Gallery 31: Temporary Compositions

Strange exhibition at Somerset House of work by artists in the Somerset House Studios residency.

This was the fourth show in a series highlighting the work of the residency artists. This one was curated by Stella Sideli and it “considers the temporary synchronicity between people, bodies, sounds and signals”. No I don’t understand either!

My favourite piece was by Abbas Zahedi and consisted of a kick drum pedal against the gallery door with some sort of digital acoustic effect so that when you pressed the pedal it made a noise. This was accompanied by a tiny digital print of a brussels sprout over the door. I’ve no idea what it meant but it was fun and interactive.

I liked Joe Namy’s curtain shown here which broke up the space. Again I have no idea what it was about and reading the rather dense handout, which I kept, doesn’t help.

The other two works by Phoebe Davies and Sonya Dyer were video pieces and I wish I’d had more time to watch them properly, particularly the one by Davies which followed a team of Norwegian female wrestlers. I also feel very self-conscious sitting in a gallery with headphones on watching a screen for any longer than a few minutes.

Closed 20 March 2022

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