Untitled (Still Life)
An investigation of gallery as site, object & apparatus
An analysis of the production of still life imagery, relocated from studio to exhibition. The gallery exists as site, subject, event and apparatus; in isolation and as a collective.
in time and to make note of the activity that occurs before, after, in-front-of and behind this moment. Situating the arrangement of object within an exhibition context allows for the reading of the still life as an event, facilitating a discussion around duration and temporality.
(1)
A realm within which to situate research
(2)
An entity to investigate
(3)
A temporal being
(4)
A facilitator for arrangement and construction
Untitled (Still Life) posits the still life as a ‘constructed’ entity, taking note of the event of making and the role of the artist’s hand in the production of still life imagery. As a site that is in constant flux, the gallery environment is significant in terms of ‘process’ and ‘doing’. Exhibition and gallery culture in general is something that is temporal in encounter and temporary in construct, and therefore an appropriate place to situate an exploration of flux.
Situating the gallery space as a terrain within which to investigate the still life, Untitled (Still Life) aligns itself in the locale of conceptual art in an attempt to take on the gallery environment as primary material in the conception of and encounter with a body of work. In this way, “context becomes content”1 as the project intends to be both situated in the gallery environment and position gallery as ‘object’. The project exists as an analysis of the still life; accessed via a discussion of ‘doing’ and ‘event’. As something that is typically a planned and curated arrangement, the intention is to acknowledge the still life image as a moment
The project locates itself specifically within the gallery space of Slopes Projects, which sits amongst the fast-paced development currently underway on Smith Street, Fitzroy. Conceived as the experimental sister of commercial gallery, Utopian Slumps, Slopes Projects is particularly relevant in terms of temporality as the site is intended to function as a place for exhibition for only a short amount of time. Available to artists during its transition from paint garage to demolition (and eventually, development), this situation is interesting to discuss in this conversation around flux.
1. Brian O’Doherty, Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space, 15.
As an investigation that encourages the consideration of site as object, the call out for intervention proposals that allow for physical alternations to the space is particularly relevant. While something that is perhaps atypical of the gallery system in general, this act attests to the manipulation of object and will perhaps aid in the perception of the gallery in this way. Untitled (Still Life) borrows a methodology of ‘objecthood’ from minimalist – or ‘literalist’ (Fried, 1967) – sculpture artists as a way of drawing from the existing denotations embed within objects. The way in which things are typically used, specifically within the gallery environment of Slopes Projects; is intended to aid the interpretation of image and arrangement. In relation to this, the project is also concerned with the way context may begin to work in a similar way, shaping how an object is read when encountered in relation to its surrounds. Exploration of construction and flux situated within the context of a gallery space directly informs decisions around collection. Thinking about the way the ‘gallery object’ or ‘gallery apparatus’ is reconfigured with each event, the curated search for object extended to these things – specifically those within Slopes Projects. As a discussion of arrangement, the Untitled (Still Life) references the relationships between object and site as observed at previous events and exhibitions at Slopes Projects:
Lean
Hang
Sit
Mount
Apply
These actions become the ‘code’ from which the project bases its own acts of arrangement. In particular, Untitled (Still Life) is interested in the absence of plinths in favour of existing wall and floor surfaces and the way the shape of the site informs the way objects are arranged and applied to the site. As a platform for research, Slopes Projects has become site, subject, event and apparatus. The exhibition and image making portion of
the project intends to posit the gallery space to be read as an object and consequently, part of this collection of ‘gallery apparatus’. In reference to the ‘installation shot’ the gallery itself becomes subject for the purpose of image making. The photographs select and tightly frame specific regions of the gallery space in an attempt to distort the interior qualities in favour of the object-like. The image making portion of the project takes on this notion of ‘constructing an image’ quite literally. In this instance, the actions being undertaken in the gallery and the objects being acted upon become the subject for the still life. Untitled (Still Life) relocates the still life to a gallery context, positioning it as an event. The project invites the spectator to encounter the ‘construction of an image’ in real time: acknowledging the process of construction and ‘doing’ that occurs. Elements introduced to the space are intended to appear make-shift and temporary – acting out the previously discussed relationships between site and object – in an attempt to reference exhibition phases such as install, exhibit and uninstall at once.
intention of the project in terms of a proposed encounter is to create one of observation. The display of the ‘installation shot’ still life imagery in its original location is intended to further encourage the reading of the gallery space as object. This kind of encounter demands the activation of the viewer; “it is not the object which is important but the way it is lived by the spectator…”2 in order for the project to throw “attention back onto our process of receiving it”3 . The spectator is intended to be ‘decentred’ (Bishop, 2005) within the installation and made aware of their own arrangement in relation to space and image as well as their own act of looking upon things. As a momentary encounter, the notion of flux is revisited in the way the notion of the gallery as object and as a still life can only be understood whilst the viewer holds their gaze upon the particular arrangement. In this way, we might understand “viewing as a form of production”4 ; as the spectator begins to ‘act’ out or upon the work.
While the notion of construction and the temporality of the ‘gallery space’ and the ‘gallery object’ all carry connotations of use, process and action; the relationship viewers often have with these entities is observatory. As a result, the
2. Claire Bishop, Installation Art: A Critical History, 108. 3. Claire Bishop, Installation Art: A Critical History, 53. 4. Bianca Hester, Material Adventures, Spatial Productions: Manoeuvring Sculpture Towards a Proliferating Event, 18.
Untitled (Still Life) Alana Fahey 27/10/2014 alanafahey@outlook.com.au