This autumn is a busy time for the visual arts in Cardiff. There’s the Outcasting:Fourth Wall artist film festival starting today, Artes Mundi Prize opening on Friday and the engage International Conference in November. Of all this activity, brought together under the banner of the Cardiff Council-supported Cardiff Contemporary festival, an exhibition at g39 is notable for highlighting the rigour and creativity of artist-led activity.
For its latest show, Chekhov’s Gun, g39 presents a group of artists whose work ‘teases the audience’s expectations using highly-crafted decoys, plot twists and distractions’.
‘Chekhov’s Gun’ is the term for a narrative device that indicates anything that initially seems unimportant within the narrative structure, but is subsequently discovered to have a definite purpose. Another narrative device, the MacGuffin, has precisely the opposite qualities – it is something of outward importance that is later found to have none: the red herring.
Chris Brown, the organisation’s director, explains that the project came about through the observation that many artists use subterfuge in their work to manipulate the audience’s response, and that there are many approaches an artist might use to achieve this.
“For example,” he says brightly, “John Smith’s Black Tower and Jon Fawcett’s Wheel (Items) present an entity/object whose purpose is explored in great detail but never revealed. On the other hand, Michelle Deignan’s Journey to an absolute vantage point allows a narrative to unfold slowly while the ‘reveal’ (in this case, the construct of the narrative) is always present when you look for it.”
The exhibition also includes work by the artists Ryan Gander, Benjamin Owen and Molly Rooke.
Reflecting on g39’s role in the steering committee for Cardiff Contemporary, Brown explains that this is the first time artist-led activity has received official endorsement and support from Cardiff Council in a strategic way: “The consultant met with g39 and we underlined the importance of recognising and nurturing the grassroots activity that was already in the city, rather than developing new flagship projects.
“We’re not taking the opportunity lightly. There will be a huge influx of visitors to the city during the festival and I hope g39’s contribution to Cardiff’s visual art will be a highlight for them.”
Chekhov’s Gun continues at g39, Cardiff, until 15 December. www.g39.org
