Finissage for Reading Stones: Anne Krinsky / Carol Wyss / Susan Eyre

About

Take tea and search the tower for hidden texts, making use of magnifying ‘reading stones’ to assist in deciphering the miniscule fonts. Throw gemstones onto a lithomancy board and read the patterns that may hold a clue to your future.

Reading Stones could be considered the first instruments used to create an enhanced sensory experience. Originally made from ground and polished rock crystal or beryl, they were placed over texts to magnify them. This early optical technology paved the way toward observation of the furthest reaches of the universe and its minutest components.

The act of “reading stones” can refer to both the scientific practice of geological investigation and the ritual of lithomancy which seeks to interpret the patterns of stones cast by those wishing to divine the future. 
 

About the Exhibition:
Reading Stones: A­­nne Krinsky / Carol Wyss / Susan Eyre

Anne Krinsky, Carol Wyss and Susan Eyre present an exhibition of site-specific works in response to the history and architecture of the ancient stone Tower of Saint Augustine, Hackney’s oldest building. Built in the 13thcentury, the tower houses a magnificent 16th century clock whose mechanisms still strike the hours, occupying three floors connected by steep spiral stone stairs.

Through their respective interests in the land, the body and the cosmos, Krinsky, Wyss and Eyre explore relationships between time and materiality. Their exhibited works provide singular “readings” of phenomena such as the erosion of gravestones, (re)configurations of human bones and the cosmological orbits of rocky bodies by which we measure time.

The nature of time itself was a concept that St Augustine of Hippo grappled with in his philosophical texts sixteen centuries ago and is still perplexing us today; namely, how to equate the subjective experience of time with an objective understanding.

Exhibition Dates: 26 September - 6 October, 2019
More info: St. Augustines Tower

About the Artists

Anne Krinsky works across analogue and digital media - painting, printmaking, photography and video. Fascinated by the ways in which built and natural structures change over time, she is working on a project on wetlands and climate change. Anne has been awarded two Arts Council England Grants for the Arts and an Artists International Development Fund Grant.
www.annekrinsky.com

Carol Wyss examines the relationship of human structures to their surroundings, using the human skeleton as a framework. She reconfigures her etched, cast and printed imagery of bones to create dramatic three-dimensional installations. Born in Switzerland, Carol lives and works in London and in Liechtenstein and exhibits across Europe.
www.carolwyss.net

Susan Eyre investigates unseen forces and the activity of matter in the universe, working with print, installation and video. Her interests include intangible phenomena that cannot be explained in terms of materiality, such as the aura of place and the dream of paradise. Susan has participated in research collaborations and exhibitions with scientists across the UK.
www.susaneyre.co.uk