C104
Review
Cork: Losing it
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Mary Kelly:
Babyblue, video still; courtesy Fenton Gallery
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It was
a rare treat to see a video show where (a) all the technology
worked, (b) every single piece had something of interest
to say or show, and (c) no piece ran for longer than ten
minutes. Other galleries please copy.
Losing
it, co-curated by Nuala Fenton and London-based Cliodhna
Shaffrey, consisted of videos and screen-based works revealing
the humour, pathos and variety of the best screen-based
art. The artists were Peter Land (Denmark) Yayoi Kusama
(Japan), Mary Kelly (Ireland), N.I.C.J.O.B. (France/Austria),
Sofia Hulten (Sweden), Roi Vaara (Finland), Peter Lloyd
Lewis and Sam Taylor Wood (UK), Paul Pfeiffer and Chloe
Peine (USA). As a counterpoint to the screens, Malaysian
artist Yak Beow Seah was in the gallery for the first
week, presenting Free massage stress-busting neck and
back massage.
The concept
of Losing it - whether for pleasure or through stress
- was the unifying theme. The dionysian aspect of Losing
it was illustrated by Sam Taylor-Wood's Brontosaurus,
a naked man dancing alone with his amazing swinging dick.
Contrast the aggression of hard rock fans in Chloe Peine's
big screen 'mosh pit', the Beckettian humour of Roi Vaara's
Artist's dilemma, the helpless innocence of the
crying baby in Mary Kelly's Babyblue, and the pathos
of 'suicide addict' Yayoi Kusama's fragile lament.
Alannah
Hopkin
Losing
it, Fenton Gallery, Cork, March 2003
