Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard at the South London Gallery
Compelling and earnestly engaging, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s collaborative audio-visual works feature a large body of performative and video based art.
Taken from the last seven years of their artistic partnership, the projects on show at the South London Gallery explore notions of the audience – whether it is being part of one, observing one or transforming one from voyeur to creator.
Ranging from pieces such as ‘File under Sacred music’ and the duo’s 2003 meticulous remake of 1978’s film ‘The Cramps’ to one of their more recent and more provocative pieces ‘Audience Fuck Off.’ Completed in 2009, the hilarious and awkward performative piece sees a stand-up comedian draw attention to individuals within the audience.
A true concoction of mediums and experiences, this exhibition is definitely worth a visit. Until 18 Mar. www.southlondongallery.org South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Rd, OVAL SE5 8UH
Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Performer. Audience. F*** Off, 2009, production still © All images courtesy the artists, South London Gallery and Kate MacGarry, London
14 Mar 2011
Winterlong, Shunt: From grim to grin
A pregnant, teenage girl sits by a canal having a smoke somewhere in the fairytale land of the north. Manchester? Near Liverpool? She has a strange encounter with a filthy, feral, manic, half-naked child-of-the-street, whose only possession are a pair of red wellies.
14 Mar 2011
These are some bands that you should not avoid seeing this year, as chosen by the Snipe music team
Active Child
To its critics, the democratising effect of the internet-fuelled bedroom recording and distribution revolution seems like a disaster. As a direct result of tools like Garageband and MySpace, the internet is awash with the fruits of DIY musical labour, and with the major labels and music monthlies in decline, fast-moving blog culture has accelerated discovery and eroded the traditional points of quality control. However, Pat Grossi (aka Active Child) is a walking rebuttal to this notion. His steady rise began with a flicker of interest on the now influential Transparent blog, and his is a talent that fully deserves to see the light of day. Built from synth textures, 80s inspired electronic drums and plucked harp strings, Grossi’s songs are topped with his soaring, emotive falsetto. The excellent Curtis Lane EP has already reached an international audience, and a debut album shouldn’t be far behind. John Rogers
14 Mar 2011
The sadness of the gentleman
The first time we speak, Josh T. Pearson is frosty. One word answers to long-winded questions mentally winding me and leaving me wondering what I had to do to get anything out of him.
14 Mar 2011
Peter Davis, Ghost Bus Tours
I first noticed the distinctive routemaster “Ghost Bus” as it’s ominous black shape trundled along Northumberland Avenue on a winter evening. The Ghost Bus Tour aims to provide people with a unique view of the darker side of London by fusing history, theatre and comedy together with the aid of some creative embellishment. I tracked down Peter Davis, Creative Director of the Ghost Bus Tour in its appropriately atmospheric headquarters located in the upstairs of a shadily lit pub.
snipe: How did the idea for the tour come about?
14 Mar 2011
Service to Smile About
After watching all eight episodes of BBC2 show Michel Roux’s Service in succession (thanks be to iPlayer! ) I am awestruck and mightily curious as to what the hell went on in the pitch meeting. How—in a television culture ruled by bullying bosses, fame-famished exhibitionists and shows pandering to the lowest common denominator—did a programme make it to air featuring no big money prizes, no back-stabbing, no shouting, no binge drinking, no undercover fumbling and, most of all, no ritual humiliation?
14 Mar 2011
Nodzzz, The Mantles, Bomber Jackets
12th March @ The Victoria, 451 Queensbridge Rd, Dalston, E8 3AS
Bored of zombied front rows full of dozing young hip tings and view-obscuring ranks of iPhone photographers? Then get yourself a ticket to see Nodzzz, one of the most arse-shakingly brilliant bands to come out of San Francisco’s house parties (they also run hot label Make A Mess) in the last few years. With their deadbeat humour livening up the breaks, tonight they’ll have you jiggling your bits to songs that sound like Beat Happening and Television Personalities, if they’d had a thing for Barbershop quartets. Siltbreeze psych group The Mantles support.
11 Mar 2011
Seduction and King Lear
At the turn of the 20th century in Austria, Arthur Schnitzler wrote Le Ronde, to be circulated only amongst friends but which was eventually produced. Schnitzler escaped prosecution for obscenity when the judge threw the case out.
He disowned the play, but it has since been staged many times since, reworked to best unsettle the current society. Jack Heifner has translated the play seamlessly for the gay scene and renamed it Seduction. The scenes are arranged in a circular fashion, handing off from rent boy to sailor to handyman to student, and finally to the Hollywood movie producer, who brings it back to the lowest rung on the social ladder, the rent boy.
01 Feb 2011
Erica Eyres
Exploring personalities, disordered and otherwise, Erica Eyres uses prosthetics, humour and narrative to examine human behaviour through video and drawing. Her recent work interprets the distribution and imagery found in internationally distributed mass culture. ‘Pam’s Dream’ is based on the final episode of ‘Dallas’, featuring awkward, embarrassingly bad teenage actors, dressed in sketchy costumes, playing the main characters. As they recreate scenes on homemade sets the viewer is distanced from the gripping escapism of the original series. Drawings featured alongside the film engage with the disquieting and vulnerable side of her characters. Until 4 March.
The Rokeby Gallery, 5-9 Hatton Wall, Farringdon, EC1N 8HX www.rokebygallery.com
01 Feb 2011
Der Tiere
The nom de plume of Michael James Bell, Bael’s latest solo show at Signal Gallery is aptly titled ‘Der Tiere’ meaning ‘The Beasts’. The artist’s lifelong obsession with drawing has culminated an array of eerie, sinister and devilish animalistic, humanoids – with claws in place of hands, and almost vampire-ish mouths accentuated by splashes of red, and dark brown hues. A mixture of rough sketches and more complete paintings, this exhibition reflects the lasting influence that German/Austrian expressionism has had on the artist’s output. Although perhaps too sparse in the nature of its layout, this exhibition is hauntingly compelling. Until 5 February.
Signal Gallery, 32 Paul Street, Old Street, EC2A 3AA www.signalgallery.com
01 Feb 2011
Snipe Highlights
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