At this point, it is simply impossible to open an exhibition of the exhibition during the course of this MA. The pandemic has made it so that almost all galleries and public spaces are either inaccessible, or can not hold large gatherings. However, that does not mean an exhibition can not happen once we are at a point that venues can open and gatherings can once again take place. For that to happen I need a plan in place, thankfully, at this point I have a pretty clear idea of how this exhibition would work. Thanks to research in to previous exhibitions during this and last module, exhibitions such as Kohei Yoshiyuki's exhibition of his "Park Series", or the curated works of the "Cruising Pavilion", I know that this work needs to be displayed in a way that makes the audience feel complicit in the act of patronising these spaces.
The Venue
I find myself in the lucky position of having had a venue offered to me to display my work. I mentioned above about using a space that would help to make the audience feel complicit in the work, and the space offered to me happens to be an basement LGBT club with a history of fetish events. It is a small and enclosed space, with a very industrial theme. My original idea that I would have set out here, was to construct a maze for the work to be displayed in, that would take it cue from the darkrooms and venues I have been inspired by, this venue is essentially a pre-made version of that space. The aesthetics of the club are inspired by the same clubs and venues my work is born off, and in that way, displaying the work within this space would most certainly help to make the audience feel they are in the spaces I have created, because in a way, they actually will be.
The venue is at a city central location, which is great from the standpoint of getting everyone there. However it is not a venue known for exhibitions, so in terms of getting passers by to enter, I feel that really that is not a possibility and the real exhibition of the work would only happen across one event. With that said, the venue owners would be happy to display the work for as long as I wanted, meaning it could be seen during normal opening hours by their own patrons, giving it a lot of exposure. Due to the nature of the bar, this could also lead to an expansion of the project, as the patrons of this bar, given its history as a fetish and cruising bar, would be more likely to have visited dark rooms and sex clubs, making them more likely to be interested in contributing the project as it continues forward.
Displaying the work
The work would need to be displayed digitally in this space, there is really no space on the walls for printed works to be hung, nor would the bar owners want to changing too much. There is a plethora of high definition screens around the bar, which could be used to display the work. the positioning of the screens makes them visible from most areas of the space, however most of them are on the smaller side, and this would work to bring people physically closer together, as if they were in one of the mazes or darkrooms depicted in my work. In terms of the audio clips that accompany each image, it would be possibly to create stickers with QR codes on them, that could be scanned on almost all modern smart phones, linking to a web page where the sound clip plays. This would of course also mean that in a crowded and likely loud space, people would need to listen to their phones closely, almost like a phone call, making the act of listing to the clip very intimate and personal.
Below are mock ups of the space using Blender, to show how the work would fit into the space and be presented. There is a large TV available in the space, that could be used during an exhibition opening event to play some of the interviews in part, and show the work along with clips as a quick opening to the exhibition, before then being used to display one of the works. Each TV would be used to show one piece, meaning people will have to move through the space to see all the work. It would be possible to run a slideshow of the works on each screen, but this would lead to people simply coming in and looking at one screen, without moving through the space.The lighting in the venue can be darkened to suit, helping to create the feel of a darkroom, and coloured lights are already in place, I have included these in the mock ups here to give an example of how the space would look an feel.
Advertising the Exhibition
This would be achieved through the use of social media and the website. creating a Facebook group and drip feeding information and selected works from the exhibition, as well as engaging in conversation and open discussion about the subject, should help to build interest in the project. Keeping this page active with content, discussion, and encouraging member of the group to share the page, will be key in growing the audience.
Cardiff has many art outlets who are happy to have leaflets for exhibitions in the city, it wouldn't be a problem to potentially get some leaflets made up and left at these venues which would allow me to expand the audience beyond the LGBT patrons it is more than likely to attract. That said, there are also plenty of LGBT venues within Cardiff, Including a Sauna with a maze and darkroom, that I could advertise the exhibition with, to help gain a following.
Poster
Press release
"Terrified and Curious"
"Terrified and Curious" exhibition takes the form of a series of striking visual constructs based upon the underground spaces designed for sex and shaped by the fantasies of the men who attend them. The spaces, constructed and photographed within a digital environment, are inspired by darkrooms: places where men go to explore their sexual desires with each other in the cover of darkness. The images are accompanied by a series of documentary style videos of men who speak candidly about their experiences in these spaces. The title of this project, “Terrified and Curious”, comes from one man’s description of his feelings as he first stepped into one such room.
This project is part self portraiture and part confessional . From the age of sixteen onwards I was living away from home and had begun spending my evenings going out to the local LGBT venues and was socialising with older men . During these years I had also been completing my Photography Btec, then my undergraduate, and of course starting my MA with Falmouth university. My photography had always been concerned with liminal suburban spaces, paths and structures, and almost entirely shot at night. I am an avid video gamer and my work has been heavily influenced by survival horror video games such as Silent Hill 2 (Team Silent, 2001). The work of photographers like Gregory Crewdson and Jan Staller also drastically inspired my work. However it wasn’t until I came across the concept of the “uncanny” during further research into Crewdson that I realised there was a link between the dark, menacing and enigmatic nightscapes of my photographic work and the dark, enigmatic, highly sexualised spaces I was working and playing within.
This exhibition showcases the project at its current state, and encourages more to become involved as it evolves away from a one man project, into a community based project designed to open and expand upon the discourse surrounding cruising culture, saunas and dark rooms.
Date and Venue: TBC
Comments