- Venue
- Cornwall Media Resource
- Location
- South West England
Consisting of work from seven MA Fine Art: Contemporary practice students the aptly named ‘Seven’ exhibition took place at the CMR Gallery in Redruth. It played host not only to conventional canvas art but room sized installations, such as Frances Walsh’s Godolphin: Night and Godolphin: Day, and work found in empty shop windows, entitled Epilogue and Arripuerit by Claire Burchell. With the student scene mainly being based in the Falmouth area it was encouraging to see some branching out to enhance the creative experience in Cornwall.
Art galleries are known to have an intense atmosphere with a watchful curator making it known that overexcitement will not be tolerated, but the looped sounds of Karl Arbuthnot’s Darling welcomed the public to a soundscape of birdsong as if introducing art as a natural thing – to which I scream yes!
From the larger environment to the mind comes a focus on memory in Laura Menzies’, Selected Paintings. Whilst following a conventional style of art, the technique and appearance move far from predictability. The use of layering and scratching I found to be reminiscent of a simpler time – cavemen etching on walls. This established a physical recreation of memory. The last two, Embedded and Inscribed were the best examples as they were twinned beside each other evoking the diminishing process of a memory as it becomes filtered and ‘scratched away’ in time – showing the complexities and unreliability of memory.
Moving further from orthodoxy was James Kinder’s, The Waiting Room. Entering through a white sheet one is hit with nothing but solid white paint. This blankness created a void-like feature, bearing down on the observer. The intensity of white was like entering The Matrix and losing oneself in emptiness. The concept, though simplistic, proved disorientating and mind-blowing in a minimalist fashion.
An opposing room followed this intensity but with a less minimalist edge; Sophie Anderson’s, Milk Bottles was definitely the highlight of the show. One’s insecurities are questioned from the start as no ‘DO NOT ENTER/TOUCH’ signs are seen similar to many galleries. It created that childish fear of being caught and a search adventure. Dare you enter? If you do there is an eerie sense that something is wrong. With the room covered in chocolate moulds and no labels it can only be described as a post-apocalyptic chocolate factory. If Willy Wonka was to suffer a horrible divorce and bankruptcy, this would be the outcome – a world sprawled in smashed chocolate which people are free to interact with. It was an idea that proved to be original and terrifying.
And childlike wonder returns once more in Peek-a-Boo by Katri Paakkari proving that art is meant to be funny and not a platform for the intellectual elite to express their own knowledge. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored that the structural sculpture has intelligent themes unity in opposites, with two head-like figures are found on the top of the feature connected only by a thin wire showing a strained but strong connection between race, and gender. For those that didn’t reach that conclusion there is also the interactive nature of playing with a sounds and vibrant colours found throughout the piece. It is definitely a piece that needs no artistic knowledge to enjoy – just an immature love for funny sounds and colours.
The experience found in the exhibit was one contrasting to that of other galleries. The relaxed and warming atmosphere brought out the phrase that ‘all are welcome’ rather than a private viewing. ‘Seven’, proves that Cornwall is a prominent feature in the British art scene.
By Jacob Quirke
