I recently made my way down to Birmingham city centre to attend a small event organised by the Hippodrome and the Ikon Gallery. It was called About Town and was a series of installation by a dozen or so artists. Starting in the Hippodrome, there were random videos of stray cats on old TV sets placed around in the building. The second was a clip of the artist sitting on the steps by the old Birmingham library for several days, at the same time. The people just go about their daily business without noticing her. The artist is called Kelly Mark.
After, we walked down to the back to back houses and made our way up the narrow stairs to a video by Dean Kelland called Just Like That which was a line commonly used by the comedian Tommy Cooper. There is no sound but as soon as the fez is removed he starts to mime 'Just Like That' but in a very distressing manor. Its funny but painful to watch. Even though there is now sound you can almost hear his screams fill the room.
We then walked to the Havana car park and there was one installation showing there by Grace Ndiritu called The Nightingale.
Ndiritu's website (http://www.gracendiritu.com/The-Nightingale-2003) says:
"Poetically, this is conveyed by a sentence superimposed on the opening sequence: "He stood East of my childhood and West of my future". The beginning of The Nightingale is peaceful and serene, showing Ndiritu slowly moving a cloth that covers her head and shoulders, to reveal her face, with eyes closed. The quiet African music suddenly changes as the artist becomes animated, with eyes wide open, focused on the viewer. She twists, wraps and folds the fabric in a sequence of simple movements to transform her appearance. Each action reveals another identity, the fabric being exploited for its versatility, playing the role of blindfold, hajib, headscarf, burka, veil, bandanna, purdah, gag and turban. Its reference to an assortment of cultures is both joyful and unsettling, developing with the rhythm of the music, pausing into moments of playful seduction and sculptural beauty. The final sequence of the video consists simply of birds in flight, literally above human politics, suggesting freedom from cultural compartmentalization."
The music was the first thing you hear as you walk toward the car park and it gives a sense of the installation without even seeing it. As the piece of cloth starts to move the music gets faster and as the music gets faster her actions get faster and it captivated the audience. Something so simple to do but very effective at the same time.
I didn’t even think about adding sound to my final piece and it is something that’s worth thinking about. It can create more of an atmosphere.
Moving on to the Gallan Car Park, the massive car park has about 6 installations it it which are all from different artists. The one that stood out was by Yang Zhezhong who used two screens opposite from each other. On one is a video of her exhaling with all her might and the one opposite was a video of a busy street in Shangai zooming put every time she exhales.
About Town made for an interesting evening, the artists all had very strong ideas and represented them in their artwork. It inspired me to expand on my work and strengthen messages behind it.
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