review: inselaffen

Translated as ‘Island Monkeys’, Inselaffen is an exhibition of six Edinburgh College of Art students, showing at the recently-established Whitespace Gallery. Among the materials they employ are earth, pigment, wood, glass, cigarette packets and a rubber duck. Through this, the artists establish a shared, but diversely investigated, preoccupation with the dichotomy between man and nature.

Hew Morrison’s 'Ordnance Structure' dominates the space, its pyramidal form sitting somewhere between a rustic pylon and a large campfire. Occasionally emitting a loud noise evocative of a roaring fire or static power, Morrison’s sculpture is a forlorn statement about the impact of technology on nature.

Complementing this, Elliott Burns’ work also reflects his relationship with the landscape. In 'Walking a Sculpture', Burns completed a three hour walk in the Pentlands while continuously moulding a ball of clay. This object is presented in its finished state alongside a photograph of himself holding it in the mountains; a self-evident image which resembles John Baldessari in its aesthetics, if not in its irony. Burns’ attempt to create a sculpture which instinctively reflects the natural world, and eliminates the self-consciousness between experience and creation is serene in its naivety.

Reminiscent of the dedications of Vija Celmins and Roni Horn, Andrew Lennie’s intensely detailed drawings of the sea offer a juxtaposition between the restlessness of the ocean and human rationality. Lennie also presents a selection of washed up objects collected during a walk alongside the River Tay; these include a dog lead, mascaras, nuts and bolts and the aforementioned rubber duck. His exploration of the human need to order and measure our world is complemented by David Wood’s coarse presentation of the physicality of the human body. Wood’s practice is informed by the fragmentation and fragility of corporeality, which adds an interesting dimension to the nature/man discourse; his burnt, etched, varnished pieces suggest that men too can crumble like mountains.

This collection of works is concentrated through a focus on our impact on the environment and vice versa, which manages to feel intuitive and not contrived. The artists successfully manage to present engaging questions about our capabilities and limitations and how they are affected and ordered by our surroundings.

first published in the journal, wednesday 4th may

http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/7654-inselaffen