Filing the Unfiled : Unfiling the Filed

About

Filing the Unfiled : Unfiling the Filed, is a solo show of recent works by Carl Slater in which the photographic and the sculptural are combined through archiving and documentation. The base material for the first part of the show has been gleaned from leftovers of a post-industrial sewing machine factory in southern France, where a mass of business documents have been re-appropriated by the artist for selection and assemblage. That for the second part has been taken from an isolated event where, under controlled conditions, marksmen demolish a landscape of ceramic plates - the remnants forming a calculation and a traumatised object. Both parts share a particular production system that orchestrates a revised lineage of time and data - an objective that focuses upon gathering and deciphering material. Evident throughout the work is a forensic sensibility towards re-filing past active and relevant information. By this very process the subject is transposed through a number of fragmented stages, carrying residual traces of previous states, enhanced by methods of examination and re-documentation. A system begins with a polaroid photograph, boxes are separated into systematic piles of paper, ephemeral objects are installed and in conclusion, disposal ends the sequence. Another begins where sound disfigures documentary film footage, emphasised by a visible disruption in pictorial form. These works are meticulous in their experimental inquiry of the factual and delve into the context of the archive's accumulation of evidence. Slater's practice has developed from a base of photographic study, but has recently progressed into a richness of media and technique by sculptural interpretation, installation, spatial ordering, and re-instated objects. He works with photographic tableaux containing placement, distortion and a void of the spectral that often displays recounted material and presents forward alternative historical reconstructions. Carl Slater gained an M.A in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins School of Art, London in 2006 and has since been exhibiting extensively both in the U.K and internationally. This exhibition is the first time these works have been shown and will be on display at the Surface Gallery between 15th June and 3rd July. The opening preview night will be held on Monday 14th June, between 6-8pm. For more information please contact the gallery / Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday- Friday 12- 6pm & Saturday 11-5pm Surface Gallery