Contour States

The view from here by Andrew Broadey Discussion: how will exhibition space evolve in future years?

Thursday night saw the opening of a new exhibition at BlankSpace. Titled "The View From Here", the exhibition looks to challenge the audience's perception of art, and the space in which it is displayed.

Drawing from his recent phd work at the University of Leeds, Andrew Broadey has created 3 pieces of work that explore the public's idea of conventional exhibition space, re-imagining the typical aesthetics of gallery space by exhibiting the space as the art, immediately creating a meta paradox in which the viewer begins to ask one's self what objectifies something as a piece of art. Andrew has perfectly questioned the typical approach to art, by exhibiting the space in a different medium he has shown that our view of what art is can be defined simply by the space in which it is exhibited. If this is the case then you begin to wonder if everything is art, simply waiting to be put in a white box room.

As you enter the gallery space you walk towards the first piece on show, "In Display". A series of prints lined along the wall, depicting standard Perspex leaflet trays. This piece documents the typical gallery approach to exhibition of art. The innate object is a standard element to most galleries, littering walls with printed information about what it is one is seeing. How is it that something as creative as art is always displayed in such a mediocre, mundane, and repetitive space.

As you walk up the stairs you are welcomed by a series of white box rooms accompanied by a series of objects. Titled "Shadow Box", these rooms explore the power exhibition spaces have in controlling the viewing experience, and helping define the art on show. Included in the spaces are a lamp, a Perspex cube and a pictogram. The 3 components depict the capacity that they have at displaying art.

The final piece, titled "Day Room", is a site specific catalogue of the space in which the art sits. By photographing the space periodically throughout the day, Andrew has managed to create a piece of art out of the room in which the art is displayed. The accumulation of the ever changing light within space is displayed in a gridded format, methodically outlining and breaking down the light conditions of space.

Andrew was kind of enough to let me discuss with him about his approach to the art on show and a further exchange about how what makes and defines the space of an art gallery. We talked about the progression and evolution of gallery space. If you think to say 300 years ago, art was part of the home, displayed on the cluttered walls of great estates, hung above the mantle piece to act as a focal point. Then art expanded and a bigger audience was needed, galleries appeared, a space in which to display art. Andrew discussed how it wasn't until the mid 20th century that what we now understand to be a gallery space, the typical "white box", came in to use. We began to talk about what it is that defines a gallery space, is it as simple as putting a collection of art in one place, or does the space have to be as subtle and yielding that no focus is taken from the art.

Street art posed an interesting debate as to wether the wall in which it is painted is the gallery, therefore meaning the world is one giant canvas, waiting to be painted. Land art is a significant art form as the land becomes both the art and the canvas, a strikingly similar premise to that of Andrew's work. There is a mass convention of what exhibition space should be, and perhaps it's form is the essence of what art needs in order to be truly appreciated, but is it the end to the development of the space?

What does the future hold for the space in which art is exhibited, is the white box the final solution, or will it be replaced or kept and a new gallery space invented with the evolution of new mediums for art. How can galleries expand from where they are now, without losing site of their true purpose, the positioning of art for all to see?

I recommend on all accounts a trip down to BlankMedia's BlankSpace, and have a look round out Andrew Broadey's work, it makes one question the space in which one views art. It is on show until the 7th of August.

BlankSpace is at 43 Hulme Street, Manchester, M15 6 AW.

By Jack Penford Baker

All images copyright to Jack Penford Baker

Manchester This Week

Week commencing the 27^th of September.

Look Up Manchester seeks to relay architectural news to the masses, but things are to change. We will set ourselves free from the containment of architecture and look to bring you the news of design and architecture in and around architecture. As with the likes of Zaha Hadid and her fashion orientated designs, or even Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona chair, architects have always sat themselves right in the middle of the world of design, it only felt natural for us to do the same.

This week see’s 2 events in Manchester capitalising on the ever growing art and design culture scene. First is the opening of a new exhibition in the EASA HQ named 36 EXP. The second is a retrospective look at Puma’s design history, cleverly housed in a single van that transformers into an outdoor showroom.

36 EXP describes itself as a photographic exhibition involving 36 artists and 36 contact sheets. Taking the original properties of an original film that takes 36 exposures, artists were invited to submit their personal response to an entire film of photographs. The step back to older techniques offered the entrants to mix an amalgamation of modern ideas with old process.

The work on show expresses a missed art, the softness of old film is heavily underestimated in todays digitally centered world. Film’s use is decaying more as each day passes, cinemas are beginning to retract 35mm projectors in favour of modern digital projectors, and the art of the projectionist is almost extinct. 36 EXP will hopefully show the contrast of film to the sharp unnatural digital alternative through the artists’s carefully created exhibits.

The exhibition opens on the 30^th of September at 6:30pm till 9:00pm and looks to be an interesting display of photographs. Find out more at http://36exp.visualsociety.com/.

PUMA are currently in Manchester with their REWIND FORWARD van. The scheme looks to showcase an archive of designs in a contemporary way. Once in location the van disassembles then reassembles as a multifunctional “Pop-Out” shop. Included within the space once erected are seating, storage and TV screens. Music is to be played to passers by and there will also be a chance to win archive products of Puma.

The van will be present at the NCP on Bloom Street between the 28^th and 29^th of September. Find out more at facebook.com/puma.