Considered Matter
Earth, Moon and Stars by Alice Cunningham - photographer Andy Ford
Considered Matter showcased four artists, at different stages of their careers, whose practice was concerned with raising awareness of the enormous global issue of climate change. International artist Leventon, recent graduate Cunningham and commissioned artist Goddard brought the climate change debate to life through their engaging works.
Earth Moon and Stars by Alice Cunningham presented a surreal attempt to order and constrict our natural environment, the hierarchical arrangement reminiscent of today’s modern business society. Sustenance posed questions and suggested potential inevitabilities. It was a three dimensional diagram illustrating the increasing interference and subsequent stifling of natural cycles. It demonstrated that man can only go so far in one direction, in this case through the use of artificial construction. For further information on Alice please visit her website.
Concern for the world’s resources influenced the materials used in Symbiosis by Ann Goddard, reclaimed Laburnum wood, recycled plastic bottle fibres, silk fibres, synthetic rubber cord, and metal fixings and Ecosystem, bark from felled trees, synthetic rubber cord and copper wire. All were reclaimed or waste by-products of other processes, or were recycled leftovers from previous artworks.
Rose Leventon’s work was grounded in a sensitive concern for the natural environment and how we use it. Sub-Text was reconstructed using layers of compressed mobile phones, which were still clearly identifiable as someone’s personalised mobile. In the UK customers replace their mobile phones every 10 months on average, and 15 million are discarded per annum. If thrown away this would generate 7,500 tonnes of potentially harmful landfill. In China, the world’s largest consumer of mobiles, people change their phones every 3 to 4 months. According to a recent article in the Observer newspaper, customers discard 17,000 mobiles an hour and each is packed with toxins – nickel, mercury, tin, lead, lithium, chromium, PVC, and liquid crystals. 600 UK charities collect used mobile phones but more and more waste is being exported to countries where, due to lack of environmental regulations and infrastructure, recovery workers and residents in the area are exposed to health risks and the environment to pollution hazards. For further information on Rosie please visit her website.
Artist in Residence Aaron Head worked in the gallery for the first four weeks of the exhibition. Head looked at how globalisation is reducing cultural differences and exploring the changing nature of local communities, in particular food production and land use. Head posed questions about the absurd and unsustainable contradictions in the way Britain manages its food resources and the distinct local and huge global implications. For more information on Aaron please visit his website.
