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A glass distinction
by Angela Kelly1/12/2006
AN unusual opportunity to find out more about a ground-breaking
exhibition, which starts today (Friday) at the Cornerhouse in
Manchester city centre, is on offer on the internet tomorrow.
Curator and writer Rob Tufnell will be in conversation with
controversial artist Nick Crowe at 2pm, which can be watched
afterwards at http://streaming.cornerhouse.org/
NickCroweInConversation
They will be discussing the exhibition Commemorative Glass and the
medium is particularly apt because Crowe has worked extensively
with digital media, translating information from the internet into
solid but transparent work.
The artist, Barnsley-born but now based in Manchester, works in a
wide range of media including film, video and sculpture as well as
the internet.
He has a specific interest in glass as a contemporary artistic
material and has created work ranging from large-scale sculptures
to delicate hand-engraved panels.
Crowe uses the diverse material properties of glass to explore
issues relating to how we remember, from personal expressions of
loss to momentous political and historical events like the Gulf
War.
He questions the prevailing perceptions held, in particular about
the way the media presents events, and Commemorative Glass reflects
this - looking into the role of technology and its contingent
effects on everyday life.
This major exhibition, which runs until January 28, will feature a
selection of new and recent works, many of which have never before
been shown in the UK.
This includes two new sculptures produced especially for
Cornerhouse.
The Beheaded is a memorial to all the people who have been beheaded
in the first five years of this century.
Crowe searched the internet extensively to discover media reports
of 68 cases, which could be a fraction of the number of actual
victims of this brutal form of killing.
The result is an equal number of headless glass figures, hanging
together in a mobile. Each element is made of hi-tech material used
by the space industry, including dichroic glass and Kevlar
thread.
Another large sculpture, The Campaign For Rural England, places
into the gallery a life-size replica of the bus shelters found in
towns and cities throughout the UK.
In this version, the plastic and metal parts are replaced by
English oak, and the laminated glass has been smashed to form a
beautiful mosaic as a comment on vandalism within the city and the
cultural divergence between "rural idyllic landscapes" and the
chaos of the urban environment.
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