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Dialogue - Review
Retro Hollywood Glamour at V&A
A special late night Friday event at the V&A to accompany the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition
Posted: Sep 08 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Preview
A look ahead at the week's art highlights including Josh Lilley, Lisson Gallery, Rollo Contemporary and a More4...
Posted: Sep 06 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
London Poetry Systems at Edel Assanti
The open poetry collective present a night of poetry and new media at the Victoria art space
Posted: Sep 05 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
RIBBONS! (The Shape of an Exhibition)
Auto Italia's temporary project which occupied the park opposite during July and August sketches what is to come
Posted: Sep 02 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
Blood Tears Faith Doubt at the Courtauld Gallery
Two reviews of the show curated by Courtauld MA curators that showed last month
Posted: Aug 31 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
Converse/Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award
The recent emerging artist cash prize put up by Converse, publicised by Dazed and hosted by Stephen Friedman Gallery...
Posted: Aug 26 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
The Marquise Went Out at Five O'Clock
Curated by JottaContemporary and running until 5th September at Edel Assanti Project Space
Posted: Aug 25 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
World Photography Organisation Tour and Talk
The Tate Modern hosts a media tour of Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera
Posted: Aug 17 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Preview
Things to do this week, including new openings at LimaZulu and TOandFOR galleries
Posted: Aug 16 2010 | More...
Dialogue - Review
Philosopher, essayist and art critic Boris Groys argues for subordination of the economy to politics at the ICA
Posted: Aug 13 2010 | More...
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Nancy Fouts show extended until end of July. A must see. 52 Oakley Square, NW1
Scott Brown
Level 1 from Sega's original Sonic the Hedgehog computer game has moved. It's now in Peckham. If you're looking for magic rings, however, you're probably best off sticking to the nearby street markets - this Green Hill Zone, in the Copeland industrial park, doesn't contain any (not that I could find, at least).
OK then, the link with Sega's early work is pretty tenuous, but there is one. Mike Allen and Tim Bouckley's installation at the Hannah Barry Gallery explores the idea of modulating a sensual experience, so suggesting a connection between the artwork and computer games seems reasonable, even interesting. The exhibition flyer makes a quality of this relationship explicit by illustrating Sonic's computerised landscape as one divided into different levels and platforms. If those images look like they'd be at home on a computer screen, the art instillation has made itself look every bit at home in the cold, barren, warehouse space of the Hannah Barry Gallery.
Three platforms, simply constructed out of plywood and topped with cheap grey carpet, sit side by side in the centre of the room. Six smaller wooden islands sit on top of these with ventilation grills on their sides releasing warm air. Above each platform hangs a single speaker playing a selection of spoken-word audio clips. Above the lot are strings of dimly glowing lights. And that's it.
To say that this instillation is visually underwhelming is an understatement. But that's not the point. Green Hill Zone isn't really about what things look like so the artists seem to have spared us the distraction. And, if you just stood and stared at this work of art, it would never make any sense anyway. You have to use it. Sitting on the islands for a few moments, being warmed up whilst listening to some random sound-bite is unexpectedly engaging. With no allusion to comfort except the most minimal use of heat, light and a hard seat, Green Hill Zone distils elements that, imaginably, already existed in the space it occupies. By uniting them around three focal points in the centre of the room it achieves a sense of gravity, quite literally. Often art of this ilk presents itself as a bewildering obstacle demanding analysis. That's not so much the case here, as using the objects articulates the ideas behind their creation. It's minimal, paired back qualities actually help this interaction along, exploring concepts more calmly than coldly.
For me, Green Hill Zone encouraged an inner dialogue about how, with the subtle modification of a few basic sensual elements - space, heat, sound and light - we can profoundly alter the human experience and reaction to something. This is an idea that's been around the block many, many times. All too often, artists let the idea of creating a sensational piece of art get in the way of their original idea.
Green Hill Zone is confidently stripped down to it's essential elements and has a refreshing faith in audience interaction. For all that, it's an admirable effort. However, for some of the same reasons, it's could also be accused of being a tad dull.
Holly White
On a cold and dingy Saturday in the hidden away gallery of Hannah Barry, I was met with three stages, or plinths. Each was structurally identical and consisted of a large box with two smaller ones on top, seats, one under the speaker, one under the heater. The boxes- made of low cost ply and office carpet, along with plastic vents- had a utilitarian feel, and hinted at the platforms in Sonic the Hedgehog, referenced in the title.
The experience of this installation was centred around the audio element. Two out of three platforms were heated and given sound; each had the sort of audio 'hood' one often finds at large museums, which allow the sound to be focused on the person directly underneath. In this case they were fashioned out of steel lamp shades to fit with the trendy Ikea office feel of this work. The sound and the heat moved together, from plinth to plinth, always leaving one in the cold and quiet.
Sitting on one heated platform for a period of time I listened to a segment of The Great Gatsby. The voice was unusually fast and American, and after a few minutes the audio switched and I was met with someone talking about a film, in a similarly speedy style. After a while on that plinth I was eventually left in silence and without heating. So I had to move platforms right?
Not being a major Sonic The Hedgehog player in my youth, I feared I would miss out on some vital references in this piece. I'm told the idea of the game is to jump from platform to platform collecting crystals? And Sonic is really fast right? There is certainly a degree of urgency and pace that is set by the moving audio. The design of the objects and space itself is inoffensive, functional and fashionable. The complexity of the words that were actually being read (I'm told there was also some Wittgenstein) had the potential to overshadow the physical installation, and take most of the concentration of the viewer.
If the Sonic reference was in fact a direct metaphor I still haven't managed to figure it out. This piece definitely enthralled me, and I played on the platforms for a long time; it didn't leave me stubbornly standing on the sideline, like many pieces hinting at interactive fun tend to do to the viewer. This work is visually familiar, and hints at a relational experience (particularly due to the cocktails served at the opening), but the work presents a solitary, and potentially competitive experience.
Green Hill Zone is at the Hannah Barry Gallery until 14th March