Categories: art, milton-keynes
Date: 14 February 2013 17:32:28
What about Sunday? No this isn't the latest Churchads.net tag line, it's the current mixed media exhibition by Swiss artists Silvia Bachli and Eric Hattan on at MK Gallery until 31st March. It's a mixture of individual and collaborative pieces.
As you walk in underneath some foliage which apparently are discarded Christmas trees you get the feeling this is going to be different but has potential.
Moving onto the Cube Gallery is a set of Hattan's videos which are I think one of the better features of this exhibition. They are part of an installation called Round and Round. There is a guy walking under the underpasses in town and I was struck by how reminiscent this video was of some of Suzanna Raymond's work which I've discussed on here before, (and who currently has work being exhibited at the Creed Street Theatre in Wolverton in an exhibition I hope to, but am not sure I will get to before it closes in a few days time - follow this link to her film Shadows).
Two of the most striking videos which were part of Round and Round were a couple of youngsters kicking a can around and an empty, clear, plastic bag floating about. There is a paradox created between the feelings that there should be more for the kids to be doing, and that the litter shouldn't be there and the sheer beauty of the images within the films.
This section is accompanied by a soundtrack which sounds like the can being kicked around but which was apparently recorded as Hattan was driving.
There are also some of Bachli's Dark Drawings alongside. Couldn't quite work out why they alongside the video installation. This feeling of is this just a random collection of modern art with no clear link between things was a recurring theme throughout this exhibition which didn't grab me in the same way the previous one - which I reviewed - had.
The art in the Middle Gallery didn't grab my attention at all. The Long Gallery had more art which left me feeling underwhelmed and thinking a lot of supposedly 'amateur art' I've seen has been more inspiring.
The one thing which really did get me thinking I think this is great art was the lamppost they had coming out from the bannister of the stairs. It was a steel lamppost which was bent over as if there had been a major accident in the gallery and the car had been removed but the lamppost remained.
Also part of the exhibition is a Caravan - parked outside the gallery - which has been making me smile as I've found myself going past it on various occasions as have the TV screens in the window of the gallery shop.
As for the £8,000 cheque....nah, but then I suspect that it may well be in one of the spaces you don't get to if you're there to actually look at the art. This Guardian article suggested the possibility of the ladies toilets - that would be a no I think, (it was the one place I properly did have a good glance round just in case).
In some ways I think it's sad the money was hidden in this exhibition not the last one. As you can tell I was abit unimpressed with this overall. Art as I've said before is subjective - some really grabs you and makes you go wow, some makes you go that's s**t and then you get some which makes you say "ok....why?" - with the odd exception this didn't really elicit any of those responses.
Going back to my point about having seen 'amateur art' in the past which I have been able to engage with more thoroughly I am looking forward to the Summer Exhibition. There is currently a call going out for work for the MK Calling season, which is looking for artists of all sorts. Going back to the £8,000 cheque - it is apparently some kind of protest against the fact that artists living outside the MK boundary are going to be unable to enter the competition linked to the exhibition call - see this article in the MK Citizen for details of the protest.
As for the What About Sunday? title - I leave that with you. Perhaps it could be a teaser for 29th September 2013?