Ed Pien at the Storey gallery
On Friday night I visited the opening of the exhibition Memento by Ed Pien at the storey gallery. I was keen to see the work due to the similarities between the themes and practices involved in his work and mine.
Recently my practice has moved into the realm of instillation and this has caused me to consider the relationship between the work and the space it occupies much more closely. As I progress towards the degree show, considerations of placing and presentation will become increasingly crucial as this will become an integral part of the work rather than a consideration around it.
Pien uses the whole space to give the feeling of an integrated environment . I think the artist was effective at creating a sense of disorientation, (relating to his themes of immigration) through his use of sound, dim lighting, and moving projections. However I would like the viewer to have a more intimate interaction with my work which is why I hope to create small tent-like structures which the viewer must crawl inside, of course this is also advantageous because the space I will have available to exhibit in will be much smaller than the storey gallery!
Memento used both lighting and sound to create a disorientating and slightly oppressive feel. The droning soundtrack was unsettling in a much subtler way than say, including shocking images as part of the exhibition. My soundtrack will also be ambient rather than musical but I hope to use more descriptive sounds such as rushing water and voices, to add to the narrative of the piece.
The way that the artist used video was of particular interest to me as this is a technique which I am relatively new to. The use of moving projections is something which I intend to include in my work, contrasting movement and stillness, safety and danger. The exhibition combines lots of different elements and I was able to look at what worked and didn’t work in relation to this. My own piece will also combine film, sculpture and sound and it is important that I am able to bring together the different elements. This will involve careful stylistic considerations to create a unified aesthetic, however practical considerations of space, use of electrical equipment and accessibility for visitors will also have a bearing on this.
