- Venue
- Windows 204
- Location
Windows 204 has provided the venue for yet another example of Bristol’s non-commercial art.
‘96 Vitrines’ sits in the window at 204 Gloucester road, Bristol. It is made up of 96 cardboard boxes, facing towards the window. They seam identical in size and shape but are in fact all slightly different. Each box has within it a small item, for example several contain pieces of screwed up cling-film. Through its use in the installation a ball of screwed up cling-film becomes part of an art object. This is not to say that the cling-film is art, but that the installation as a whole is an artwork. Through this we are made to question how base materials such as cardboard and cling-film can become art.
The work is based in abstract construction and the artist’s interest in materiality and process. ‘96 Vitrines’ uses some of the everyday materials that are common in Anne Gutt’s work such as cardboard, glue and paper. It is a continuation of her ongoing involvement with impure materials.
In the title the cardboard boxes are described as vitrines. This creates a comparison with glass display cabinets and cases, especially those used to display art. In this instance the ‘vitrines’ are deliberately handmade and lack the finesse and preciousness often associated with art objects. This is art about idea, using seemingly redundant and makeshift materials.
Through the work the artist encourages us to look closely at the things that we would normally discard and ignore. Thus disrupting the usual concepts of beauty, form and the idea of the art object.
