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James Irwin: Monument to the Alphabet 

Fri 26 Feb 2010 - Sat 20 Mar 2010

James Irwin

Monument to the Alphabet

 

Private View: Thursday 25th February 2010  18.00 - 21.00

Exhibition open to public: Friday 26th February - Saturday 20th March 2010

 

Goth on Bus is pleased like to present Monument to the Alphabet, a solo exhibition by the British artist James Irwin. Irwin is also a member of the London collective Everything Is Number, and as Goth on Bus reaches it's first anniversary, it is a pleasure to welcome him back for his second exhibition at the space.

 

Following their display at the Kinetica Art Fair in Marylebone, Irwin has installed two recent works which form an integral part of his research on the innovative MFA in Computational Studio Arts programme at Goldsmiths College.

 

The eponymous Monument to the Alphabet, 2009, consists of sixteen flourescent fixings mounted on the wall, replacing the gallery lighting. Visitors are invited to interact with the installation through a plinth-mounted interface and,  by using a sliding mechanism, can instantly reconfigure the lighting in order to create characters from the English alphabet. 

 

The second work in the show, ON/OFF(OFF/ON), 2009, is a single white neon. Visitors may also engage with this work via remote control, turning each word off (and it's opposite on), or each word on (and it's opposite off).

 

Irwin's work is posited in the gap between 'new media art' and 'high art', and by using tropes from both (sculptural plinths, neon and an interactive element), attempts to render this gap non-existant. He describes the work as being made in 'response to throw-away status updates on Facebook or Twitter' and as such Monument to the Alphabet sits as a direct challenge to a viewer/user attempting to write sentences using one six foot letter at a time, particularly given the difficulty in looking directly at the lights themselves. However in contrast to this, it is the letter-forms that illuminate the space with a cool white glow, transforming the gallery into a spiritual space, similar to the work of Dan Flavin, giving the alphabet a kind of religious status.

 

www.jamesirwin.net

 

Goth on Bus is a non-profit experimental arts space in Greenwich, London. 

Goth on Bus, 139 Greenwich South Street, London Se10 8nx

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 12 - 6.

www.gothonbus.org.uk

Venue

Venue:
Goth On Bus   -   Website
Street:
139 Greenwich South Street
ZIP:
SE10 8NX
City:
London

Description

Goth on Bus is a not for profit experimental arts space in Greenwich, South East London, which offers a platform for early-career artists and recent graduates to showcase their work. Our emphasis is on art as a site of experiment, either in it's method of production or execution, or in it's display and exhibition.

Goth on Bus does not represent artists in the traditional manner of commercial art galleries and does not sell work on the artist's behalf; rather, Goth on Bus selects and invites artists producing interesting works in a variety of media to exhibit in the space to promote their work whilst striving to promote contemporary art within the local community.

In lieu of any economic transactions, exhibiting artists donate one piece of work on paper to the Goth on Bus archive rather than paying the gallery any commission or hire charge.