SPACE

Scott Brown

A literary theme pulls this show together, somewhat surprisingly. I'm not sure if this was deliberate. In the main room Nick Laessing's long textual excerpts and spoken word audio clips explore the 'free energy' movement. In another room, Adam Thomas attempts to present language as artistic objects. And finally, you have The Librarians project - possibly the best part of this group show - opening eight very personal windows into the world of collecting things. (I must admit that I unintentionally overlooked Woodeson's work in the foyer.)

The title of Nick Laessing's exhibit, Light /Reading, is a double play on words. His reconstruction of a 'free energy' machine supposedly powers neon ring-lights that illuminate accompanying texts, which themselves are anything but light reading. The show largely results from investigations into 'free energy' Laessing conducted for his Permacultures project. As the world faces an energy crisis, it's a timely subject.

As I understand it, 'free energy' is a path of scientific research into ways of creating self-sustaining electricity generators, originating in the work of scientist Nikola Telsa. In particular, Laessing draws our attention to aspects of the movement that are esoteric and/or cultish. As it is now commonplace for us to question the authority of scientific research whilst simultaneously placing so much faith in it as a force for progress, Light/Reading seems to be asking questions about the relationship between science and belief. It bubbles with intrigue, unlike Adam Thomas's part of the show, colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

If you're going to explore concepts of language and literature in any other way than by writing, you've got to have a pretty formidable approach. Thomas doesn't really seem to. For example; books hang on the walls, like pictures, in glass fronted frames with sections skilfully cut away from their covers and the following pages, creating windows onto specific words. A book called 'What is History' now has the phrase 'causation in history' visible alongside the title.

I don't really know why and found it hard to see this as anything but a gimmicky act of vandalism, possibly because the resulting art is so much less interesting than what it's inspired by and made from. It certainly didn't make me think about language in 'phenomenological, aesthetical, historical, art canonical, mythical and personal ways,' as it was supposed to. In fact, none of Thomas's exhibits lived up to this astonishing claim. He has a fascinating subject within his reach, but seems to have bitten off more than he can chew. The Librarians, on the other hand, is richly revelatory.

Eight TV screens lined up in row can be a pretty intimidating proposition but Maria Benjamin and Ruth Hölfich's project is immediately engaging, insightful and easily digestible. Each screen plays a short video about an individual's collection - be it vinyl, books or bric a brac - taking the form of a semi-structured interview held in the collector's home. We hear their unique responses to the idea of what their library or collection is, means and how it is used. In an age where databases rule, this project reveals the deeply personal and human obsessions that underpin them. Its a simple idea, executed with deft skill, that feels effortlessly intelligent. Fascinating stuff.

Nick Laessing, Adam Thomas, The Librarians, Ben Woodeson was at Space between 19th March - 17th April 2010. For more information see the Space website.