
Exhibition
Deptford X 2016
23 Sep 2016 – 02 Oct 2016
Deptford X
London, United Kingdom
Open Friday and Saturdays 12 - 6pm, and Sunday 2 October only
Admission free
An exhibition by artists Rachel Pimm & Eva Fàbregas that investigates volume, viscosity and magnetism.
Systems of Displaying Matter is an exhibition by London-based artists Rachel Pimm & Eva Fàbregas. It is conceived specifically for Enclave Lab, and uses the project space as a enclosed cavity or cell, with which to experiment with volume, viscosity and magnetism.
At the heart of this investigation is the two artist’s interest in the material composition and gravitational forces that shape common experience. It seeks to foreground these natural phenomena, and asks each artist to respond to the space and each other’s work in close proximity.
Formally, Systems of Displaying Matter draws inspiration from ‘cel animation’, a technique of hand-drawn animation in which the moving figures are drawn on transparent paper or celluloid plates (cels) and laid over static background drawings. This is evident in the series of large-scale geological prints installed one-in-front-of-the-other, and designed to be viewed from outside the space’s large exterior window. The completed tableau is visible only from out-with the gallery, creating an illusion of depth and volume that is unfulfilled by the interior of the installation.
Both artists are attracted to animation as a space of suspended reality, in which it is possible to abolish the laws of physics and set in question the values of the everyday. Fàbregas in particular has deployed this potential in previous works, imagining alternative or future possibilities to current norms. In her animation The role of unintended consequences (Sofa Compact) (2016) the component parts of flat pack furniture are separated and activated, becoming a system of interweaving units that have agency without the need of human interaction.
In a similar vein Pimm’s practice focuses on the organic interaction between so-called ‘man-made' materials and ‘natural’ elements. She is interested in material histories, and her works often move beyond the surface qualities of substances to tell stories about their previous existences.
Supported by Enclave and MFA Curating, Goldsmiths
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