DD2000: Design Practice - Contemporary Exhibitions 1

Review 2 contemporary exhibitions you have attended recently...one we will visit as a group, one you must visit yourself (600 words).

So I suppose this is HALF that essay, I visited this one myself :3

We went to the Cornerhouse and Manchester Art Gallery last weekend, to visit recent exhibitions for the DD2000 Design Practice section of the course.  I've chosen to talk about the 'Under That Cloud'.  It is better explained in the curator's own words...

The exhibition was really lovely, and I thought how it came about was really interesting - showing how creative energy can be put to positive use.  Often in exhibitions, it's difficult to get a good idea of context and the thought process behind the work.  On one hand that allows people to interpret the work themselves. But having a story behind the work, especially involving an experience shared by all the artists, made this exhibit different and fun to relate to.

The work itself was pretty, and I liked reading about the ideas, all relating to the Icelandic volcano erruption, behind the ornaments.  For example, the pendant below is a combination of an aeroplane, a bird and a cross.  This was supposed to symbolise the conflict between human technology, nature and God - in this way the artist, Lucy Sarneel from the Netherlands, asks 'What force determined whether we got home?'.

 The work seemed to vary between ornamental work and wearable jewellery, colourful and monochrome, patterned or simple, and a wide variety in media.  Regardless,  the difference in format only highlighted the contrasting styles of the artists from all over the world, tied together by circumstance and an interest in jewellery.  Also, the artists were away from their studios and usual working routine when they designed and carried out their work.  In the way what they produced is novel from the creator's point of view, as well as ours, and the constraints on the artist make for a challenge and an unusual outcome.  I think more collaborative exhibitions like this should take place, though maybe with planned themes and constraints on the artists...it's not like you even could possibly plan a volcano erruption for the sake of producing an exhibition, nor should you -.-

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=85