Sunday 16 December 2007

William Kentridge - the Hove exhibition

William Kentridge - What Will Come (has already come)
Regency Town House - 13 Brunswick Sq


Today i went to see another exhibition by William Kentridge (this one is in Hove), where there is a animated work called What Will Come (has already come). This is a really intriguing installation, -the animation is projected into a circular table from above, in the center of the table is a mirrored tube, which reflects the image on the table. Its only by looking at the reflection that the animation becomes clear, as the projected image appears warped if viewed directly.
The installation shows a dreamlike sequence, a darkly surreal journey through war and human spirit, animated charcoal strokes erased and redrawn repeatedly as nightmarish images morph into the next with fascinating fluidity.

It's a very engaging piece, Kentridge plays with the viewers perception, offering an alternative way for them to observe and construct a narrative to the hallucinatory imagery.
The exhibition itself is located in a battered old regency house, and i couldn't work out if it was in the midst of being redecorated, or it had been painstakingly created to look like that. Either way it's transitory make-shift feel perfectly suited the scratchy discordant style of Kentridge's work.

The other work i was especially interested in was his Stereoscopic Photogravues exhibited in the University of Brighton Gallery at Grand Parade. Again Kentridge experiments with the viewers perception by allowing them to see the stereo images through specially mounted lenses , which also use mirrors to bounce the image into view. When viewed, a single image is perceived, and has a great depth of field that is not seen on the flat images when viewed from the side.

Have been thinking about these techniques with regard to the current project, and am interested to see if i can work with mirrors to shape the viewers perception while interacting with video input. not sure yet, still working out some concepts.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I recently went to Biennale of Syndey on Cockatoo Island to see What Will Come (Has Already Come) by Kentridge. His work was in a pitch black room and at first it was quite scary. Wonderful artist he is! Thanks for your opinion, helped me answer some questions for my excursion ;]