Blank Media Collective

Neck of the Woods [Exhibition review]

Thursday 25th Feb 2010

Blank Media Collective has excelled itself with their latest exhibition based at the Nexus Art Cafe. Combining multimedia installations, interactive puppet wizardry, spoken word and music, there is something for everyone at this event.

The launch night featured live performances from Blank Media stalwarts John Leyland and Dan Bridgwood-Hill as well as many other diverse artists on hand to bring their creations to life. Denmasons at Denquarters by Taneesha Ahmed and Alex Moore combines the childish activities of building dens and drawing on chalk boards with lofty concepts of new world orders, secret societies and alternative ways of living. With an ideology similar to that of the Stone Masons, or rather a play on the perceptions we have of the Stone Masons, these two artists introduce us to a world that doesn’t involve Championship Manager and Hollyoaks. They discuss a need to change the world and inspire people through nature, and although they are sat outside in a den of their own making, we can recognise the words and feelings elucidated in this film. Who hasn’t sat in the pub with friends and put the world to rights?

Practice I, Formation & Practicing For When We Need Each Other More by Renee Rhodes is the second series of films on offer at the exhibition. Like a flock of birds, a group of people move in formation with each other, almost like they are dancing but not quite. The way they move together is not perfect, but it’s not meant to be. It’s more a reflection of the attempt humans make when trying to move in sync with each other in their daily lives. The result is strange and slightly heartbreaking, and would lack this quality if they were all professional dancers. It represents the desire of people to fit in with other, and the capacity people have of trying something new, regardless of whether they can do it or not.

Is This As Far As You Can Go? By Productofboy displays photographs of what seem to be a quiet, suburban area. However, houses, streets, alleyways are recast as prisons and barriers by the text on each picture. It asks questions such as, ‘Is this as far as you can go? Can you go here? Is this a good place to be?’ It challenges our perceptions of where we can and can’t go, what is safe and what isn’t, and what we mean by community by playing on the fears and anxieties of people who live in cities. There are no judgments cast on whether we are right to feel these fears or not, but rather serves as a reminder that people can be locked by more than keys behind their front doors.

Throughout the evening, Edwyn Butler breaks into spontaneous song, classics by Ray Charles and Bill Withers suddenly crash land on the piano, delivered in a honky tonk fashion. The art lovers gather round Edwyn after he starts playing without warning, and he provides an enjoyable interlude for those in-between installations. Without the usual announcement and tedious banter of a compere, John Leyland and Annette Cookson launch into their tandem poetry performance; a response to the artwork exhibited. Whispered lines from the poem dropped into people’s ears as they weave through the audience towards the stage. With a perfectly timed delivery, strong vocals and insightful statements they give us a moment of words and go. Leaving the audience wondering what to expect next.

Snow/Globes by Lynne Heller is an interactive, multimedia installation based on the concept of ‘Second Life’. She gives the opportunity to become a part of this world of avatars she has created (not to be confused by the film), by taking you on a virtual journey of a comic book world, where snow globes are worn like dresses and the grass is always greener. Until it is experienced and becomes more like Oz. Nar Duell, Lynne’s avatar, goes through a journey of distance and discovery, until she realises there is no place like home.

The untitled artwork of Ryan Campbell gives a ghostly impression of disembodied hands that join together to form one creature. They reach out and hold hands in friendship gestures but the meaning of the piece can be overlooked by the sheer beauty of it. The Mancunian Project by Branka Vidovic-Butler is a work in progress, Branka asks for stories from the attendees, recording them to create a narrative that is born directly from the Manchester community. The Chatter by Fivethreefiveproject is an audio piece combined with a photo album and journal, which allows the listener to add their own drawings of people in the cafe. It takes you through a journey of the Northern Quarter, where you get to meet some of its inhabitants. It plays on the idea of community and the cafe as a central meeting point, encouraging the listener to make eye contact with someone else in the room.

These are just snapshots of some of the art available to view at the Nexus Cafe, but is by no means an exhaustive list. To experience the exhibition in its entirety, a second or third viewing is encouraged to benefit and absorb everything on offer. Even if one thing isn’t your cup of tea, you can be guaranteed there will be something else that is.

This review was written by Liverpool-based independent reviewer Elaine Wilson. For further information about Elaine please visit www.futurelegendmusic.wordpress.com. Photographs Courtesy of Gareth Hacking, garethhacking.blogspot.com

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