- Venue
- Surface Gallery
- Location
- East Midlands
At first I was unsure exactly what to expect with Surface Gallery’s new exhibition Banalarama. Described as ‘a collection of boring artworks’ I did wonder exactly how boring these art works would be, how much of this boredom would be ironic, and if this show would actually, after all, end up being pretty exciting. At first glance around the gallery I will admit that banal stereotypes immediately take form, seemingly boring photographs fill walls, something to do with fishing lurks in one corner, and we are confronted with yawning elsewhere. However first glances are not always as they appear to be and after taking a second look I wondered if this exhibition was not as boring as old socks after all…
The exhibition, consisting of eight Nottingham based artists, seems to blend smoothly together combining humour and concept without any problems. Prawns pinned to the wall spell out the word KORMA, a few odd socks hang from the ceiling, a chained up guest book manned by a security camera is even unreachable by key, these are just a few of the absurd goings on in Banalarama’s world of the mundane. As I mentioned above photographs are perhaps one of those things of which can be easily regarded as boring yet even Elliott Cole’s collection of neatly framed photographs of walls ‘Hoardings’ has room for exploration. We may ponder what exactly is behind these walls, what are they hoarding? Shiri Webb invites us to view ‘Other peoples holiday pictures’ which is exactly what it means in the title. We are confronted with familiar sights, beaches, sunsets, perhaps even family members in bathing costumes, exploring cityscapes under a fluffy clouded sunny blue skies. After a while you realise that what is interesting is that the familiarity and repetitive nature of these images is indeed dull. They aren’t our own photographs yet our memory still somewhat recognises them in an odd vague kind of way.
One of the pieces that I perhaps enjoyed the most is Bobby Goulding’s installation ‘The Midlands Fish Survey’ which occupies one corner of the gallery space. It is, as I mentioned above, one of those things which seems an obvious subject to feature in an exhibition of banal artworks as it firstly strikes me as one of the most boring activities people could do along with the likes of train spotting and bird watching. Yet this piece of work exceeds my expectations, and transforms the boring into the humorous, cleaver and ridiculous. A letter in mid type on a typewriter at a desk is written to The National Geographic Magazine and explains that the artist is doing a survey of ‘Which is the most boring fish in Britain’. Armed with three choices of fish the artist has travelled around the Midlands carrying out is survey via the means of photography and a tally chart. The paraphernalia of briefcase, smart shoes, jacket, typewriter, sharpened pencil, marked Midlands wall map, a collection of photographic evidence, and three framed pictures gives the impression the ‘character’ of whom we assume to be the artist is very serious about his survey. This makes me smile and adds a distinct sense of humour to the piece.
Another highlight of the exhibition for me is Layla Testi’s ‘Trowelling’, in which three small television monitors explore mundane everyday encounters. We watch a man reading a newspaper as he eats a meal in an empty café, we follow a journey in and out of a petrol station at night through a car windscreen, and we watch a lit up exterior of a café scene at night. These videos explore different aspects of camera work; repetition, movement and stillness. There is no denying these videos, seemly centred around a ‘non-place’ type service station, should be incredibly boring, yet I can’t seem to stop watching them. Although practically vacant spaces at night they feel illuminated, reminiscent of Edward Hopper paintings, there is a sense of the mysterious or of a hidden story that could unfold at anytime. I almost feel like if I keep watching something might happen, or something might change, is this ‘trowelling’ perhaps a search for something hidden within the mundane?
After exploring the exhibition I wonder then if it is a problem that I don’t find it boring! I realise the more I think about the idea of boredom in connection with art the more I struggle, I question can art be boring? Of course the answer is that it can be, however this is a matter of the personal taste and opinion of the individual viewer. To me art is the opposite of boring, it is about discovery and creativity, in fact art is perhaps something which stems from boredom almost like a cure. In this way a show such as Banalarama fuses these two opposites together using the idea of the banal as a subject for art, the exhibition is almost like the results of some sort of science experiment ‘what happens when two things collide?’
I wonder if it is possible to have a truly boring art exhibition, and also more so if it is possible to have a truly boring art exhibition which is successful, which would actually get people visiting it as much as an ‘exciting’ exhibition. Again I find thinking about it difficult, I figure the work would have to be ridiculously dull or even non-existent. Yet once again Banalarama doesn’t even fail to give us this, as there is a bare wall in the exhibition titled as ‘Failure to Collaborate’ by Stephan Holdsworth and Deks. Yet even this makes me smile and wonder if this was the work all along or whether it was meant to be something else at one stage.
So I guess as a conclusion to this ‘experiment’ Banalarama’s collision between art and the banal is indeed somewhat a celebration of the mundane. It is perhaps Luke Norton’s photograph of a young girl in her school uniform yawning which sums up the essence of this show. The subject of yawning is a mundane action strongly linked with being bored, yet this photograph is far more exciting than your average school portrait. Perhaps being bored is not quite as boring as you first expected. Above all I think that Banalarama is a well-put together humorous, conceptually driven and definitely interesting exploration of the banality of everyday life.
