Okay,
so I’ve been back in London for a little over a week now, and have been
visiting various galleries, exploring the city that I’ve been away from for the
past 3/4 months, as well as assimilating to the new area that I’m living in;
New Cross. Lots of students, lots of stuff happening. I’m still trying to
figure out whether I like the area or not, as it feels a lot like a bubble, and
if you were to get too immersed in this bubble you could become complacent, especially
as I’m living in a house of seven all of whom are my friends. This probably
means that I’ll want to go to uni every day of the week again, to make sure
that I actually get any work done. Although I am writing this from the house
right now, so who knows what will happen in the future...
Before
moving back, I attempted to make the most out of the countryside, going on
walks, sitting on the beach or seeing people that I’m now not going to see for
a few months. It’s a lovely place, and will continue to be so, I just think I
stayed a little too long, getting too into lounging around and just watching rather
than doing. Not to say my summer was wasted, I just think I would have
appreciated being in that space more if I’d have come back to London a few
times, taking a break from the country for a bit. I think that’s what I’ll be
doing from now on, maybe.
In
art based news, I was finally officially told that we have to show a piece of
work when we get back to uni, so I decided to create an installation for Who Needs Teachers When You've Got A
Computer-Aided Education? Which is arguably my most recent piece of work,
and one that I’m quite happy with. I’ve bought various ‘emoji pillows’,
circular pillows with various emotions being portrayed on them. These will serve
to prop up the tv which will be showing the video, as well as serving as seats
for people to sit on whilst watching the film. As the essay used in the work is
discussing the breakdown of language and how the internet will basically become
a melting pot for unneeded information, I felt it apt to use emoji’s, which
basically make traditional language obsolete, taking us back to a time when
human beings simply used their own fascial movements to speak to others. The
fact that they’re pillows communicates how the use of emoji isn’t being forced
onto people, they’re willingly using them, slowly sinking into an emoji ‘enhanced’
language. I’m looking forward to talking about the work when it’s displayed, as
well hearing what others think of it.
I’ve
also gotten into a few more things, two of which are magazine based, which is
kind of fun. The first is Average Art’s October issue titled ‘Artists Behind
the Art’. I’m having some screengrabs of my videos in the issue, alongside a
picture of me, which is in fact a stock photograph of a smiling white man. Follow
the link here, where you can buy the issue when it comes out on the 1st
of October, or even pre-order: http://averageart.co.uk/magazine.html
The
other magazine, ‘Mile #1’, is run by NOMAD 92-3. I also had to submit an ‘artist
portrait’, so once again I submitted the smiling white man. Oh and I may be
being interviewed for this magazine, which would be fun to do again, learning
more about my practice, etc. Follow this link to their page, I’m not sure when
the magazine will be available to look at/buy though: http://www.nomad92-3.com/
Another
thing I got into was an exhibition in Croatia with my video work, Is the Internet úäCì@?ù.1HcpiÙîfê¿Dead:
Revisited, which I made for 30/30 earlier in the year. The show was in the Siva
Galerija last week. Unfortunately, it’s over now, but hopefully some people saw
my work and enjoyed it. Follow the link here: http://fubar.space/
Oh
and my interview for TRAVELOGUE was published online a little while ago, which
you can read here: http://travelogue.space/blog/2016/9/12/bob-bicknell-knight-every-day-we-replicate-the-idea-of-what-life-should-be-like
I really enjoyed the process of answering the questions and considering what my
practice is all about, and hope to do more interviews in the future. I’m really
happy to have been chosen for the show and it definitely validates what I’ve
been saying to my peers about the value of having a digital presence, as I was
contacted to do the show because of my website and blog. A few photos came back
from the exhibition, which can be seen below.
No
new work has been generated, although I have been thinking a lot about the aux
cable project, which will definitely become a thing when I get back to uni. I’m
still deciding on what will be being shown on the various screens; a video,
different videos, or maybe the different devices are all on facetime to each
other? I need to refine this a little more.
In
other news, isthisit? has been going
really well, and is something that I’m beginning to get quite proud of as it continues
to grow. The more that people submit the longer it can continue on for. I
definitely want to do another curatorial thing soon, something interesting and
vaguely innovative, something new. Currently in this house we have a spare
room, so maybe that could be utilised in some way, creating a tiny exhibition space?
I don’t know, could be fun as a small thing.
Last
week’s show, exhibition #21, was all about the deconstruction of information,
with each of the three different works analysing data in various ways. Katie
Tindle’s ‘Workbook 8’ explores the artist’s desktop and a constantly evolving
Excel spreadsheet, with a range of personal data being added as the video piece
continues on. It all feels very open and free, taking into consideration ideas
about personal space in the age of the internet, which feeds well into Sarah
Crew’s video piece ‘Reclaimed Lands’, which she describes as an “engaging,
poignant and at times humorous alternative in-flight film”. Over the course of
the four-minute escapade, the various narrators explore the notion of lostness,
questioning whether someone can truly be lost in the 21st century internet
machine. Will Hurt’s generative animation ‘Automated Spatial Transformations
(House VI)’ ties everything together, with 3D models of buildings endlessly
reconfiguring themselves in an information overload.
In
this week’s show I decided to play around with the layout a little. For exhibition
#22, two pieces were shown, each harnessing works and styles from famous
artists. Ana Pastor’s video piece ‘"My one regret in life is that I am not
someone else" Woody Allen’ takes a humorous look at the pressure that one
has in the art world to achieve a utopian idea of success. Utilising found
footage, the artist superimposes a giant smiling face onto various characters
from the art world, from Ai Weiwei to Marina Abramović, becoming the artists in
question whilst simultaneously anonymising them, placing them behind the unblinking,
constantly smiling, papier-mâché head. The clips that are used span a number of
years, and are accompanied by ‘Why Can’t I be You?’ by The Cure, a song
originally released in 1987, so it’s unsurprising that the work feels slightly
dated, which functions well in conjunction with Jack Ratcliffe’s ‘Mondriane’,
an online clock that utilises the colours and shapes of Piet Mondrian’s various
‘Composition’ paintings. Whilst Ratcliffe brings new ideas to Mondrian’s old
paintings, Pastor brings old ideas to new video sources, all made available via
the internet. Both works functioning as the opposite of each other.
Other
things that have happened this week? Lots of galleries. Although I didn’t completely
fall in love with anything that I saw, I did like a few things
Let’s
start with Carroll Fletcher, which wasn’t disappointing, just not what I
expected from the place. The top floor, showing work from Basel Abbas and
Ruanne Abou-Rahme, was mostly centred around showing information, or false information,
of what’s going to happen in the future, being informed by the non-fictions of
the past. Lots of stuff laid out on tables and pinned on cork boards. It’s an
interesting aesthetic, cut out screenshots of computer windows, taking the
virtual into the physical, making the fictions that have been created offline
realities. It was just a little unexpected. The main multi-channel video was of
a group of people, walking through forests and ruins, discovering these black
masks that hold some sort of symbolism. I did like it, it was just a bit impenetrable
at times, and that’s never really a good thing.
Downstairs
however, was a very clever, simple set of video works by the collaborative duo
John Wood and Paul Harrison. The assortment of videos shows the pair enacting a
series of bizarre experiments, using objects specifically catered to their own
bodies to take part in very simple actions. They’re incredibly clinical,
insightful works which have a slight design quality to them, which is
interesting within itself. It’s definitely worth a visit, or a google, to
experience the absurdity for yourself. Very clever work.
Vilma
Gold had some work by Brian Griffiths on show, continuing his obsession with
Bill Murray and his various selves, one of his houses was on show, as well as
various large scale prints. I found the whole thing to be mystifying and
intriguing, a combination that’s very familiar to one another. I like Vilma
Gold, the ambiguity of its press releases and the very weird shows that occur
within. It’s a cool place.
Let’s
get some shit ones over with. At Blain Southern there were some cotton works
being displayed, wall based pieces that will undoubtedly be hanging in someone’s
house in a few months’ time, but entirely forgotten by me. Pretty colours but
nothing more.
This
was the same for the Carl Freedman Gallery, very bright and colourful aluminium
wall based pieces, ‘full of emotion’, but in reality, who gives a fuck about a
guy and his axe?
Erik
Lindman at the Almine Rech Gallery was equally dull, metal embedded within
wood, welcome back to the 70s. How is this guy a mere 11 years older than me,
and making this kind of shit work?
Massimo
De Carlo had a few interesting pieces from Sanford Biggers. A particular favourite
was a three channel video work, showing a sculpture that’s yet to be cast being
shot at, in incredible slow motion, the wax flying everywhere alongside the
satisfying sound of the gunshot. The particularly ‘nice’ part of this
installation was that, every time a sculpture was shot at, the television would
quickly go from black (as if it were turned off) to the slow motion video. This
created a beautiful audio visual experience as you stood in the middle of these
three films, each ‘popping off’ as more bullets were shot at the work. The
classic ‘revelatory’ moment was also there, with the sculptures being shown
outside of the room, before you entered the ‘gun range’.
Campoli
Presti had some very sexual, very bodily inspired works by Julia Philips. It’s
always nice to see ceramics being utilised well, rather than simply making a pot.
The work on show seemed to be a range of tools, created by the artist using her
own body, contorting it and moulding the clay around it. Very subtle, very
carefully created work, that I appreciated and understood.
The
mini Sadie Coles space had some boring paintings by David Korty on show, which
were just boring and unimaginative.
The
larger Sadie Coles space however had a very complicated, very in depth exhibition
by Uri Aran. Filling the space with black desks, Aran forced the viewer to have
a solo experience with each film, which always featured two men, enacting
various scenarios, all of which seemed both rehearsed and completely unnatural.
They’re very weird and ambiguous films, with a lot packed in. If you have some
time, I’d employ you to go and check it out at some point.
Frith
Street Gallery had some nice work by Tacita Dean, the classic David Hockney
film was on show, as well as some pictures of clouds? It also featured a long
form video of a man parading around a theatre stage, playing an actor playing
an actor, which is always fun to see. A lot of work I’d already seen and was
aware of, lots of old ideas, but interesting ones, ones that I enjoy examining
from time to time.
Marian
Goodman on the other hand had some work by Guiseppe Penone, the famous artist
who once cast his own hand and left it attached to a tree, and as the years
continued on the tree grow around his hand. Penone seems to have had this idea
back in the 70s and never actually moved on, continuing to milk this original
idea until it’s become increasingly boring for everyone. The show was comprised
of lots of casts of trees, with hands protruding from them. Wow. I am not impressed.
Rachel
Rose had a very sweet animation at Pilar Corrias. I’ve been a big fan of Rose
ever since seeing her at the Serpentine Gallery last year. The distorted and beautiful
video piece is definitely something to see, with each frame made up of 19th
– 20th century children’s book illustrations, it’s quite a feat to
observe.
Arcade
gallery was okay, with some works inspired by Chinese puzzles. Very illustrative
and obvious.
IMT
gallery had some very simple, sculptural works embedded with meaning. The
really interesting thing that did catch my eye however were the cats that
inhabited the gallery. These cats, that weren’t part of the show, were Sphynx
cats, which are basically hairless and look like huge rat like creatures. I’ve
never seen one in real life, and that in itself was an exciting experience.
Head on over to IMT if you ever feel a need to see a cat with no hair.
Transition
gallery had a very small, very fragile show, made up of photographs and very
simplistic watercolour drawings. It was a very lovely, very considerate space.
Samson
Kambalu’s show at Kate Macgarry was a little too dense, with no real way to
understand the work apart from reading a lot of the books on display. As one
friend put it ‘it’s the kind of work that you have to read about to get’, which
sums up the whole experience for me.
George
Henry Longly at Studio Leigh had created a very simple, design based exhibition
which worked quite well. All the assemblages fitted well together, crafting a
relationship of sorts. Is there any more I have to say? It’s nice, solid work.
Laura
Bartlett Gallery had a range of ‘mixed media’ paintings on show, heavily
inspired by European countries, filled with colour and mosaic esque expressionism.
Not really my kind of thing, but still quite nice too look at or have in your
house.
Victoria
Miro had a group exhibition of works, most of which weren’t that interesting,
as well as containing a bunch of work that was a little too obvious. What do
you expect with an exhibition called Protest?
It was okay, some big names but nothing outstanding.
Ivana
Basic at Annka Kultys Gallery was fine, some visually enticing work with an
obvious meaning; big glass droplets visualising the artists’ breath, etc. Very
tight work, very obvious work, but kind of nice. I always enjoy the curation
that occurs within that small space.
The
final gallery of the week was The Ryder, which was showing a video piece by
Jeremy Hutchinson titled Monster. A
very simple film considering the post-work condition that’s slowly taking over
the various physical industries. As always, The Ryder showing some very good
work.
I
think that’s everything, lots of crap and a few good things, all contributing
to my week back in London.
Other
than galleries, I’ve been playing some incredibly beautiful games, some of the
best games I’ve played in a while. I’ll start by talking about ABZÛ, a wonderful game with incredible
visuals, where you as a diver swim through various levels, exploring the sea.
Simply experiencing the feeling of swimming under the sea, riding fish and
leaping out of the water to do a flip or two is breath-taking. For the majority
of the experience I was just admiring the visuals as well as how the game was
making me feel through the gameplay; elated and excited. I’d heavily recommend anyone
to play this game, as it literally ‘took my breath away’ at multiple points
throughout the journey.
Another
experience that was primarily based on exploring and looking was Adr1ft. A game that features the player
as an astronaut attempting to get home, exploring a huge space station devoid
of life. Once again the feeling of floating above earth and being able to spin
around in circles, was incredible and made me feel amazing. After the first ten
– twenty minutes however, the actual ‘meat’ of the experience became kind of
dull, which was a shame. Once again, if you have a chance, play this game,
simply for how it makes you feel.
Another game was Push Me Pull You, a crazed 2D multiplayer game that involves keeping a ball on your side of an arena. You operate your 'player' by maneuvering the thumb sticks, one stick for the front and the other for the back. Incredibly enjoyable, quick and fun, and very hard to play when drunk.
The
last game on the list was Virginia, a
game that is the most ‘filmy’ game I’ve ever experienced, and one that has the
most mind fuck of an ending ever. It was quite mental. The gameplay is
literally clicking X and exploring various rooms, but the David Lynch esque
plot alongside the fact that there’s literally no talking throughout the 90-minute
experience is incredibly interesting, and made me buy into the very bizarre
happenings within the world of Virginia.
All three of these interactive fictions are a must for anyone interested in
video games, or simply anyone interested in expanding their mind with new
things.
Now
onto films, as I’ve been settling in to the new place, there’s been a distinct
lack of film watching, which is always a shame. I think I’ve only had the
chance to enjoy a measly five filmic experiences.
Crimes and Misdemeanours was very funny, and a very ‘who didn’t see that
happening’ kind of thing. Once again classic Woody Allen.
Another
one from Woody, Hannah and Her Sisters,
was once again, classic Woody Allen. I think I’ve watched too much of his work
now to actually properly talk about them, as they’re all very similar.
I
did watch a film from the Harry Potter
series, The Goblet of Fire. It was
interesting to revisit something from my childhood. It felt very PG, and overly
long, I don’t think I want to watch anymore of the franchise, as I think it
would ruin my utopian ideals about the series that I’ve carried over from
childhood to adulthood.
Another
film that was ‘a blast from the past’ was Natural
Born Killers. After watching it many years ago, it was weird to watch again,
especially as it’s so fucking dull. Is it supposed to be funny? It probably is,
I just didn’t enjoy the type of humour which was occurring on screen.
The
final film was Hunt for the Wilderpeople,
which was a lovely Australian film centred on a young boy who gets adopted and
then subsequently gets chased through the wilderness on a police man hunt. It’s
a very touching, very nice journey that takes you to lots of unexpected places.
It’s also very funny, and very much worth your time.
I’ve
also been indulging in some tv. I’m currently watched Modern Family, which is obviously great. Watching these kids grow
up is a pleasure, and the whole ordeal is very funny, with some very nice plot
points. The kind of show that you could pick up and just watch random episodes
of, but to really know and understand the characters you should watch the whole
thing.
Another
very good tv show that I watched was Easy,
a new Netflix comedy drama, where each episode focuses on one or two people,
living in Chicago, just living. Very real conversations between various couples
living vastly different lives. I really enjoyed it, with definite parallels to
High Maintenance and Master of None. Just some very good, honest, television.
I
think that’s my two weeks of stuff? Slowly moving forwards with art, alongside
watching the occasional film and playing some beautiful games. I hope this
trend continues. This coming week will feature more lounging around and getting
used to the area, alongside more art, and hopefully some art making. We’ll see
how it goes.
Enjoi.
Instagram:
bob.bk1
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