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MGM 2007 - Artist Double Acts Revealed At Phoenix Gallery.

By Rose Shillito

03/05/2007

Image: Photo shows shelving unit filled with books

Caroline Jupp and Sam Brown, The Library of Unwritten Books. Photo Rose Shillito. Copyright 24 Hour Museum

Rose Shillito goes to Brighton's Phoenix Gallery for an exhibition that explores the nature of the artistic duo.

As the success of the Gilbert & George retrospective at Tate Modern testifies, collaborations between artists have produced some of the most famous partnerships and exciting work in contemporary art. Now artist pairings are the subject of a fascinating new exhibition.

Double Acts is showing at Phoenix Gallery, Brighton, until June 9 2007 and features the work of six partnerships to explore how collaboration informs the work and how the artists negotiate the scope and parameters of collaboration.

The Library of Unwritten Books is an ongoing project by Caroline Jupp and Sam Brown, founded in 2002. Based on the fictional book repository featured in cult American novel, The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 by Richard Brautigan, the installation incorporates a collection of books by real people whose stories have been collected through interviews.

Caroline and Sam will be adding to their library by collecting new stories at the gallery on May 12 2007. Visitors are invited to contribute their own unwritten books, which will be recorded, edited, printed and displayed during the last two weeks of the exhibition.

Image: Photo shows porcelain statue held up by barrel surrounded by brightly coloured plastic balls

Ayling and Conroy, Curio Island. Photo Rose Shillito. Copyright 24 Hour Museum

Collaborative duo Ayling and Conroy are showing their newly commissioned installation, Curio Island – a composite remodelling of previous installations and sculptures.

A comment on aloneness within a group setting, the island – with its kitsch imagery and homely theme – is positioned away from the other works in the exhibition.

Image: Photo shows log cut open and fitted with electronic wires and levers

The Owl Project, Log1K. Courtesy Phoenix Gallery

The Owl Project represents the collaborative work of Anthony Hall and Simon Blackmore and the Sound Lathe, which explores the sonic properties of woodwork, is their key piece in the exhibition.

Combining a traditional pole lathe with custom-built software, the Sound Lathe not only produces a complex range of sounds when worked but also a unique wooden object at the end of each performance.

Other log-hewn audio and technical gadgetry includes the Log1k, a kind of lo-fi laptop, and the amusingly named iLog, which plays music produced by the Sound Lathe.

Image: Photo shows landscape of lake with surrounding shoreline

Above: Semiconductor, Earth Moves. Courtesy Phoenix Gallery

Earth Moves is a video installation by Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt), inspired by Greg Daville’s City Running. A video sequence, complete with sound, aims to show how acoustic waves come into play with our surroundings.

Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry present their Waiting Room video installation. Here, a series of frustrated people are filmed waiting in an institutional-looking waiting room in a kind of Waiting For Godot meets Kafka existentialist nightmare.

The final artist pairing in the exhibition, the Colour Conundrum combines the interests and working practices of Jonathan Gilhooly and Stig Evans. Their contribution to the exhibition is a travelling cabinet that draws upon optical illusion and perceptual psychology and alludes to 19th century parlour games such as the Magic Lantern.

Curator Sally Lai provides a printed interview with each set of artist duos, which give a unique insight into the creative act of collaboration.

Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
10-14 Waterloo Place, Brighton, BN2 9NB, East Sussex, England

Open: Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 5
Closed: Sundays and Mondays