Co-Respondent at Transition Gallery - Part 1
At the far end of the Transition Gallery space is a
set of three shelves. An assortment of objects covers their surfaces. On the
top shelf is a modest stack of books, amongst them: The Great Apes, Animal
Philosophy, Monkey, and The Woman & the Ape. The shelf below
holds little trinket statues and stuffed toys, all monkeys, some Gordons gin,
and some Schweppes tonic. The bottom shelf has 3 DVDs and a scattering of what
look like M&Ms. On closer inspection, they are meticulously modelled from
Plasticine.
The wall behind the shelves is covered in symbols, loose
line drawings painted directly onto the white wall in washy colours, like children’s
wallpaper. The meaning of the symbols is no secret; a definition is painted
below each one in plain English. ‘Yes’ is a capital ‘Y’ painted in lilac. ‘Bite’
is a squiggly violet line, not unlike a row of cartoon teeth. ‘Coffee’ in
green, is formed of two concentric circles, intersected by a line, a coffee cup
and saucer. ‘Hotdog’ is composed of orangey-brown perpendicular lines, the
vertical one hanging down from the other, ending in a hook. It doesn’t in any
sense look like a hotdog. The pattern of representation and non-representation
continues across the wall. The characters are lexigrams from Yerkish; an artificial language developed for use by non-human primates.
The piece continues on the walls perpendicular to the
shelves. Upon each is hung two images, an oil painting on canvas and a white
framed photograph. Composed of few brushstrokes, the paintings portray complex
images. It is hard to imagine that the paint is dry; their surfaces still seem
unstable. Next to them the stark, frozen quality of the photographs is
amplified.
The painting on the right hand wall depicts a hulking
grey gorilla outlined against a turquoise backdrop. His shoulders extend beyond
the edge of the canvas, and he frowns out into the gallery space. Beside him,
in the photograph, is a woman wearing a red dress, face metamorphosed by a pale
green gorilla mask and framed by a mess of black hair. She seems sullen. The
mask reflects the turquoise of the canvas.
The painting on the left wall shows a more coiffured,
urbane gorilla on a mauve canvas. His photographic counterpart is a seated lady
in a green summer dress. She has a mop of fair hair and a flesh tone monkey mask
to mirror the pink canvas. Hands in lap with painted nails, she appears prudent
and unperturbed by this strange scene. The paintings are by Mimei Thompson, and
the photographs Urara Tsuchiya. I ask Thompson about this particular pairing of
monkeys.
[the
painted gorilla] is a European linguistic philosopher, fond of black coffee and
too many cigarettes. He is a great thinker (or thinks he is, in any case). His
companion, in the photo next to him, is very supportive, and dotes on him. Well
- that's how I see it.
In its entirety, the work is titled Monkey Information Centre. In the name
is the implication of an archive-like selection, but upon seeing the work it
becomes clear that it does not resemble a tradition museum. Its material
appears unmethodical and notably selective yet with no immediate agenda. The
impetus behind the particular assortment of objects and works is not coded like
the words on the walls, but more akin to a neighbourhood historical society, a
joyous archive of everything that comes through its doors. Many of the
knick-knacks have an immediate relation to well-known monkeys from science. Lucy, (19641987) a chimpanzee owned by the Institute for Primate
Studies in Oklahoma was fond of a gin & tonic, and Kanzi the bonobo is
known for learning lexigrams at Georgia State University and enjoys M&Ms.
As well as its textural juxtapositions - the
mercurial gorilla paintings play against the static photographs and inexact
wall paintings handsomely – the work holds another pleasing disparity; the
distinction between informational and curated content, and content that has
been created. The culmination of the found factual material, books and DVDs on
the shelves, with the interpretive material, representative paintings and
performative photographs, is what gives the work its title. It’s hard to
imagine now what else a Monkey
Information Centre could be.
On the weekend of the 2-3 March, Tsuchiya and Thompson will be hosting a Monkey
Weekend. With films, readings, discussions, activities, performance, and a
recommended reading list, the event promises to activate the installation,
bringing the Monkey Information Centre
to life for two days.
Travis Riley
16 February - 3 March 2013
Unit 25a Regent Studios
8 Andrews Road
London E8 4QN
This is the first of four texts about Co-Respondent, a show about collaboration which foreshadows the upcoming issue of Garageland 15: Collaboration which will be launched on 19 April 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment