one could spend 7 hours in this exhibition and still discover new things. One is never sure where to look. One is never sure what you’re looking for. Maybe those shades really know more than we.

It’s always difficult to be objective about the work of a close friend (I’ve known Laura for many years) but Polarised really is quite wonderful. Pulling off an exhibition like this with a decent budget and a long lead in time would be impressive. The fact Laura + Kim were able to achieve this with just seven weeks and very few resources is nothing short of inspirational.