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The Belfry |
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St John on Bethnal Green, 200 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA |
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Where more gifted people cracked by Russell Oxley 13th July - 5th August  Please press on links below to view images - all photography by Ami Clarke where-more-gifted-detail.jpg where-more-gifted-images.jpg press release: There is a portal that may go somewhere. It might work. There is an empty waiting room. It might be busy again. There is a soundtrack. The right music might play. There is a wall. It might be false. There is a film. You might see it. There is a wall. It might be false. There is something on the wall. You might be able to decipher it. There is a barrier. You might be allowed to cross it. There is a light. You might be blinded. There is a light. You might be disappointed. There is a light. You might be enlightened. There is a light. You might be overwhelmed. There is an alignment. You might see. There is an alignment. You MIGHT be saved. There is a light. You might see. There is a light. You MIGHT be SAVED!!! There is a place where more gifted people cracked Russell Oxley is an artist who has worked concurrently as a scenic artist and painter within the film industry for over fifteen years. In this role he has painted over 410 old master paintings and 2000 sets, working with film directors such as Nicolas Roeg, Michael Mann and Roland Emmerich. His recent work includes The Propmakers (MOT). ‘Where more gifted people cracked’ is the title of a song by German duo Phantom/Ghost Smoke and Mirrors. (reviewed 28th July 2007 by Ami Clarke) As an installation, Russell Oxley’s work keeps its distance from the viewer. Shunning the usual immersive experience, you are kept at arms length, forced into the role of audience, behind an ornamental theatre cordon; unable to scrutinise the work up close. He exercises his control in other ways too, and if you happen to walk into the belfry when the lights are off, you may well miss, for instance, the moment when the lights come on, and all is revealed. Should you come across the work when the lights are out, the dimly lit bay of chairs lined up, waiting room style, draw your attention to the hole in the wall at the back, that wanes in and out of a state of infinity, via a neat trick with a set of lights and a mirror. The smoke that emits out of the opening, from a machine round the side, only adds to the theatrical quality. The ‘pair’ to the single red trainer lying at the foot of the mirror, rejoins its discarded, and what looks left behind, other half, on ‘our’ side of the mirror as the lights become lit again. This shoe seems to propose someone may have just left the waiting room, and journeyed to the other side, via the portal in the wall. The use of this hokey trickery of course resounds greater within the context of the belfry, and you wonder if the artist is sincere in his nod towards the after-life. The wall that is not a wall becomes apparent, as the lights come on to reveal the paintwork and the unmistakable line where the masking tape has been removed, showing the MDF construction. The presence of the brick wall, artfully persuasive and convincing amongst the other dusty old walls of the belfry, throws you a line, as its film-set quality is revealed. It throws you a line, but not an explanation, and therein lies Oxley’s objective. The artificiality of this theatrical presence and the use of other types of effects most commonly found on film sets or backstage at the theatre, and as such somewhat overblown in these circumstances, provide a spectacle that is all smoke and mirrors. From his work behind the scenes as a set-painter, Oxley refers to the point in a film, the ‘deal-breaker’, at which your suspended disbelief disintegrates, where you can see the join, as such, and you are no longer happily along for the ride. Adopting the role of prankster, he seeks to provoke the viewer; to demonstrate your gullibility with a nudge and a wink. Oxley only really reveals one thing; that he’s toying with you, your expectations and your pre-conceptions. The deliberate lead in to a set of possible instances, that you may or may not witness, let alone benefit from, or be enlightened by, sets you up for a journey on the road to nowhere. What he seems to be proposing, at most, is a possible inter-zone, where there are no answers and there are no lies. |
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