Learned Society of Extra Ordinary Objects
The premise of
this show was that the Learned Society of Extra Ordinary Objects had been based
in Somerset House until it went bankrupt and its collection was seized in 1973.
The society had believed that ordinary objects have value if we know their
story. The whole thing was presented as if real so it was hard to distinguish
what was real and what was made up.
The first rooms
of the show reflected the history of the society with recreations of possible
portraits of members, and a reproduction of the Gin Bar which had started as a
floating bar on the river serving various organisations in Somerset House. I
loved a story about the India Club Courtyard Cricket Competition played between
societies where the aim wasn’t to score runs but to break the windows of the
other societies. All very imaginative.
I loved a pool
table of coloured objects arranged in like colour to produce a wonderful
rainbow effect.
The second half
of the show invited 30 artists to become 21st century fellows and contribute
objects to recreate the collection. Some had entered the spirit and made up
weird items but some presented real objects, I think! For example one artist
had put forward a cross between a man’s shoe and a flip flop but another had a
surveyors chain. All the objects made you question what was real.
Closes on 3
September 2017
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