Finding interesting ways of presenting video-art is never easy. Lisson Gallery's summer exhibition, 'Performance/Audience/Mirror', aims to step away from the 'uncomfortable chairs in a dark screening room' concept by reaching outside the walls of the London gallery through a programme of live, online screenings designed to provoke world-wide debate. This virtual element 'not only allows global access to the exhibition but also highlights the democratic nature of film while calling into question issues facing artists who work in this discipline', explains curator Emma Gifford-Mead.
The show's title is drawn from Dan Graham’s 1977 performance of the same name, at De Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. Contrasting the web screenings, the exhibition also makes use of an intensely intimate, gallery-bound viewing installation, in the form of Graham's 2001 work, Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shōji Screen Version, where the 'audience' third of the exhibition is held. The pavilion shows a range of films from the 1960s to the present day on a screen encased between two-way mirrors and Japanese-inspired shōji panels. Films can be viewed from inside or outside of the pavilion, along with any gallery-goers who might be exploring inside – so audience members become an integral part of the viewing experience, as opposed to those who might be watching at home on their laptops.
The latter two sections, 'performance' and 'mirror' are more traditional in layout, but they feature some of the exhibition's real gems. These include the UK debut of a darkly comic claymation, Worship (2016), by Swedish duo Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, and the rarely seen SPEAK. by British conceptualist John Latham – a psychedelic, ten-minute snapshot of the 1960s.
The show contributes to London's recent love-affair with technological, performative art (think of Whitechapel Gallery's 'Techtonic Superhighway' or 'Performing for the Camera' at Tate Modern), but also follows an increasing number of exhibitions that include a virtual element, like Bruno Ceschel's app-based photography interactions, and The Supermarket's online gallery space. The result is a winning mix of personal, intimate performances and web-friendly progression.
Graham's pavilion creates an intimate sculptural environment to explore the significance of architecture and space in film, while allowing the audience to more actively engage with the works on view. It is here that the 'audience' section of the show is based. Pictured: installation view of Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shōji Screen Version, by Dan Graham, 2001
Pictured: a still from Performer/Audience/Mirror
The latter two sections, 'performance' and 'mirror' are more traditional in layout, with darkened screening rooms favoured over two-way mirrors and pavilions. Pictured: installation view of Vexation Island, by Rodney Graham, 1997
One of the exhibition's real gems is the UK debut of a darkly comic claymation, Worship (2016), by Swedish duo Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg
Installation view of The Hunt, Christian Jankowski's 1992 performance video piece.
Installation view of How to Appear Invisible, by Allora & Calzadilla, 2008
The result of the show's keen curation is winning mix of intensely personal performances in a web-friendly setting. Pictured: installation view of Telematch shelter, by Wael Shawky, 2008
INFORMATION
'Performer/Audience/Mirror' is on view until 27 August. For more information, visit the Lisson Gallery website
ADDRESS
Lisson Gallery
52 Bell Street
London, NW1 5DA
-
Hyundai is the latest car company to get into robotics: meet the Mobile Eccentric DroidThe MobED is a new product from Hyundai’s Robotics LAB, pitched at last-mile delivery and industrial applications
-
A cubist house rises in Mexico City, its concrete volumes providing a bold urban refugeCasa Ailes, a cubist house by Jaime Guzmán Creative Group, is rich in architectural expression that mimics the dramatic and inviting nature of a museum
-
David/Nicolas raise contemporary craft to a canter at this new Abu Dhabi riding schoolThe Lebanese design duo draw on Emirati equestrian heritage to create two contemporary spaces for ADREA, a new school of classical horsemanship
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s wet, windy and wintry and, this week, the Wallpaper* team craved moments of escape. We found it in memories of the Mediterranean, flavours of Mexico, and immersions in the worlds of music and art
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
-
Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
-
Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
-
David Shrigley is quite literally asking for money for old rope (£1 million, to be precise)The Turner Prize-nominated artist has filled a London gallery with ten tonnes of discarded rope, priced at £1 million, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe rain is falling, the nights are closing in, and it’s still a bit too early to get excited for Christmas, but this week, the Wallpaper* team brought warmth to the gloom with cosy interiors, good books, and a Hebridean dram
