So, today I was walking by the river in Bristol and finally went to see Version Control at Bristol’s Arnolfini, which is running to the 14th April.
It is well worth taking a look at what has been put together.
The space is just filled with an exciting mix of work, all to get ready for its visitors to get a tasty slice of what is happening with performativity and all its potential. Showing both live activities, painting, video and sculptures for you to take your pick!
The works share an interest in the potential of objects and images to represent actions and social processes, and how the apparently our stable world of ‘things’ and the time-based idea of performance interact, influence and determine each other.
I felt that there was something pretty exciting being said, in re-using existing materials or ideas, something that is always current for the way we are . Looking closely at our current visual economy and digital media. The increase in the power and ease of connectivity with “the cloud” and then what that means or us as the viewer is something that makes me feel as if something BIG is on our horizon. Which in turn makes me question the issue of the possibility of originality of any imagery-how do we handle this hot potato of image up-cycling and reproduction?
A great piece of work worth clapping your eyes onto that encompasses things for me, is a piece in the opening foyer of the building. A projected film and ongoing project by Oliver Laric Versions in which these issues are brought together with a kind of clarity and witty visual narrative. Picking apart the way we appropriate from one thing to the next and that there is no escaping it.
The images contain scenes from animation-movies which use the same rendering routine for different movies, and parallels of Greek sculpture and the following of Roman “copies”. Laric’s video proposes a potted history of appropriations, clashes and marking the evolution of the image in Western art and design, and is itself purely fabricated from found images:
“I don’t see any necessity in producing images myself — everything that I would need exists, it’s just about finding it.” (Laric)
For more information, Click HERE.
