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Tuesday 11 June 2013

'The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things' at Nottingham Contemporary

'The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things'

curated by Mark Leckey.
 
I visited the Nottingham Contemporary gallery, for the first time, to see the Universal addressabilty of Dumb things... a very strange and humorous  collection and an amazing space to see art. The exhibition resembles a museum-like collection of objects, yet the objects  are unlikely to be seen alongside each other in any regular museum....a strange and curious collection of wierd and wonderful and artefacts, objects, etc.
My favourite was the mesmerising UV room ... It is a room where you are engulfed by electronic, robotic sounds in the glow of UV light. The high-res video of 'bouncing bead-man' was mesmerising - colour, movement, scale... immerses you into it and makes you feel quite strange. The exhibition is perplexing and humorous, odd and thought provoking.
UV room
 
This exhibition, curated by Turner prize-winning artist Mark Leckey, will explore how our relationships with artworks and common objects alike are being transformed through new information technologies. It will present a kind of 'techno-animism', where the inanimate comes to life, returning us to 'an archaic state of being, to aboriginal landscapes of fabulous hybrid creatures, where images are endowed with divine powers, and even rocks and trees have names'.
 
The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things is an attempt to see the virtual realm cross over into the physical world and familiar objects become enchanted: a high-tech car may be presented in the form of a clay effigy; perfume bottles battle each other in a 'fantastical' video.

In one space a generator chugs away as a ten-metre high inflatable of Felix the Cat billows into a skylight...a piece in the exhibition that caused my small son to stand with his eyes and mouth wide open staring up at 'Felix'... until finally uttering the words...'awesome'!!

Page image  



 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC56Mdeyqk0
curator discussing the installation of The Universal addressability of Dumb things at the Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.
 
Our History
 
...an amazing building and one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the UK, a really interesting gallery to visit.
 

for a review on this exhibition and other interviews with artists see http://www.criticismism.com/...criticismism is a journal of art and ideas inspired by work in Brighton, UK, and beyond. It is written by Mark Sheerin, a frequent contributor to Culture24, Frame & Reference and Hyperallergic.


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