It’s fair to say there was a more than the usual murmur about this show, Facebook, Twitter and word of mouth had given it a lot of attention, so it was a shame that it wasn’t as well attended as it should have been. I say should have been, as it really was worthy of the ‘pre-match’ buzz. That said there were still a healthy number of people through the doors, and the gallery was full of discussion of the work and the way it changed the FYC into something other than the simple but effective white cube space we all have come to know.
The trinity of Gratrix, Pegler and Ireland as curators of the FYC space have once again taken the road less travelled, in what is the latest in a number of curious photography shows that are as much about the process of creating the picture than the picture itself.
Wayne Daniel for his first Blackpool show, has created a number of disturbing physical fusions of rats, mice and birds, and through the use of only the analogue camera, shunning the use of digital techniques, converts the usually pristine white FYC gallery space into what feels like a set from the X-Files. A macabre archive of the fictional Dr Walter Verbogden is arrayed for us to walk between, prints of feathered bunches hang on wires as if still drying, this combines with the occasional sound of an old style typewriter to make one feel slightly like an intruder about to be discovered in Dr Verbogden’s ‘private’ space. A gruesome collection of photographs of the dissected rat/bird hybrid animals and reams of typed notes in display cases causes you to wonder if the fictional Dr Verbogden is a dark showman as well as a doctor with a rather odd agenda. The use of a classical typewriter that viewers are encouraged to use during the show reinforces Daniel’s ‘non-digital’ aesthetic and creates a counterpoint to sounds of the modern world speeding past outside the gallery, viewers messages will accrue over the run of the show, these on their own will be worth a read I think.
The look and feel of the show with its hand produced multi layered pages of indistinguishable notes, puts one in mind of the book ‘House of leaves’ by Mark Z. Danielewski, with its fictional constructs that we as a viewer must unravel before we can truly understand what we have just seen, but even then, can we really be sure?
Pseudo by Wayne Daniel runs till 30th September 2013, take a walk on the darker side and visit the FYC Gallery.
Photo credit Joseph Pegler.
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