The Alternative Guide to the Universe

"The Alternative Guide to the Universe explores the work of self-taught artists and architects, fringe physicists and visionary inventors, all of whom offer bracingly unorthodox perspectives on the world we live in. Inspiringly original and bracingly eccentric, their work re-imagines our social and cultural conventions in ways that fearlessly depart from accepted ways of thinking."

This is the current exhibition at the wonderful Hayward Gallery, as I must say I wasn't too sure what to expect, but again the Hayward have curated an unimaginable world, where you as a spectator are thrown into the depths of another time, another place as you wonder through the exhibition. The works are strange, uncanny, unusual, but have a perplexing intrigue that really holds your attention. 

Works ranging from Photography through to Geometry, to installation to painting take you on a journey through the unknown offering up a new reality, a place which we know nothing of and perhaps would be happier in. For the most part of this exhibition I felt as if I was in another world, transfixed by the originality and space created through their vision and in fact I felt as if it was a much safer and better place for me at that very moment. 

Artists' that really struck me where Melvin Edward Nelson with his UFO paintings, A.G Rizzoli with his unbelievable architectural craftsmanship of buildings as figures and the Chinese artist Guo Fengyi with her journey of spiritual and metaphysical significance, drawing figures through her visions. This show is an absolute must!

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/alternative-guide-to-the-universe-exhibition-73950

Works Unseen

As I research many different sources for 2 new projects that I am working on, I recalled a series I produced back in 2008-2009 using the defunct, original Polaroid. The body of work, consisting of only 6 unique Polaroids titled, "View From My View" takes inspiration from the wonderful work of Andre Kertesz and his series of a similar name. The series plays and explores Kertesz's idea of shooting objects in front of the window, in the sunlight on Polaroid but are then interrupted mid process to create these beautifully abstracted instant photographs. 

They capture a time and place,  offering up a new way to see the world, the view, whereby the colours, the shapes, the tones propel you deep into the chemistry, into a world unknown. The sublimeness for me, echos the paintings of the early 19th century, a place where you can escape for a moment into something different, a space that takes you wholeheartedly and brings forth emotions strong and hard into the present.

http://www.bulgergallery.com/dynamic/fr_artist.asp?ArtistID=8

Unseen Dummy Award Juror 2013

I am very, very proud and honored to announce that I have been selected as 1 of the Unseen Dummy Award 2013 Jurors at the Unseen Photo Fair in Amsterdam!!!!! I was interviewed earlier this month and you can read all about what I am looking for in a photobook and where and what I think about this beautiful medium. Here's a little except from the interview;

Why do you think photobooks are so important? Do you feel that the push to digitalise material has changed their significance?

"For me, photobooks provide physicality to a project that not only outlives the project, but also the artist. They provide an additional, exciting platform to develop a series of works into a new form, a new life. It’s where the curation of work into book form adds and aids another dimension, and often-in unexpected avenues.

With the push towards digitalisation, there seems to be a push back into the importance of having something tactical, tangible, something to hold dear and hold onto. Photobooks are a way of really capturing the essence of a project at a particular moment in time, where you can sit back, relax and really pour your time into turning the pages at your own pace. I think the significance of this is that with every development comes a yearning for it to pause, so through this digitalised material, the books become more objectified and thought of as objects in their own right, as it is so readily available to produce your own books through online opportunities. I am excited about this development and where it will progress."

See more here: http://www.unseenamsterdam.com/unseen-dummy-award-juror-melinda-gibson 

And here: http://www.dmbcreatives.com/posts/melinda-gibson---unseen-dummy-award-juror/121/1

Read more about Unseen here: http://www.unseenamsterdam.com/news

Hamburg Opening

So the opening in Hamburg took place on Friday 7th June in the wonderfully bohemian artist space of Frappant EV. The exhibition, "Destroyed Images" curated by Krisitin Dittrich was a fantastic success with the exhibition still having visitors at midnight! A greatly exciting range of works were exhibited and one that really caught my eye was an artist who used all the pictures from the exhibition and turned them into wrapping paper that covered sandwiches.... A truly inspiring odd, but in-genius idea, watching people how they held this paper, not knowing where or if it should be saved, and all for €2.50!

The book performance was a fantastic success and the publication, alongside the works really helped to contextualize the entire project, the process and the labour taken to complete both. More performances are a must!

"Destroyed Images" Exhibition Opens in Hamburg At The 040 Festival on Friday 7th June at 20:00

I am very pleased to announce, my works are part of this exciting festival in Hamburg which opens this Friday, 7th June from 20:00. The festival and the exhibition has a fantastic array of artists including Katharina Bosse, Markus Uhr, André Giesemann, Mauren Brodbeck and many, many others.

I will also be making a book live at the opening, demonstrating the labour intensive production of the photobook, from 20:00 onwards...

Here is a little bit more information about the exhibition:

"The 040 Festival takes place for the first time in Hamburg. Still in the making, it’s understood as a pilot, which communicates an artistic idea to the public and the city. National and international names of the art scene will be represented and showcased. The exhibition "Destroyed Images - Zerstoerte Bilder" discusses the exploitation of imagery; every day more than 300 million pictures are being uploaded & rated on Facebook. Private pictures are produced without any kind of reflection or time for production. Things, which are happening around us, are being documented, saved onto hard drives or virtual storage spaces and uploaded onto the Internet.

Which pictures do actually still matter - which ones are still of any intellectual value? What happens with all these pictures we produce? How do photographers treat their own work? How do they treat found material?

What happens with photographic pictures, which we manipulate, distress, deconstruct or reassemble? The exhibition's title "Destroyed Images" shouldn't solely be understood in just a materialistic way, but also in a sense of self-awareness and a scan of a constructed biography. What does it mean to leave something behind and start again from scratch, after a loss, an accident or an illness?"

See more here: http://frappant.org/archives/5114