Tim Long, Blindfold
A rather productive trip to Broadstairs last Friday, to catch the private view of Tim Long's show "Blindfold" (which closes Wednesday). I need to sort through the photos - it took me long enough to find the connection cable, which natural turned up in the safe place in the camera case. I got to track the Viking Coastal Trail from the point I abandoned it in 2008 down to the Windsor Cinema. I got to find a point of literary inspiration, to which I will return, photographically in due course. And I got to see Tim Long's exhibition.
With most sculpture and art, you look rather than touch, but here the emphasis is on touching and (hence the title) wearing a blindfold. Various objects hang from a central pole, and you are invited to feel them whilst wearing a hood over your head. This of course unleashes all kinds of feelings - the loss of power, SM fantasies, those photos of hooded prisoners ... but what is striking is the increase in tactile experiences, and the weight of the objects. A similar object to the one felt here (I forget its title) actually feels heavier (I couldn't lift it) when you are blindfolded.
The curious thing is the way the pieces fit into the venue - the whitewashed wood feels as if it is growing out of the venue, with the differing coloured woods of The Old Lookout Gallery. If the wood were painted bright colours, I think it would feel alien, whereas here it is yet another odd case of the way the space imposes on its insides.
In addition there is a blindfold with fake eyes - very uncanny - and a mirror box, "Family Tree" into which you look and see infinity - and your own eye looking back at you. I've seen a similar idea at Tate Liverpool (I forget the artist) but it's none the less sublime for that.
A lot of the tourists who wandered in and out of the venue look bemused - few where willing to try the hood on (phobias coming to the fore) but it undeniably has an impact.
Crossposted from http://stares.dreamwidth.org/3822.html, part of my photography blog. Please comment at http://stares.dreamwidth.org/3822.html?mode=reply.
With most sculpture and art, you look rather than touch, but here the emphasis is on touching and (hence the title) wearing a blindfold. Various objects hang from a central pole, and you are invited to feel them whilst wearing a hood over your head. This of course unleashes all kinds of feelings - the loss of power, SM fantasies, those photos of hooded prisoners ... but what is striking is the increase in tactile experiences, and the weight of the objects. A similar object to the one felt here (I forget its title) actually feels heavier (I couldn't lift it) when you are blindfolded.
The curious thing is the way the pieces fit into the venue - the whitewashed wood feels as if it is growing out of the venue, with the differing coloured woods of The Old Lookout Gallery. If the wood were painted bright colours, I think it would feel alien, whereas here it is yet another odd case of the way the space imposes on its insides.
In addition there is a blindfold with fake eyes - very uncanny - and a mirror box, "Family Tree" into which you look and see infinity - and your own eye looking back at you. I've seen a similar idea at Tate Liverpool (I forget the artist) but it's none the less sublime for that.
A lot of the tourists who wandered in and out of the venue look bemused - few where willing to try the hood on (phobias coming to the fore) but it undeniably has an impact.
Crossposted from http://stares.dreamwidth.org/3822.html, part of my photography blog. Please comment at http://stares.dreamwidth.org/3822.html?mode=reply.