What are art exhibitions like during a pandemic? Whilst we wait for normality to reappear and galleries to open their doors again, creatives turn to unknown territory - exhibiting their works digitally and trying to redefine what it means to experience art...
One Notts gallery, One Thoresby Street, recently went live with a new exhibition, Interstitia: A cyber multiverse which ran from January 25 to February 22. Curated by Adam Grainger and the homepage development by Matt Woodham, the exhibition presented the works of 6 early-career artists, graduates of the 2020 NTU Fine Art Cohort. It was the culmination of Grad Assembly, an online postgraduate project developed by One Thoresby Street.
One Thoresby Street's Graduate Project is a yearly programme, providing access and opportunities to the graduating cohort from project partner Nottingham Trent University. Grad Assembly provided the artists with mentoring in the form of 1-2-1's, discussions, and lectures from members of OTS' artistic community.
Delving into the digital space is a lot different from having pieces on show in an exhibition. Like many of us, the artists had to adapt during the pandemic, develop their practice to the current situation, and find ways to move their art online. They were encouraged to take some of their first steps into coding and web development, enabling them to create online realms.
Standing in a gallery, you get to look at art from different angles, experiencing works in different lighting. Replicating this, part of Interstitia included Ant Clee's work which looks at a painting shown in forms of light and from different angles. The painting's shades alter on each image, showcasing the beauty from many perspectives. As such, you experience the colourful and soft patterns, close to how you would in a physical space - adding depth to the online viewing experience.
Becky Greensides's work was exhibited as a multi-image, multi-video layered piece. Pink fabric stuffed leggy creatures invaded the space and childlike drawings sat over video of water, ducks and greenery. Clicking through, viewers were taken to a spinning wormhole, then to cloudlike figures, and other videos showing elements of nature as if stuck in a strange dreamlike state of walking through the park - reminiscent of an eerie version of your daily lockdown walk.
Jenna Harris's animation explored recent political debates around poverty and free-school meals with a backdrop of the artists neglected home city. We see a character with a scarily elongated kneck and wobbly textured skin. Within the world is our world, and Bojo pops up when the character switches on tv. Combining worlds, the political debate on-screen manifests in the character's world with a fleshy four-legged Katie Hopkins popping up too. Despite being a distorted animation, she still manages to talk, and it's a subtle reminder of how politics, even at it's nastiest, can eventually seep into our reality.
Alex Lennox-Warburton described their work as 'queer bodies, elevated to divine status'. Candyfloss lilac sunset clouds float behind photography and collage, whilst a dreamy soundtrack sets the mood. Created from virtual collaborations with various queer artists in lockdown, viewers could click through to be introduced to each. The photography, sweet colours, delicate movements and hints to social media portray modern queer lives and create an element of escapism. Here, the artists floated freely away from the boxes society has imposed on us.
Lina Vourlou's work vibrated energy like walking into a room where a corner of the multiverse is playing on repeat. The artist described their work as a 'window into an imagined alternate dimension'. On each page, patterns dancing on the screen, mutating into different neverending forms, accompanied by an eerily soundtrack which makes you feel like you're floating in space.
The project was a fusion of the group's conceptual spaces, a multiverse of different paths, personal worlds and utopian potentiality. The exhibition's digital aspect strengthened the exploration of its themes and echoed a current state of mind in which anxiety and information overload contrast escapism and freedom in the cybersphere.
We're looking forward to seeing how more artists and projects continue to extend creativity and innovate art like this in the future.
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