A review of two site specific exhibitions created by second year student at University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea.

A review of two site specific exhibitions created by second year student at University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea.

   The first exhibition I visited was on the top floor of the book shop Waterstones positioned in the middle of Swansea city. Having seen the posters for this exhibition titled, “Ignorance is Strength… inspiration from George Orwell’s 1984, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” I wasn’t entirely certain what to expect as I am unfamiliar with this book and although I have grasped the concept of Big Brother over the years it has been televised I have never actually watched the show.

On entering the exhibition I was offered a tour around all of the installation pieces to explain more about what they meant. From what information I gathered the exhibition was really about creating awareness of the fact that we, as an individual, are always being watched in our day to day life, through social networks, cctv cameras etc and strangely we are either unaware or comfortable with the fact we are being watched. The first installation I viewed seemed to be about showing the viewer that through social networks such as twitter, facebook or anything we do online is being watched. The artist displayed this idea by having a cluster of varied electric screens together with eyes jumping back and forth on different screens looking back at the audience. As a viewer I found this piece made me feel uneasy partly due to realisation of the fact how much I am being watched but also because it was an unnerving display to stand in front of and witness.

  The next piece I found interesting I found when walking through the exhibition space and came across a note on the floor that read “We are the dead” I saw this note was one of many which led the audience to a large pile of folded up images. I was told I was allowed to “rummage” through these images to see what they were of. On closer examination I found that these images were CCTV-like images taken from above of people walking along the streets of Swansea in various areas. To me this seemed like an invasion of privacy however, for this purpose I understand why it was done. But still seeing these images and being able to actually interact with the installation gave me an unusual disconcerting feeling, because as I looked through the images that I thought was an invasion of privacy a realisation dawned on me that this installation turned its audience into the “watchers” which I think emphasises the idea of always being watched even if it by the people surrounding us not just through cameras and online.

 

Another installation piece I found particularly interesting in this exhibition was, although simple, I feel was quite effective for the message these artists were trying to convey. On entering the room the audience sees a large curved window looking down onto one of the main streets of Swansea town, and at first that’s all it appears to be however, when standing in the centre of the window there are two speakers either side of the window which are constantly letting out snippets of conversations which the viewer has to concentrate to hear. The idea behind this is that the viewer stands at the large window watching the people below thinking they can hear parts of their conversation. Although very simple I thought this was a clever idea and a good use of the room’s space.

Another of the site specific exhibitions I went to view was located in High Street Arcade titled “Er Cof”. On entering this small arcade, again not really sure what to expect, I came across a small room installation which the audience viewed through its windows. At first the installation seemed slightly out of place as I did not know any of the background of this small area however, after speaking to one of the artists that helped create this small piece it put the idea and installation into better context. I found the small space interesting to view and now knowing that that specific area was where the last bomb fell in Swansea during the Second World War into a book shop, the pages covering the walls with slightly burnt edges and clustered in the centre made slightly more sense to me personally.

And although this was an interesting piece to look at I found it slightly visually uninteresting simply because it had limited tones within the piece itself which, for me, almost made the centre piece of flying pages and burning paper blend together with the background rather than stand out and have the impact a bomb going off would have, there was very little excitement I found.

In comparison to each other these two exhibitions were both interesting however, I found the more conceptually and visually interesting space and work to be “Ignorance is Strength”. This was because I thought the idea and message behind it was very relevant in today’s society and the number of installations in that one room explored a variety of ways in which we are being watched and may not be aware of it. I also liked how some of the pieces involved the audience by being able to look through the “CCTV” images on the floor or even something as simple as standing, watching and listening to the sounds they were providing. Although I found “Er Cof” exhibition interesting and liked how they linked the areas history into their work I thought it was too small and not even to grab the audiences attention for very long due to the exhibition being in that one small space. Had there been other pieces that linked with this project I feel it would have had the ability to capture the viewers attention and for much longer making them want to understand the piece more.

(The images shown in this review are pictures taken of the work in the exhibitions by various artists)