Abstract
No abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Author's (Andrew Spackman's) notes: Unruly Object was a gallery exhibition at Lanchester Gallery Projects, Coventry which took place between 28/04/2011 to 20/05/2011. The show investigated the deliberate and contradictory potential and problematic of the ‘unruly’ art object, as set within an institutional context and gallery.This show operated as a stimulus for the creation of a collaboration between Andrew Spackman and Craig Barber whereby, the art duo could create artworks that particularly looked to test and subvert the boundaries of establish ‘art discipline’ areas and the traditions of exhibition formats.
The Habsburg follow a lineage of art personas who’s methods are often playful, evasive and contradictory, in order to attempt to evoke a more critical political stance to institutional mechanisms, such as galleries and educational institutions.
The Habsburgs work, “How to Paint” shown at the Midland Arts Centre, uses the language of painting whilst working predominantly in sound and video design. Separate video screens explore the formal qualities of painting and drawing through deadpan comedy, abstracted framing devises and sound/colour combinations. The Habsburgs have similarities to other artists such as Harrison and Wood, Fischli and Weiss, Bedwryn Willams and Paul Mccarthy, although at some level they remove any solid foundation whereby humour’s role within a contemporary art context is clearly articulated. Their work searches for an ‘absolute zero’ point where the fragility and unstable nature of the art practice approaches nothingness.
Craig Barber's notes on Unruly Objects: Unruly Object was a gallery exhibition at Lanchester Gallery Projects, Coventry which took place between 28/04/2011 to 20/05/2011. The show investigated the deliberate and contradictory potential and problematic of the ‘unruly’ as set within an institutional context.
This project came at a time of considerable political and economic unrest and uncertainty. The line of enquiry reflected this contemporary condition and concern whilst simultaneously taking on a ‘new critical stance’ to institutional mechanisms. Rather than asserting an outright political stance to the institutional mechanism – a gallery in an educational institution – Unruly Object used strategies of evasion, mischief and ambiguity. The works on show were, however, united in their rejection of clarity and optimism.
The works held a fragmentary existence between the tangible and the virtual; occupying a moment of tension between construction and collapse both conceptually and in terms of their ‘concrete’ being. Spectators’ notions of certainty and expectation were therefore unhinged.
Despite the fact that practices on show within this exhibition were strongly located in ‘making’, the complexities of making objects was not considered as a linear narrative nor as progress orientated. The work came to being both as intended outcomes but also as by-products of disparate, complicated and riddle-some processes.
The research strands from this show have continued as The Habsburgs- a collaboration between Andrew Spackman and Craig Barber. The Habsburgs are in discussion with the Midland Arts Centre about future works.
The presentations include images which can only be used for educational purposes only. For any other use please seek permission from the copyright holders Andrew Spackman: aa9114@coventry.ac.uk or Craig Barber: aa3640@coventry.ac.uk. Both the images and associated videos are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Rights holder: Andrew Spackman and Craig Barber, Imogen Aust (Unruly Objects only)
Part of series: Andrew Spackman - Unruly Objects/Habsburg Project/Book A
Unruly Object was a gallery exhibition at Lanchester Gallery Projects, Coventry which took place between 28/04/2011 to 20/05/2011.
The Habsburg’s – How to Paint exhibition was exhibited at The Midland Arts Centre 26/1/2013 to 17/3/2013
Book A – 250 photos from Book A exhibited at Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre – March 2013