There was a second element to the ReOrsa art project, incorporating all the temporarily empty spaces available in the town centre. In the middle of Charles Square, two empty shops were transformed into gallery spaces and even became platforms for an artist discussion which is available to listen to online. http://www.digitalmediacentre.org/podcast.html
The slightly fraying paintwork and uncarpeted floors added a lovely Avant-garde feel to the spaces, as you got the impression you had walked in on the start of something. Into an art scene devoid of the usual pristine appearance and commercialistic emphasise usually placed in subtle nuances around an artist’s work. Here was an unpolished background to art that had no ulterior motive except to be art.
Of course the art within the shop reflected some of the same values of the art within the windows and as the world buckles under the strain of global warming, this became echoed in the works of several artists. Barbara Cottrell again emphasised the values around re-cycling with a piece constructed entirely of contact lens wrappers. Whilst Nick Garnett’s beautifully curved sculptures are made specifically from re-cycled wood. Now in both these cases the initial impact is an aesthetic one as even though the two are starkly different, they both have a very appealing style to them. Cottrell’s contact lenses hang in beautifully symmetric, even modernist lines, creating a stylised and minimal effect. Whereas in contrast Garnett’s sculpted lines flow beautifully creating a natural appearance despite the obviously constructed shapes.
There is another, lighter trend that emerges from this group of artists and that is one of interaction with the audience. Apart from the instantly intriguing giant Monopoly style board game in the corner of one shop space, there was the slightly more traditionally arty work of Ingrid Jenson titled “Journey into Space”. This large silk sheet allowed visitors to draw their own journey lines across the fabric amongst the previous marks. It was at this work I found myself staring for a large amount of time trying to trace all the different lines, watching how they overlapped and wondering about their makers. A second visit to the exhibition found me desperately trying to find my line but alas although my art loving companion tracked down her distinctive mark amongst the many others, I could not find mine. this had me worrying slightly about the real life implications of not being able to find your life line when others could and although this was perhaps not an intended effect of the work, it certainly had an impact on me.
