Sean Branagan
Light Forms review for Coldfringe,
October 2007
ItÕs a hot old time in London this week, what with the Frieze Art Fair rolling
into town. Especially in Vyner Street last Thursday evening, it would appear.
The usual hectic First Thursday seems to have become Second Thursday, and tonight
the street is awash with art punters and free beer.
So, is BranaganÕs ÔLight
FormsÕ — described in the blurb as a collection of Ôvideo beingsÕ — great and
good? Consisting of video projections onto various custom-made surfaces, these
works function as electronic portraits. Two walls of VINEspace feature faces
shone onto the distorted and disrupting surfaces. Oddly for a video work, the
projected faces seemed to betray no obvious narrative, the expressions and gestures
seemingly as static if they were painted or carved. Perhaps it is the absence
of sound in these Ôtalking headsÕ that strips away the narrative, but as I watch
the lips in ÔLIGHT FORM: YouÕre the reason our kids are ugly — Conway Twitty
1978Õ repeatedly mouthing the word ÔsorryÕ, I do feel that it is speaking directly
to me, and I appreciate the apology. Albeit a silent one. This is a rather self-referential
show: like much of video art, it is about the technique and technicalities,
rather than a stunning vision. The frankly obscure and seemingly-unrelated titling,
and almost-unfathomable accompanying press release, which claims that Ôthese
pieces make significant efforts to democratise the component elements of video
artÕ all betray this fact. In this day and age, ÔnewÕ media in the arts should
be able to stand proudly next to any other medium, and not feel insecure, or
the need to justify its existence.
On the other wall, ÔDva Moodges: YELLOWÕ
and ÔDva Moodges: PINKÕ project the action — such as it is — down to the ground,
stretching the looped figures into dissolving tinted pools across the floor.
The spilling of coloured light into the space, and the fact that these two are
projected ÔintoÕ patterned Perspex containers at least give the works a three-dimensional
quality which was lacking in the previous pieces.
Later my companions and I
went in search of the Vedett beer that everyone but us seemed to be clutching,
and whilst we talked and chatted amongst ourselves, soaking up the busy atmosphere
and free beverages, one of our number decided to spontaneously conduct an impromptu
interview for the cameras filming Ben Roberts for Al GoreÕs Current TV. Ben
curates, makes work for and drives the Benjamin Street Gallery. This gallery
is a van that he drives to various art events and places to promote his personal
brand of photography. The subsequent interview is one piece of video art that
I canÕt wait to see.