Sound & Vision

Balance is at the crux of Haroon Mirza’s multimedia works: the balance between light and dark, between form and context and the sensory balance between sound and vision. While not initially obvious on entering the quiet, light-filled space at The Hepworth Wakefield, these elements are to be discovered by the viewer through agents of familiarity and displacement in the artist’s new body of work.

The award-winning artist was born in London in 1977 – the same year David Bowie’s single, Sound and Vision was released from the album Low - itself, an example of juxtaposing soundtracks between electronic instruments and lyrics. Bowie’s own experimentation, amongst other pioneers in the Sixties and Seventies, to generate electric signals into new ranges of sound is a compelling link between this era of music and Mirza’s contemporary art practice. 

Visitors are invited to don headphones to complement their experience in the two exhibition spaces. A practically default go-to in a technologically-bound twenty-first century, its purpose immerses viewers into a pulsating current of electricity generated by cables of strobe lighting diodes that surround a selection of key works appropriated by Mirza from The Hepworth Wakefield’s collection. 

Haroon Mirza - The Hepworth Wakefield

In the first gallery space, viewers are confronted with a painting by Philip Reinagle (Wakefield Bridge and Chantry Chapel, 1793), an assemblage of sculpture, including a reclining figure by Henry Moore and a trio of empty plinths, previously used to exhibit works by Barbara Hepworth - each paired with their own emitting light in red, yellow, green and blue.

The electricity, which can only be heard by using the headphones, enhances the interpretation of Mirza’s juxtaposition between institutional objects that possess their own individual loaded energy with that of his technical extensions. The simple addition of light creates an aura around the works – a protective force field whose soundtrack is revealed to the unseen eye by the acoustic feed – elevating their status into new contextual realms. The sound, akin to conventional music once viewers are accustomed to its electrical pulses, becomes almost addictive in nature; viewers try to locate rhythm with individual work - its intermittency commands attention as well as a sense of emergency that is simply mesmeric. The cables of light in its informal and formal state guide visitors around the installations that leads to the darker second gallery space.

The same light cables in their primary colours are installed directly onto the walls, flexed into shapes reminiscent of the trapezoidal peaks of the David Chipperfield-designed building, where the exhibition is housed. On one wall sound insulation protects an area where an electrical current sourced from the River Calder’s weir via a hand-crafted antenna – adjacent to the gallery– is transmitted; bridging the interior and exterior energy to an impossible harmony. 

The weir of the River Calder seen from the Barbara Hepworth Galleries

Mirza’s curatorial concern and subsequent ability to use a variety of objects and harmonise them through the language of energy creates a dynamic and accessible aesthetic - a balancing act between object, appropriation and interpretation. His minimal execution only invites greater curiosity and discovery by way of sensory seduction.

Bowie's lyrics asked, 'don't you wonder sometimes ‘bout sound and vision' - an energy that transcends time to the present day. Mirza responds with a visual and acoustic environment of wonder that will have visitors engaging with an institution in a way they never knew they could, affirming sound and vision is nothing without thought. 

Haroon Mirza at The Hepworth Wakefield runs to 29th September 2013. Entry to the gallery is free and includes access to the permanent collection of Barbara Hepworth’s sculptures - visit The Hepworth Wakefield for further information.

The Calder - a new contemporary art space - was launched by The Hepworth Wakefield last month and features the entire body of Youth works by international British artist, Roger Hiorns for its inaugural exhibition. The nineteenth century former textiles mill that adjoins the main gallery is an exciting new platform for contemporary art in the North of England and will host an influential programme of exhibitions and events annually. 

The Hepworth Wakefield

Gallery Walk

Wakefield

WF1 5AW

David Bowie Is... Timeless

After double digit visits, I only wish I had the time to write double digit reviews on the gloriously resonant retrospective in both image and sound, that is The Victoria & Albert Museum’s David Bowie Is exhibition. Curated by Geoffrey March and Victoria Broackes and designed by 59 Productions, the sensory journey of the life and times of Mr David Robert Jones through the bounteous items of memorabilia from the David Bowie Archive can only be described as a privilege, exemplified by the daily queues that have wrapped around the museum every morning in South Kensington since its opening in March of this year. 

Unfortunately time has not crawled, and the curtains will draw on David Bowie Is this weekend. It was impossible not to obsess over a new item after every visit – the detail in both object and curation was a seductive match that undoubtedly fed Bowie die-hards and culture vultures old and new alike. A pioneer across multiple mediums and over many decades in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the exhibition does justice to its iconic subject and amongst the sketches, the art, the bodysuits, the euphoric visual space projecting music videos and concert highlights – I could go on and on – I wanted to share a possibly unnoticed and rare item on display. 

An original roll of wallpaper produced by Laura Ashley incorporating Bowie’s portrait of Lucien Freud was a surprise discovery. The limited edition boxed item of 500 was in aid of the War Child fashion event Pagan Fun Wear and featured in conjunction with the occasional series project Antennae #1, held at London’s Saatchi Gallery in St John’s Wood in 1995. The product is a brazen clashing of quintessential English country chintz from the house of Ashley with the equally brazen character that was Freud, which Bowie portrays in conceptually decorative unison within a Damien Hirst-esque formaldehyde tank in repeat. 

Buyers were provided with a conceptual instruction manual whereby they could recreate the excitement of the fashion event in the comfort of their own home, with various suggestions listed such as ‘Push several tables together to form your own catwalk’ and then ‘Dress up in the clothes you bought from the auction and walk up and down the catwalk’. The art-meets-product wallpaper later features in a photo shoot by Lord Snowdon from 2005 of Bowie striking a pose between two decorative columns that are plastered with the motif. While it may not be the most daring of expressions from Bowie's repertoire, the artwork is just as contemporary today as it was in its conception. The wallpaper and its creator are a timeless embodiment of gifted talent - we can all but hope there are more Golden Years to come.

David Bowie Is unmissable and it's not too late to experience this phenomenal exhibition. David Bowie Is closes this Sunday 11th August 2013 - visitors are advised to arrive early for limited ticket sales on the day. For further information visit V&A. 

Images courtesy of David Bowie and Lord Snowdon

Bowie's Back

2013 is set to be yet another year of British accolade. Drum roll please, or should that be synthesizer, for breaking news about a certain Mr David Robert Jones - or David Bowie for non-Ziggy-super fans - who has released a new single today, on his sixty-sixth birthday. 
Where We Are Now? is the first track ahead of a brand new album, The Next Day, scheduled for release in March. It has been ten long years since the Starman's last album and his reclusive nature, away from both public glare and stage, only fuels the anticipation and suspense of a pending new body of work and hopeful tour dates. Having turned down an invitation to perform in person at the London 2012 Olympic ceremonies, with only a few audio tracks to be contented with amidst the best of British fanfare (The Finish Line, 2012),  glam-rockers can look forward to a celebration of the iconic artist's contribution to art, fashion, film and music at the exhibition, David Bowie is at The Victoria and Albert Museum which will open in March and coincide with the album launch. The first international retrospective of its kind with unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive will incorporate over three-hundred objects - from handwritten lyrics to original costumes and set designs to his very own instruments - charting Bowie's sustained reinvention across five decades.
Collaboration will be one of the themes explored in the exhibition and if today's music video is anything to go by, we can expect Bowie will be back with a bang and on the money with continued interest in contemporary art association and the prospect of a digital renaissance across social media for twenty-first century digital addicts. The Where We Are Now? music video is directed by international multimedia artist, Tony Oursler and features his trademark animated projections onto handmade sculptural figures.

The artist's official website davidbowie.com has been relaunched with new content as well as the official twitter page. 

So here's to a new year and the return of the original new. 

Happy Birthday Mr Bowie!

Find out more about the forthcoming exhibition David Bowie is 23rd March - 28th July at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London here.  

Image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum