'EF103 603 Video Works by Jordan Baseman'
Fri 18 April
Private View: 6pm
COOPER GALLERY, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee
This exhibition runs until 23 May 2003
Jordan Baseman (born 1960, Philadelphia, USA; based in London) first came to prominence as one of the Saatchi 'Brit Art' pack in 1995. In 1999, the artist changed from a purely sculptural practice to working primarily in video.
Baseman focuses on individuals who could be perceived, in some way, to be on the margins of mainstream society. This exhibition comprises of three video works: 'Luv is Gonna Get You Someday' (2001/2002), a documentary focusing on the philosophies of disfigured and middle-aged pop wannabe Dave; 'Thriller' (2002), a role play consisting of excerpts from interviews with Michael Jackson; and 'July Twelfth 1984' (2001), a real-life recorded commentary of the last moments of inmate EF103 603.
Through these characters' recorded testimonies, Baseman's work navigates the grey areas of truth, identity, belief, behaviour, desire, judgement and retribution. And as we watch, we are implicated. We laugh at Dave who wants to be popular; we are the public Jackson desires but is condemned by; we are witness to the Day of Judgement for Ivon Ray Stanley. Ultimately, the very nature of these narratives questions our own morality.
A specially commissioned poster publication about this exhibition by artist Sarah Tripp will be available. This is the second of a new Exhibitions Department series.
This is one of two Good Friday openings at the University of Dundee.
'Sonology of a Mute Spectacle' by Mark Vernon opens in the Lamb Gallery, Tower Building at 5pm. See the press release below.
Sonology of a Mute Spectacle
Mark Vernon
Private view : Friday 18 April 2003
5 pm Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee
Exhibition runs from 20 April - 1 May 2003
'Sonology of a Mute Spectacle' takes an array of found objects, musical instruments and exhibits from the University's Museum's collection selected with particular attention to their sonic properties. Through a collage of sound and narration these static objects presented in museum display cases are reanimated in the imagination of the listener as they are guided through the exhibits by a recorded soundtrack on headphones accompanying each cabinet.
Each object or group of objects is given a sound character, these sounds react to each other, overlapping, combining and interweaving to create unusual relationships between the objects in an open ended narrative.
The separation of a sound from its source creates what is known as a 'schizophonic' effect, in this instance the sound is first separated and then reunited though not reintegrated with its object. Although the sound may match up with the object in our expectations there is something not quite right, there is a displacement which evokes the uncanny, a sense of something at once familiar and unfamiliar.
There is a slippage in time between what we see and what we hear which we are made acutely aware of by the recorded testament; the dislocated 'voices' of these objects take on a spectral quality, the headphones act as a medium relaying information to us about these moribund artefacts trapped behind glass.
The recorded sounds inform us that the object has had a previous life outside of this current context, a life that is no longer evident or that is seemingly at an end. There is often a funereal aspect to museum presentation; the display cases resemble glass coffins, the exhibits are lifeless, inanimate, unattainable, untouchable, we are separated from them and they from us.
Mark Vernon is a recent graduate of the MSc Electronic Imaging course at DJCAD. He is a sound artist and musician working in the fields of radio production, audio documentaries and soundtracks.
With special thanks to Mathew Jarron, Museum services.
For more information / images for either of these shows please contact: University of Dundee Exhibitions Department, 13 Perth Road, Dundee, DD1 4HT 01382 345330 exhibitions@dundee.ac.uk
By Jane Smernicki, Press Officer 01382 344768 j.m.smernicki@dundee.ac.uk