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C104
review
Dublin:
Lorna Simpson at IMMA and Laura Gannon at Hugh Lane
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Laura
Gannon:Wordsong, video still; courtesy Hugh
Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art
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Laura Gannon's
Wordsong is a taut exhibition, which takes
as its central theme an exploration of modes of communication
in which the privileged position of language is challenged
by reference to the senses, particularly sight, sound
and touch. Focusing on single figures, the sequence of
four films explores both the public and private realms
of expression. In the first a woman waves, one presumes
a farewell. The movement of her seemingly disconnected
arm, which signals the moment of separation, appears contrived
and ritualistic in contrast to her facial expression,
which registers the whole gamut of emotion associated
with parting. In another film a female figure, whose face
we see frontally and in profile, elicits the failure of
language to facilitate any kind of meaningful connection
between her and a second (male) figure whose features
are seen in the background. This is compounded by a soundtrack
of indistinct words and human utterances, which has been
specially composed for the piece by Ronan Coleman. Here
the tension between the spoken word and the figure's physical
response to an emotional encounter is central, with her
nervous fondling of her lips and her tearstained cheek
signalling her frustration. The snatches of dialogue that
can be deciphered seem to suggest the disintegration of
a relationship, which is based on memory and unfulfilled
expectation.
The more
private aspects of communication are found in the second
and fourth films in which the figure uses physical actions
to denote feelings of anxiety and uncertainty. In the
first of these we are presented with a close-up view of
a female face caressing her lips in an ambiguous gesture
which appears to be primarily sensuous, and even erotic.
The hands proceed to massage the entire face, becoming
more and more frantic so that a suggestion of extreme
anxiety is made. In the final film one sees the naked
shoulders and back of a figure whose shaved head continuously
bows, moving from slow, controlled movements to ones which
become increasingly erratic. Both of these films impart
the feeling of a lack of emotional and psychological control,
which is occurring within the confines of the individual's
private space. The enactment of repetitive rocking movements
and the touching of the face has an internal rhythm, which
is both consoling and unnerving.
The exhibition
is well presented, with a great deal of attention paid
towards its installation as well as to the actual setting
and filming of the artworks themselves. Gannon's figures
are placed in theatrical contexts with strong lighting
and neutral backgrounds. Close-ups of faces and shots
of shoulders and backs reveal little if any incidental
detail. In fact the shoulders when shown are bare, so
that one is made aware of the contrived nature of the
project. This self-conscious artificiality has a distancing
effect on the viewer, which encourages an analytical response
to the scenarios being enacted before him or her. While
this is, one presumes, part of Gannon's strategy, it has
the effect of making a direct connection with the work
more difficult. One becomes aware of structures and parallels
within the exhibition, such as the juxtapositioning of
the single private expression of emotion, and the public
equivalent. Controlled and ritualistic modes of communication
such as waving or bowing are countermanded by the unconscious
touching of the mouth in the other films. The most successful
parts of the exhibition are those in which the dislocation
between the separate senses and parts of the body are
most obvious. For example, the second film in which the
female figure caresses her face is a powerful ambiguous
image in which the physical and the emotional compete.
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Lorna
Simpson: Waterbearer, 1986, framed silver
gelatin print, vinyl lettering framed, 114.5 x 195.5
x 2.5 cm,
private Collection, New York; courtesy Irish Museum
of Modern Art
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Lorna Simpson's mini retrospective
at IMMA contains a cross-section of her work from 1986
to today. There are several overlaps between this show
and Gannon's, most notably the emphasis on physicality
and on multiculturalism1,
but also an attention to aesthetics. Simpson's reputation
as one of the leading African American artists dealing
with issues of race and gender is confirmed in the exhibition,
but perhaps not quite in the way one might have expected.
Her development from photographic works accompanied by
text, which she made in the 1980s, and which are now symptomatic
of that period, develop into pieces in which the richness
of the medium and the imagery bring the viewer in by engaging
with their desire for an aesthetic experience.
Voyeurism
is a strategy which Simpson uses repeatedly as a means
of gaining attention. Ultimately the viewer is denied
any gratuitous satisfaction and thus their expectations
are confounded. In Park and Clock tower, part of
Simpson's 1995 Public sex series, views of public, urban
spaces are accompanied by texts that refer to voyeurism,
sexual intimacy and private trysts. The rich black-and-white
tones of the felt photographs impart feelings of warmth,
the antipathy of the neutral urban scenes, which they
depict. The human body is notably absent. This is a development
from the earlier photographic images of the black female
body, such as Waterbearer (1986), which refer to
both art-historical and mass-produced imagery. Through
the positioning of the figure and the use of text, a simplified
response to the image is challenged.
In her more
recent video work, Simpson seems to have moved away from
the earlier reliance on a conceptual 'gap' between the
artwork and the viewer. In Easy to remember (2001),
she uses fifteen close-ups of lips humming a popular song
familiar from the artist's childhood. The directness of
this work, which evokes racial stereotypes of Negro spirituals,
may suggest, and has suggested to some, that Simpson is
dumbing down her engagement with a dominant mass culture,
and is even succumbing to its emphasis on entertainment.
But perhaps it is more a compliment to Simpson that she
is able to engage the viewer's attention through humour,
intrigue and multi-layered imagery in such a compulsive
way.
Her film
Call waiting (1997) is an example of her ability to use
familiar cinematic devices to challenge our assumptions.
This piece makes obvious reference to film noir, and even
Woody Allen, both in its rich black-and-white tones, and
in its scenario which relies on a sequence of telephone
calls which lead the viewer into a quagmire of sexual
and personal dilemmas, none of which is resolved. The
problems of communication are not affected by the fact
that the characters are from different ethnic backgrounds,
and that three languages are used in the duration of the
film. What it seems to suggest is that language and race
are not the key elements in the failure to communicate
but that the problems arise from a universal human need
to reveal and conceal the truth. Although oblique references
to racial stereotyping are found within the film, Simpson
overrides the familiar Hollywood reliance on clichéd views
of race. The value of this exhibition is the opportunity
it gives to compare the different strategies used by Simpson
to make challenging political art that can also be of
aesthetic interest.
Róisín
Kennedy is a Government of Ireland Research Scholar
at University College, Dublin.
Laura Gannon:
Wordsong, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of
Modern Art, March/May 2003
Lorna Simpson:
Photoworks and Films 1986-2002, Irish Museum
of Modern Art, February - July 2003
1
Article reproduced
from CIRCA 104, Summer 2003,
pp. 76-77.
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| Responses so far |
| Comment 1 |
I appreciate the insights in this article. Where might I be
abe to purchase a print of Lorna Simpson's " Waterbearer"?
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