THE RETURN of H.M.S CHALLENGER
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Here is the invitation for the new show we will be having on the 16th of June at the B&B Project Space in Folkestone. The choice of the title was inspired by looking at 19th Century European scientists and explorers, who used to travel the world on ships documenting all their findings. The ship's parties were composed of scientists, botanists, cartographers, draftsmen, historians, all there with the intent to document and bring back new and interesting discoveries. The methods used during that period to document such finding was quite subjective to say the least. People like Ernst Haeckel produced thousands of illustrations and theories, influenced by Darwin, all which at some stage have been discredited. Still, the illustrations he produced remain fascinating and a reference point for many scientists.
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H.M.S Challenger was one of the more well known ships, involved in numerous expeditions around the world.
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Proposal: B&B Project Space, 16-30 June 2007
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The aim of the exhibition is to investigate the elements of repetition and growth in image construction. Both terms can be interpreted in numerous ways; repetition as a mechanic process of infinite reproduction, of exponential development, a reinforcement of an idea. Growth too presents itself in various forms; from an organic evolution which emulates that of organisms; the rationalized constructs of mechanized growth; the reasoned development of ideologies. The three artists will be presenting a body of work which interprets these two terms in various ways, referencing the subjects of science and history, with the intent of considering what value and relationship the ideas of growth and repetition have to their own practice.
Ceci Lombardi will be presenting a series of paintings and monographs. The images she produces develop in the same ways as organisms such as protozoa, bacteria, and jellyfish, to name a few. Just like these soft-tissued creatures, her paintings begin from abstract membranes of visual information, which slowly mature and acquire distinct figurative features and odd articulations, defined with the use of pencil marks, watercolour, and gouache. The choice of presenting a selection of her work in a series of monographs is inspired by 19th Century biologist/philosopher/artist Ernst Haeckel and his book Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms of Nature). As a scientist, he undertook various expeditions to study numerous life-forms. He later documented his findings in a series of approximately 1000 illustrations, which later were used in Kunstformen der Natur. Ceci Lombardi works in the same way, carefully studying and documenting her constructed ‘organisms’ in a series of books.
Victoria Foster will be using the gallery as an installation space to present a collection of hand-crafted porcelain barnacles. Barnacles are often found in a sort of artificial symbiosis with man-made structures, often to the structure’s detriment. In this case these barnacles will be growing in the very crevices of the gallery space, attaching themselves to the floor, wall, and other structures present in the space. The choice of using barnacles as the subject of her work raises many interesting points. These organisms are fouling agents to their surroundings. They produce a dual state of growth and entropy in their dwellings. They are hazardous to the maintenance of many structures, like boats and fishing equipment, but also create fertile grounds for the growth of other natural organisms. In the exhibition, the barnacles will find place in neglected spaces (corners of the rooms, cracks, old pieces of furniture), slowly chipping away at the space, but at the same time providing fresh points for investigation.
Mark Hayward will be presenting a series of posters and a collection of his video animations. His posters are of a series of navigational ships used during the 18th century, documenting the evolution of them through time. Each print is of a bigger and better boat, which now, seen from the point of view of the 21st century, seem redundant. These diagrams, symbol in their time of positive progress, merely document a series of ships which no longer exist and no longer have any purpose. The images change from a positive icon of development to a historical artefact. Marc’s videos are simple 2 to 3 second animations which are put on a loop for a few minutes. Accompanied by a soundtrack, these animations seem to repeat endlessly and tirelessly. In this case, repetition is used as a tool to wear down the image, which abstracts itself to a tick of a metronome.
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