Tearfully
14/4/07 – 29/4/07
Thurs – Sun, 1-5pm
PV Fri 13th April 2007, 7-9pm
‘We are men who feel all the things that men have felt through the ages.
Our vernacular is in flux, therefore meaning has become unstable within the objects we make. We do not fear this.’
M. Parfait
The sound based objects, paintings and paper constructions in Tearfully offer variations on romantic themes presented in the light of our current cultural state. Examples of these variations include romantic love, the romance of technology and ‘progress’, and the tragic, yet alluring, romance of failed idealism.
The chosen works and their varying media intersect through this shared thematic interest. Visual pieces are viewed under the perceptual influence of the noise/sound created by other works. The supplementary nature of the audio pieces explores new avenues in previously autonomous, static works. All three sets of work offer ways, through sense perception, of connecting with people, concepts and feelings. However, a realisation of the dangers in overt idealism has led to the creation of a non-linear dialogue between the, at first sight disparate artworks.
The series of paintings, Oh sweet name you’re born once again for me by Patrick Galway, creates a recurring narrative within the show, using elements that function by means of recognizable reality. What interests here is purely the subjective aspect of perception, this subjectivity that we each hold to be so dear to our hearts allows personal realities to keep their truth intact. Hope has saturated the artworks presented to the point where it has become an intrinsic facet.
Iain Rayner’s paper constructions confront the romance of Modernism’s defeated idealism. This is not expressed through irony or sarcastic mockery, but via a celebration of magnificence in folly. Some things are destined to fail, but none the less compelled to follow their course. Well-intentioned pioneers have left legacies, men and women who struck forward with enthusiasm and intelligence but these are devoted individuals whose cause is dead. These legacies are left to mix with the compulsions and desires of the living. Logic, compassion and desire all meet in the romance of the present.
The audio work Radio DJ presents two radios that appear to be tuned into separate channels creating a somewhat conflicting soundscape. At particular points in the fabricated broadcasts both audio transmissions become synchronised through tempo producing a new musical composition, harmonising the sonic space and making the shift from noise to sound, which can be rationalised by the perceptual shift from hearing to listening. This action is the cornerstone of the dialogue constructed within the exhibition. Not just a dialogue between artists but between objects and people.
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