The breakdown of information systems in today’s world has created an abstract and hazy reality. The daily struggle of filtering a relentless cascade of mostly irrelevant content has overwhelmed the brain’s ability to critically evaluate or categorise truth effectively. This once intentional, conscious process has become automated, leading to passive individual consumption, perpetuated by excitement of novel information overriding the more important analysis and categorisation of such information. Even then, our individual perspectives are limited through personalised algorithms that represent only a tiny fraction of our collective reality. These algorithms are already driven by capitalistic motives that bolster individualism and selling idealised personal experience, distracting from systemic issues and sustaining the status quo through curated, shallow engagement with information. What can one do to better equip themselves to survive in a hyperreality with such an agenda? Engagement with art reminds us that truth is not static, inviting us to adopt alternative perspectives, and revealing that individual truth and knowledge are parts of a larger, diverse tapestry that makes up our collective understanding of the world.
The former library of Lewisham Arthouse provides the setting of Critical Edge Collective’s latest investigation into how collaborative art can achieve the aforementioned. “From The Ground Up” is a group exhibition, whose curatorial statement urges the “re-evaluation of established knowledge systems” and “prioritises trust, inquiry, and collaboration” in hopes of subverting such knowledge systems and creating a “metaphorical library”. These intentions correspond well to the building’s history as a place for constructing ones own perspective through both well established and hidden knowledge, while evolving the more restrained nature of words in a library into multifaceted art that is open to a broader range of interpretations. The show features works by nine artists from the collective – Nele Bergmans, Matty Emery, Jane Hughes, S. R. Latham, Te Palandian, Nasus Y Ram, Joy Stokes, Eleanor Street, and Carmen Van Huisstede. The works are created in response to the exhibited “research boxes”, made by the same artists and some additional collective members.
The resulting experience is incredibly dense and personalised, achieved through clever curation. The research boxes are placed on an alter-like platform in the centre of the room, accompanied by detailed descriptions of their contents as well as some context about the artist who made them.
Viewers are encouraged to look through the boxes and read the thoughtful descriptions of each one in order to find connections to the final works, and get an overall impression of the show’s collaborative process. As a result the show manages to incorporate each work into the overarching concept by way of its process if not by its content.
“From the Ground Up” is in congruence with the ethos of the collective’s previous two shows that focussed on a search for new communication techniques in hopes of subverting mainstream narratives. Notably, their show at Copeland Gallery in Peckham, “And you would have to believe it”, which highlighted how ambiguous art can make us more open to nuance, questioning, and critical thinking in the face of these narratives. Both the research boxes and polished works in “From the Ground Up” show each artists ability to employ this same openness in their creative research, investigating their chosen interests by bringing lesser known information to the surface, and nurturing new understanding through how that information is creatively processed.
Matthew Emery’s critique of modern capitalism and its manipulation of the working class is embodied in his research box, constructed from torn-down billboard paper that mirrors the cycle of misinformation and pacifying advertisements used to distract the public from capitalism’s inherent flaws. Inside the box are printed YouTube links to interviews with influential thinkers like Noam Chomsky and Franco Berardi, alongside works by artist Peter Kennard, who explores the tactics used by the UK and USA to maintain global dominance. Matty’s research box, as well as his wider body of work, advocates for personal inquiry into the failures of western capitalism as a means to counter the division and competition imposed on the working class when demands for change are left unheard by elite powers. The breakdown of information systems that inspired the initiative for the show was caused most directly by western capitalism, so the themes in Matty’s work that inspire action against it highlight the solution the show provides for these breakdowns in a reciprocal way.
Exploring the meaning of materiality, Nele Bergman’s research box includes glass and stone displayed in a microcosm that relates to her larger installations and sculptures. The beautifully arranged organic materials in much of Nele’s work, together resemble the interactions of truths, falsehoods, and missing information in knowledge systems. These materials interact and the contexts of each material, which act as metaphors, change depending on interpretation. Nele’s piece for the show, “Moab, Utah and Jordan” places uranium glass, loaded with metaphors that relate to destruction, in the centre of fragmented stained glass, mounted on a piece of plywood and covered with Perspex. The piece is undoubtedly inspired by Te Palandjian’s research box, full of physical geological samples from her trips to Moab, Utah, along with other desertscapes of Spain and Jordan. As explained in the caption for “Moab, Utah and Jordan”, uranium deposits were found in Moab, Utah, by the US in 1940. With uranium glass being a combination of a potentially destructive element and a common material such as sand, Nele’s arrangement provokes thought about how beautiful landscapes can be exploited by those with power and used for destructive acts. However, with uranium also holding potential for renewable energy and medical applications amongst other positive attributes, Nele’s piece could also reflect the value in exploring natural landscapes for resources undeniably helpful to humanity. Of course, there are many materials that possess both negative and positive contexts, and this ambiguity is a reminder that any perspective and knowledge gained from an artwork is totally dependent on the audiences willingness to integrate their own into the viewing experience.
Another notable work, Eleanor Street’s “tl;dr”, reflects on the distortion of information by consequence of the illusory freedom in digital publication. By presenting dynamic digital material through static forms, Eleanor highlights these increasingly obvious distortions which stem from the same personal and corporate agendas embedded in established knowledge systems. “tl;dr” also suggests how a fragmented media landscape infiltrates these knowledge systems by re-examining the past through a present lens that prioritises individual perspective, uncovering previously ignored negative experiences tied to the construction and maintenance of these systems. Despite this positive effect, the media landscape remains plagued by self-interest, leaving apparent societal and personal truths more convoluted than ever.
“From the Ground Up” collectively gives hope for how our increasingly personalised interactions with information can foster new ways of understanding if collaboration and inquiry are prioritised over self interest and manipulation for personal gain. While it would be impractical to explain the work and research of every artist involved in this show, it is clear that every member of the Collective seems to be aligned with this priority, and committed to using multivalent, individually expressive art that makes people constantly re-evaluate their perspective in today’s overstimulating world. Looking forward, it will be exciting to see how the collective’s future projects evolve.
Review by Chris Wieland
Featured Image: Installation image of ‘research boxes’ placed on an alter-like platform, with content description connected to the final works and the artists’ collaborative process.
For more information please visit Critical Edge Collective
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