Liverpool Biennial 2012- Thresholds

The UK Biennial of Contemporary Art - Liverpool 2012

While visiting the Turner Monet Twombly exhibition at the Tate ( which lived up to expectations - Twombly is a real favourite of mine so I was very interested to see the juxtaposition of his work with that of  Monet and Turner ..this intended as a dialogue between them ), I took the opportunity to look at 'Thresholds'. This was presented as part of Biennial's 'The Unexpected Guest which explores notions of hospitality though works by over 60 international artists across a range of sites and galleries throughout Liverpool.
What drew my attention were the photographic displays, in particular the work of Keith Arnatt, Simryn Gill and Pak Sheung Chuen.

Keith Arnatt
A.O.N.B  ( Area of Outstanding Beauty ), 1982-84

 Arnott  questions the notion of a British landscape through black and white images taken in locations designated as striking landscapes.His pictures juxtapose beauty and banality (often expressed by rubbish or stark, almost nondescript buildings or infrastructures). In some photos the message is very obvious, in others, the images require more reading of the composition....though to my mind the choice of black and white brought out the 'message' better than the construction of some of the actual compositions.



Simryn Gill
Dalam, 2001

These 258 colour photographs of domestic interiors were taken over an eight week period as the artist travelled across the Malaysian peninsula.The series might seem at first glance a really challenging exercise in composition if repetition of any kind is to be avoided but the range and depth of interiors captured and the degree of compositional opportunity taken result in rich images which are a joy to look at and held my interest from start to finish.

Pak Sheung Chuen A Travel without Visual Experience , 2008

This was the most interesting part of the exhibition in my view. The installation reflected the artist's view on the processes of tourism - that many travel without 'seeing'.Images were installed in a dark room on wallpaper and only visible through the flash of a camera. People entering the installation were either given a digital camera to use or encouraged to use their own cameras or mobile phones. Taking pictures in complete darkness without seeing where you were or what you were trying to photograph until you have actually taken the picture is a very strange  experience. It does reinforce the concept held by the artist that we often travel without 'seeing'  or take pictures on holiday without really thinking clearly about the image we are about to capture  - what results may work or not in conveying a sense of place; a moment in time or maybe a sense of occasion. I suspect many like me feeling very disorientated took pictures  to first work out where they were  in the room and then tried again to take an image that would make some sense or look 'normal' :

P449: f2.8 @ 1/15  ISO 400 4mm AWB Flash





P448: f2.8 @ 1/15 ISO 400 4mm AWB Flash

Interestingly, the attendant outside the installation said that many of the images captured were taken at an angle ....I wonder whether this was due to an attempt to make the picture interesting or total disorientation ...good fun though and a very practical and inclusive way of making a point ...

 

P450;  f2.8 @ 1/15 ISO 400 4mm AWB Flash