David Cotterrell : Monsters of the Id

David Cotterrell's work at The John Hansard Gallery is displayed in such a way that it utilities advanced display technologies and custom software. When first entering the exhibition you are welcomed with a bleak landscape containing a virtual community that has been protected upon the wall. The longer one stays in the 'Observer effect' the more that happens within this landscape. the exhibition is co-curated with Helen Sloan and SCAN.

'Observer Effect'

The 'Observer effect' and the next gallery space 'Searchlight 2' are inter-connected. The amount of viewers in 'Observer effect' directly impacts on the Searchlight space. It is made up of a man made mountainous landscape upon which an unknown population is projected upon. The number of this population is in relation to that in the Observer Effect. The whole landscape was mapped using 3D scanning technology which let Cotterrell project the transient population on the landscape.

'Searchlight 2'

Another exhibition space called 'Apparent Horizon' was also featured but during my visit it was not working correctly. It consisted of two doorway rooms rendering immersive, virtualised vistas of a desert landscape. The works optical effect is achieved through display technology similar to that used within military simulation.

Apparent Horizon - David Cotterrell 2012


"Derived from the artists journeys to Afghanistan, Monsters of the Id explores the illusionary nature of representations of war... ..Using advanced display technologies, Monsters of the Id captures the disorientation of a civilian observer within a militarised environment."
Taken from David Cotterrell: Monsters of the Id Exhibition guide.

No comments:

Post a Comment