You’re Surrounded by Me

Chris Alton // Liam Geary Baulch // Naomi Fitzsimmons // Jasleen Kaur // Katherine Midgley
July 29, 2017
 to September 9, 2017

Free & open to all

You’re Surrounded by Me

Opening 28 July 5-9pm

 

Curated by Chris Alton

 

“I am the sea, you’re surrounded by me!” *clap clap*

“I am the sea, you’re surrounded by me!” *clap clap*

 

Clad in royal blue, the Sea Squad chant; pom poms wave and a call for climate justice is issued. Convened by the artist Liam Geary Baulch in 2016, Sea Squad: Cheerleaders Against Climate Change is a multilingual performance, in which Geary Baulch and crew take on the molecular structure and (hypothetical) voice of the sea.

Taking the Sea Squad‘s chant as a point of departure, You’re Surrounded by Me considers that which surrounds us, yet frequently goes unnoticed or unquestioned. Bringing together new and recent work by 5 artists, this exhibition seeks to direct our attention into the corners of our eyes, alerting us to that which has been consigned to the periphery; rising sea levels, the proliferation of stock imagery, skeuomorphic fallacies, the atomisation of communities and the privatisation of the commons.

In the popular musical drama, The Sound of Music, a chorus of nuns ponder the conundrum; “how do you catch a cloud and pin it down?” This exhibition is driven by a similar question; how do we develop a solid notion of a ubiquitous occurrence, which somehow eludes our attention or grasp?

The un-pinnable cloud – sung of by the Sisters – is somewhat paradoxical. Whilst it’s outward appearance is that of solidity and visible mass, a pin would pass straight through without record. The cloud’s apparent firmness is reflected in the word’s etymology; it is derived from the Old English clud or clod, meaning a hill or a mass of rock. Due to the visual similarities between a rocky mass and a cumulus cloud, the volumes of evaporated water in the sky came to share a name with a material of contrasting physicality, producing a degree of cognitive dissonance.

The artists featured in You’re Surrounded by Me seek to hone in on similar areas of incongruity and tension, instances where; appearances are deceptive, attention is misdirected and the information presented only serves to produce confusion. This exhibition seeks to shine a torch into the encroaching fog, before being surrounded becomes being engulfed.

Related events:

Join us for the opening night of new exhibition 'You're Surrounded by Me'. With work by Chris Alton, Liam Geary Baulch, Naomi Fitzsimmons, Jasleen Kaur, and Katherine Midgley. Curated by Chris Alton.
A series of screenings and performance lectures by 'You're Surrounded by Me' exhibiting artists, followed by a Q&A.

Shop:

Artist-Designed Patch: ‘You’re Surrounded by Me’, Liam Geary Baulch

Original price was: £4.00.Current price is: £2.00.

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