JUMP
Clea van der Grijn
Perspective and Vision in Cléa van der Grijn’s Jump No definition of art can be based upon an examination of artworks, just as no definition of reality can be found where we would naturally look to define a thing, at its instance of manifestation in the world. Arthur C. Danto makes this observation in relation to Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes, noting that, “since any definition of art must compass the Brillo boxes, it is plain that no such definition can be based upon an examination of artworks” (Danto 1981: vii). The paradoxical challenge of deflecting the gaze of the viewer from the artwork through the artwork itself is central to the task of the artist, and Cléa van der Grijn’s immersive exhibition Jump explores this challenge, deflecting the viewer’s gaze away from anything preconceived and definable, taking them by surprise and causing them to be present at the moment of discernment in the process of its becoming, a process in which the viewer is made complicit without prior consent. A moment, of course, while implicitly being of time, is unquantifiable in terms of linear time. Jump is van der Grijn’s latest work, an installation made up of neon, paintings, and an ambitious film work directed by van der Grijn and created with collaborators Joseph P. Hunt, Michael Cummins and Ciaran Carty, and on view at the Mermaid Arts Centre (1st October to 3 November), Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (24th November to 5th January), Courthouse Gallery and Studios, Clare (18th January to 23rd February), Solomon Gallery, Dublin (8th – 30th March) and the Hamilton Gallery Sligo (12th April – 11th May). A beautiful giant pod in the shape of a bento box, located in the same space as the paintings, holds the experience of the film while in turn being held by the paintings and holding them in its orbit. The outside is a smooth surface of lacquered poplar plywood, and the shape, inspired by traditional Japanese lunch containers, is both formal and fluid; simple, stylish and practical. A countdown clock invites the viewer to enter the cave-like space and the experience is shared with a small group of people. The blackout and curved space create a total focus on the moving image and sound at the interior, while elements of the soundtrack bleed out into the gallery space, resonating with other elements of the exhibition. The way the different elements of the exhibition relate is as important as any individual element. The pod holds the experience of the film that is central to the work at the centre of the work. It is not separate: although in a space of its own, it is held by the paintings that surround it on the walls. With the paintings, depicting separate parts of the body which can typically be seen through the eyes, as well as parts of the body that can’t, including the eyes themselves, the viewer remains ‘up in the air’, unable to form a complete picture of any(thing) in particular. The pod in contrast provides an immersive experience, and the viewer feels close to, held by, and ultimately in the grip of the film; they cannot look away. This creates a strong sense of the move from known to unknown and unknowable; of going inside, away from materiality, away from what we can know in an overlying sense and into that pool of what is more, both to reality and to ourselves, including what is unconscious. The pod holds the experience of the film in such a way that it offers the same potential experience to the viewer wherever they may be viewing it. The importance of this can be understood relative, not just to the recurring themes of van der Grijn’s work, but also to the way these themes relate and what is left unexpressed, undefined; the spaces in-between. Themes of time, space, perspective, memory and perception (the elements we use to construct our experience in the world) have previously been central to van der Grijn’s work, along with the question of where this construction occurs, some’where’ in-between: Reconstructing Memory, Liminal Spaces, Origen, Chance, Moment(ous) are some examples. With Jump, these
themes remain; however, it is in-betweenness that predominates, together with a way of looking: vision. From the moment of entering the exhibition, the viewer is drawn to look. From the neon sign in van der Grijn’s handwriting, whether noun, name, invitation, command, or indeed all four, the Jump(ing) permeates the experience for the viewer. The word in neon, what is hinted at in the paintings, what is shown in the film, but mainly what the viewer is initially invited, and ultimately compelled to do. The viewer is drawn to look within a space that is neither here nor there, inside nor outside, conscious nor unconscious, and once attention is gained, cannot look away. If we cast back to van der Grijn’s ‘Self Portrait’ from (date and reference), we have a sense of what is to come: a photographic still of the artist, unconscious during an operation on her eye, eyelids pinned back, the eye wide, unflinching and unable to flinch, both due to the artist’s state of unconsciousness and the mechanical restraints. The fact that the physical eye is out of action in that moment only serves to highlight a deeper vision, the kind of vision that, once realised, is no longer a matter of choice; we cannot tear our eyes away, even if we close them, become blind, unconscious. As van der Grijn has pointed out, “they are the first part of the body to go on death”. This is clearly an important theme in the film. The use of van der Grijn’s own eyes as props serves on many levels. Like moving into a darkened room, it takes a while for vision to adjust. The protagonist in the film reaches out for the new eyes, but they are not just new eyes for the blind/unconscious/dying/dead to see through, intuitive eyes, eyes of and to the soul; they are also the artist’s own eyes, literally, and by extension they are ours. Van der Grijn invites us to look at what she sees, but she takes a step beyond deflecting out gaze by pointing. She invites us right in and allows us to look through her very eyes. This space in-between, together with this way of seeing, is the space of art, of trauma, of life in its terrifying and glorious immediacy; it is the space where words fail, where we are arrested, awestruck and dumbstruck. It is Walter Benjamin’s ‘dialectics at a standstill’, his ‘Nowtimes’ (Jetzeiten), Augustine’s cross-roads between linear time and the eternalness of now. Juxtaposing artforms and playing with themes of perception, time, space and memory, Jump leads the viewer into a space where they come face to face with life in a way that is perhaps only possible through the lens of death. Dr Veronica O'Neill - Independent Researcher & Translator Essay commissioned by Visual Artists Ireland All works are for sale Canvas Size
152 x 152
€14,500
55 x 55
€ 5,000
27 x 27
€ 2,500
Neon
JUMP
€4,000
Film
Price available on request
Commissioned by Mermaid Arts Centre in partnership with five venues and funded through an Arts Council of Ireland Touring Award; Mermaid Arts Centre (Wicklow) 1st Oct to 3rd Nov 2018 Linenhall Arts Centre (Mayo) 24th Nov to 5th Jan 2019 Courthouse Gallery and Studios (Clare) 18th Jan to 23rd Feb 2019 Solomon Gallery (Dublin) 7th March to 30th March 2019 The Hamilton Gallery (Sligo) 12th April to 11th May 2019 www.jumpfilm.net
www.cleavandergrijn.com
www.thelinenhall.com