- Venue
- The A Foundation
- Location
- North West England
As part of my visit to the Liverpool biennial I saw the Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition at The A Foundation. This is an exhibition that gives graduates the opportunity to showcase their work. It is an exciting selection of the best of the artists emerging from art schools, it is an annual exhibition that tours the country. Of the 1200 that apply only around 35-50 get chosen. There is a lot of different works there ranging from sculpture, interactive, painting, video, drawing, performance and photography. As with any exhibition there is work that stands out from the crowd.
One particular piece was Greta Alfaro’s “in ictu oculi” this was a time based video of vultures devouring a lavish banquet. This banquet was laid out on a large table with full crockery and cutlery. The table was dressed and placed in the countryside with a full spread of food. The video shows the table alone with only the sounds of the wind and birds. Then the shadows of the vultures begin to circle and land. At first only a few vultures venture towards the table but then soon after there is around 50 vultures surrounding the table devouring every morsel. The work deals with the importance of specific imagery in western society. The table in the video looks completely out of place however, the table evokes memories of home and Victorian banquets. The table is subtle as an object but as it is removed from its natural setting it is elevated to something higher. When the vultures arrive it is taken over by its surroundings. The vultures taking over the table make the table blend in and you almost forget that it is such a grand table. I enjoyed the video because of the way that it places something as mundane as a banquet table in the African countryside and using it as a statement against something. I like it simply for the way it stands out. It is unexpected therefore you are instantly drawn towards it. It is not trying to hide what it is. It knows it is out of place and seemingly and random and doesn’t try and hide, partially because it can’t but also because it is so boldly placed within the shot. The video also works well for me because it is shot continuously and from a single viewpoint. It makes the viewer feel that they are the only person watching and makes it feel more personal. Because of this shot type and use of objects and actions the work is engrossing to watch even though the subtlety is subjected to such a brutal attack from the vultures.
The other work which really stood out to me and I can relate to was a video of a performance by Pablo Wendel entitled ‘Terraotta Warrior” the work is an intervention performance. In the work Wendel disguises himself as one of the world famous terracotta warriors and stands amongst them for around 20 minutes before he is discovered. The work in The A Foundation is the video documentation of this intervention. In the performance Wendel has dressed up like a terracotta warrior. He had designed himself some suitable clothing to match his surrounding warriors and even had a plinth like the warriors stood on. Wendel claimed “I have always dreamed of disguising myself as a terracotta warrior among the real ones,”[i] his reason was that he has also been a fan of the warriors and wanted to join them. While some people may feel that he may be disrespecting the warriors by doing so and may feel that he should be punished, no charges were bought. The performance was seemingly an attempt to challenge people’s senses. To challenge them to look beyond what they see everyday and to look further than what they expect. The fact that Wendel never left character even when being removed added to this. I felt that Wendel also used the subtlety of the act to allow himself to carry out the intervention in near secrecy. He was only discovered when he moved slightly and the guards saw the movement of a shadow. Even when a guard entered the pit to try and find the source it took them a few minutes to locate him. This work speaks greatly of forcing people to look more at their surroundings and to look for art in different places. Places that nobody would ever expect to find art. Nobody was expecting to see a human warrior on that day.
In conclusion the touring show Bloomberg New Contemporaries is a fantastic showcase of the emerging talent right now. Also the show is very encouraging for art students at the moment as I saw a lot of relevant work within the exhibition but the two that stood out for me were the aforementioned. They filled me with confidence that this kind of work can be produced; work that asks for a lot of participation from the viewer; work that doesn’t necessarily stand out as being a piece of art but once aware you can’t take your eyes off it. It shows that humour and fun can be used within work and it can still carry weight with it. Something which is very exciting for me.
[i] German man fools Chinese police with terracotta warrior disguise [online], Available from: http://english.sina.com/china/1/2006/0917/89374.ht… [Accessed: 30.10.2010]
