In a discrete pause between artists’ solo shows, Carroll / Fletcher are showcasing Emily’s Video (2012), a recent work by Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG; The In Between, an installation work by emerging young artist Ian Giles; and Brand Innovations for Ubiquitous Authorship, a group show stolen for Carroll / Fletcher, curated by Eva and Franco Mattes.
On the gallery’s ground floor, Emily’s Video presents the reactions of random volunteers who replied to an online call by Eva and Franco Mattes to watch “the worst video ever”. The original video – sourced from the ‘Dark Net’, the internet’s disturbing alter ego – has been destroyed with these second hand experiences the only proof of its existence. Mimicking the format of YouTube reaction videos, Emily’s Video prompts disbelief, fear, anger, disgust, and nervous laughter. Willing participants hide their eyes, lambast the maker of the video, or simply walk away, whilst the viewer of the work eagerly awaits the next response.
Downstairs, Ian Giles’ installation, The In Between, plays with ideas of physical and metaphorical transformation. A video shows a Clay Meditation class in which a group of people sensitively apply clay slip to each other’s faces.
As the clay dries into a lined mask on the participants’ faces, the near invisible process of time slowly becomes discernable. The practice, devised by Giles is partly informed by his experiences of ‘Movement Meditation’, in which music is the catalyst to meditate and connect through dance. Nearby, in a setting reminiscent of religious spaces or ceremonies, ceramic bowls act as holders for candles, which as they burn, change and renew. Camomile tea will be served during the show, an invitation to relax the mind and allow a mood of calm reflection to settle.
Details of the Eva and Franco Mattes’ curated show Brand Innovations for Ubiquitous Authorship will be released soon.
Eva and Franco Mattes are represented by Carroll / Fletcher. Their solo shows include: Carroll / Fletcher, London; Site Gallery, Sheffield; Galeriji Vigalica, Ljubljana; [plug.in], Basel; Postmasters Gallery, New York. Their work has also been in numerous group shows and biennials such as Collection Lambert, Avignon; Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz; New Museum, New York; NTT ICC Museum, Tokyo; Manifesta, Frankfurt; Performa, New York; MoMA PS1, New York, and the Venice Biennale. They received the Jerome Commission from the Walker Art Center and a fellowship from Columbia University, New York. 0100101110101101.org
Ian Giles is a LUX Associate Artist 2012/13 and graduated from MFA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, 2012. Selected exhibitions include: Congratulation, you are the most recent visitor, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge [2013]; 21st Century, Chisenhale Gallery, London [2012]; PAMI [Peckham Artist Moving Image], London [2012], Outpost Open Film, Outpost Gallery, Norwich, followed by a UK tour [2012]; Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art [2012]; Object Subjects, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco [2011] and Whitstable Biennale [2010]. Forthcoming commissions and projects include: Lincoln Art Programme and a Creative Lab Residency, CCA, Glasgow. http://www.iangiles.net
Co-founded by Jonathan Carroll and Steve Fletcher, Carroll/Fletcher is a contemporary art gallery located on Eastcastle Street in central London. The gallery supports existing and new forms of artistic production, and works with exceptional emerging and established artists, whose practices use a diverse range of media to explore contemporary socio-political, cultural, scientific and technological themes. Artists represented include John Akomfrah, Michael Joaquin Grey, Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG, Manfred
Mohr, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Thomson & Craighead, UBERMORGEN.COM, Eulalia Valldosera, Richard T. Walker, and John Wood and Paul Harrison. http://www.carrollfletcher.com