298. GIVING MORE TO GAIN MORE by REVITAL COHEN AND TUUR VAN BALEN

GIVING MORE TO GAIN MORE

Jerwood Space until Aug  31st

 

Walk into the Jerwood Space and you know that the excellent cafe will still be there, but walk into the gallery and prepare for something you've probably never imagined.  At first sight the image on the right, unlit, looked to me like a crazy version of the elegant London Underground map. Then random parts lit up in a celestial and sparky 'mauve'. Bit by bit my brain picked up the pieces and slid them round as if I were solving a giant Sudoku puzzle. The works take time to move with light from blank to the full message, offering all sorts of tantalising possibilities on the way. Eventually I get it:

WE HAVE TO WORK HARD AND WORK WITH OUR HEART

 Below on the right we read

CUSTOMERS ARE REAL PEOPLE AND REAL FEELINGS.

On the far wall of the left hand image reads:

 IT IS SO BRIGHTNESS

The texts are fragments discovered when sourcing those electronic components from China which are needed to make hand-crafted LED signs.Giving More to Gain More 'encapsulates the poetic moment in which computerised systems reinterpret language'. The words are both allusive and elusive. Their meaning is fractured. BRIGHTNESS is a noun, not an adjective. The 'AND' in the second image reads uncomfortably like a loose rope vainly trying to link two words which are crying out for a 'WITH' to hold them together..

As one who reads a fair number of  catalogues and material on art theory, I also wonder if the artists intend a sly reference to what can be experienced as the tortuous, inflated and long-winded style in which conceptual art is often wrapped?

Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Ballen are among the four finalists selected from over 240 UK-wide  applications responding to Jerwood Makers Open Competition It recognises rising stars in the world of applied arts. encouraging them to develop work independent of specific commissions. The other winners are ceramicists Hitomi Hosono and Matthew Raw, glass artist Shelley James and spatial storytellers FleaFollyArchitects.

All images are courtesy of the artists

www.cohenvanbalen.com
www.jerwoodspace.co.uk/gal_whatson.html
www.hitomihosono.com
www.mraw.co.uk
www.shelleyjames.co.uk
www.fleafollyarchitects.com