toandFRO
3rd Sept-5th Nov 2016
Neville Gabie`s practise is inspired by a response to specific locations and situations which often involve working collaboratively with the communities and environment itself.
This exhibition shows a variety of works undertaken by the artist and brings together film, performance, drawing and sculpture. The gallery was carefully curated so each of Gabie`s `projects` had their own space, the audience viewed them individually but could sense the connection between as you walked from room to room.
AFLOAT
(2014, running time 27 mins)
Recorded over 18 months, this film documented the construction of a St Ayles skiff and a season of rowing by the tiny remote community of Coigach in the West Highlands. Whilst it showed the building of a boat and the training regime of the rowers it also highlighted the collective endeavours of the whole community involved. Gabie was fascinated by the bond between these people, he both envied and was terrified of it as it reflected his own sense of rootlessness.
Link to short trailer of film
https://vimeo.com/108889652
Gabie also commented later that he wanted the film to be `tactile` reflecting the relationship between person, tool and object, echoing his own background in sculpture. I could relate to this, I feel the `doing and making` is as much apart of the experience as the final outcome.
Exploring and understanding the possibilities brought about by ones involvement.
EMAILING ANTARCTICA
(2008/09-2012)
During one of Gabie`s projects he was based in Antarctica leaving his wife Joan at home. As a way of `exploring this experience` Joan drew daily, either in response to an email from Neville or of her own everyday observations. Over a 3 month period, 95 emails and 95 drawings were produced resulting in a fascinating visual account of their time apart.
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| Some of the drawings made. |
I was really intrigued by this idea of exchange, a visual response from a written account and how we interpretate this. It is perhaps especially relevant in today`s world texting, snapchat and the use of emoji`s etc.
This display also included the film `Wide-eyed and Legless` which was made on board the ship whilst Gabie was travelling to Antarctica. This was another concept I liked, the physical/visual account of a journey in motion overlaid on the landscape.
To watch edited clips follow link
https://vimeo.com/67211248
COLLECTIVE BREATH
(2014/16)
During the 2014 WOMAD World of Art festival, Gabie collected the breath of 1111 festival goers and transferred it into a pressured tank. This was later released at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station on the West coast of Ireland where the sound produced was recorded.
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Photo of tank with components of the instrument used to play breath. In the background
there was an audio playing of the released breath. |
As part of this postcard`s with a photographic record of the event and a link to the film of the Collective Breath release was posted to all the contributors- what a brilliant gesture!!
If your interested in finding out more follow the link
http://www.nevillegabie.com/works/womad-2014-collective-breath/
SEMRA
(2011/2014, running time 27 mins)
This film forms part of a series of works Gabie made during his residency at the Olympic Park in London. It recounts the personal life of Semra Yusurf, a bus driver on the Olympic site and also a passionate swimmer. Gabie invites her to be the first person to use the new pool and swim some 1270m which is the same distance as her daily bus route on site.
To watch the film follow link below
I was interested in what other projects the artist had undertaken during his Olympic residency and found this very `wacky` video of Gabie attempting to sit on ALL 69,000 seats of the stadium!?! Gabie stated "as one person in a vast space, I was wondering how someone could measure the scale of it-sitting on all the seats seemed to be one solution"
This is worth watching, it`s called `Every Seat in the Stadium` and
shows the ridiculous lengths we go to for art sake?!?
EXPERIMENTS IN BLACK AND WHITE
Two films were shown forming part of an on going series that seeks to explore the qualities and implications of 4 materials ,oil, chalk, glacier ice & air. Gabie`s time spent with scientists of the Cabot Institute inspired him to create his `own experiments` to gain a physical understanding of the materials through cutting, dragging, melting etc. His performances highlight the cultural, physical and political context of a situation/landscape, making it as much apart of the work as the materials itself.
The film below was shown on a split screen, on the left we see the artist pushing a block of ice on a dirt track picking up particles, this leaves a trace of it`s journey on both the ice and track. On the right we see the quick play of Gabie standing on the ice for
8 hours! Here you watch the passing of time as the ice melts almost cleansing itself, ultimately giving the dirt back to the earth.
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Experiments 13
(South Africa, 2014) |
To watch the film follow the link
https://vimeo.com/166934544
The second film was a new works filmed in a former steel plant which shows the artist balanced on a stack of furniture which he cuts away from beneath him. What was interesting about this is Gabie`s precarious situation and the uncertainty of what happens next with the large furnace chute looming above as he saws at the wooden objects below him. This feeling of imminent danger is further heightened by the audio unfortunately I can`t find any footage on internet so you`ll just have to head to The Pier and see/listen for yourself!
As part of the `Experiments in Black and White` series, Gabie produced chalk performance drawings. These were a response to the mathematicians he had observed working rapidly over large blackboards calculating complex equations in a language unfathomable to him.
So especially for the
`toandFRO` exhibition at The Pier, he created a new
chalk drawing in front of a live audience!!
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| Gabie in action!! |
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Finished result!
I`ve never been to a live `art`performance before and I can`t say I particularly enjoyed it. There was something quite uncomfortable observing Gabie as he `tolled` with the heavy chalk and the silence of the audience didn`t help. In the quietness of the room all you could hear was the low scraping noise of the chalk and Gabie`s labored breathing. Whilst watching him I wondered what was he thinking about being watched and then transferred that back on myself , I did have a `to and fro` of emotions but nothing really positive and after speaking to someone else who found it meditative it made me question human nature/personality and how we`re all so different!!
(Perhaps something to consider for a future art project? Ahh there`s a positive!!)
His chalk drawing is `Experiments 7`and can be seen on link below
https://vimeo.com/70326128 |
Gabie`s performance was followed by a discussion session with arts writer Moira Jeffrey where the audience could join in and ask questions. It was very informal and he spoke briefly about each of the projects in the exhibition and was open to any questions asked. Unfortunately I had to leave before the end of the discussion and was a bit disappointed as he was just about to answer the question why he wore a formal suit during his performance so if anyone heard his reply please get in touch and tell me!!
Overall I was really glad I went to this exhibition, Neville Gabie is a very experienced artist and he has it opened my eyes to the many possibilities in conceptual art.
Some more links to Neville Gabie`s work
http://www.pierartscentre.com/current-upcoming-exhibition/13/7/2016/3ihn59m807xg8y1kiibjba32y6ms8p
http://www.nevillegabie.com/
