‘Fragile Monuments’, Kendell Geers
HS Projects presented a series of works by internationally acclaimed artist Kendell Geers as part of the 5 Howick Place Exhibition Programme that also featured in the group exhibition ‘Paradigm Store’. Geers was born in South Africa and now lives and works in Brussels. At the 1993 Venice Biennial he officially changed his date of birth to May 1968, a momentous year in world history for human liberation and equality.
Geers creates work that aims to disrupt commonly accepted moral codes and principles. Employing a wide range of references— from the realms of history of art, iconography and kitsch— Geers questions artistic value and mocks the notion of originality. His work reveals razor-sharp humour that plays with the viewer’s repulsion and ridicules racial or religious stereotypes. Laden with complex and deep political implications, it is challenging and confrontational, while at the same time, Geers’ minimalist aesthetics generate a subtle poetic undertone. His use of language, ready-mades, neon, glass, icons, film, chevron tape and other objects confront the viewer head on. They often startle the eye and require a degree of interrogation from the spectator.
‘Obelisk’, 2008 is a unique and free-standing sculpture by Kendell Geers, seen here in the UK for the first time. Taking the form of this triumphal sculpture, the work is a quadrangular shaft made from cast cement embedded with broken green glass bottles. Monolithic and tapering, the elegant form is reminiscent of historic and public statuary. Here, however, the entire form and even its pyramidal apex is encrusted with shimmering fragments of glass lending the form both an alluring and menacing quality. Historically the Obelisk is a symbolic marker of exchange between Nation States, celebrating alliances between different cultures. By inserting green glass into the concrete obelisk, Geers transforms this gesture of benevolence into a complex and barbed realisation of exchange, suggesting an underlying truth about the difficulties and embedded prejudices between cultures.
In ‘Monument to the F-Word XI’, 2010, seen here in the UK for the first time, Geers reconfigures the provocative word into a three dimensional sculpture carved from one solid block of highly polished bronze. The work gently nods to the form of Constantin Brâncuși’s bronze ‘Bird in Flight’ which depicts the elegance of a swooping bird. The work also recalls Brâncuși’s ‘Endless Monument’ in reference to public monuments as cultural symbols of history and international relations. Here, Geers depicts the monument in the suggestive form of a bullet or a modern missile which alludes to notions of conflict and relates to displacement and immigration; a subject of tenacious relevance in world affairs and culture. The idea of flight and of movement is reinforced by the way the work balances freely upwards. Geers has purposefully kept the meaning of the ‘F’ word open as language becomes abstracted and transformed. Here, the ‘F Word’ hangs in flux suggesting a dialogue concerning the permanence and impermanence of meaning.
In ‘Brawl I’ 2009 and ‘Brawl II, 2009, Kendell Geers instigates a powerful and confrontational dialogue with ‘readymade’ icon and Dadaist great, Marcel Duchamp. The works form part of a series of sculptures consisting of sheets of bullet-proof glass that have been shot at with a rifle. In a contemporary renewal of Duchamp aesthetic, the beautiful delicacy of the shattered panes provides a rich juxtaposition with the violent act that created them. Here, the physical properties of the materials have been pushed to their very limit, creating a work that resonates with a powerful sense of the corporeal. Neither homage nor naïve appropriation, the ‘Brawl’ works demand that the viewer reassess pre-conceived notions of the ‘authentic’ – both in the art world and in wider political spheres.
Kendell Geers’ sculptural series ’T.O.T.I’, 2005 and ‘Twilight of the Idols’, 2009 are iconic found object figures wrapped in red and white hazard tape. Here Geers’ aims to alert us to the ways in which we consume images and the meanings of cultural icons and symbols. Iconic figures such as Christ and Buddha are bound in chevron tape, turning their aura on its head and transforming them into fallen heroes for the late capitalist era. Like many of Geers’ sculptures, these too function as embodiments of an ideological structure. Here bound, gagged and packaged, the traditional meaning of the holy icons seems to have collapsed. A question hangs in the air: what do these icons really mean today?
‘Fragile Monuments’ was at Howick Place from September 2014 – March 2015.
‘Aquaduct’, Susanna Heron
HS Projects developed the public art strategy and project brief for the re-development of The Brunswick Centre on behalf of Allied London. With such an iconic building it was critical to find an artist who could collaborate with the architects Levitt Bernstein Associates and Patrick Hodgkinson to produce a work that relates to the architecture of the building.
Recognising that it was important to address the site as a whole when commissioning the public art, we decided to take an art and architecture approach to re-designing the space to draw people in and create the right environment. Susanna Heron was selected to respond to the site and collaborate on the design with the architects for her ability to work with space and water. Effective and close collaboration between artist and architects, brought about an effective and practical design for the street. This included, for example, the banding design for the paving to give a for-shortening effect to the ‘street’ to open the space up and draw visitors in.
The collaboration between artist and architects in the design of the public art was supported by Camden Council and local residents. The outcome of their collaboration, a site specific art and architecture approach, contributed greatly to The Brunswick Centre’s successful regeneration both commercially and critically, including the receipt of a number of awards for regeneration and design in 2007.
‘Aquaduct’, 2003-6 encourages population of the central space and creates a ‘sense of place’ between the flights of flats on either side. The central line of the space, punctuated by large scale trees and cafe tables is marked by a series of stainless steel troughs channeling fast flowing water towards a large pool. These invented objects have the characteristics of something utilitarian, industrial, out-of-doors and man-made; they rest under their own weight, their surfaces unrefined. The steel is folded to reduce the need for welds making curves easy to lean over and a continuous structural ‘skin’ which gives it strength.
A rectangular pool is situated at the T-junction between Curzon Bloomsbury and the central space. The container for the pool is low enough to encourage people to sit together along the edges. The container is similarly angled and rests on the ground to trap the water in its frame. Circular lights, set flush within the pool-base, are illuminated at night appearing to float beneath the surface whilst by day the water draws in the sky. ‘This is a choreographic work, enabling people to sit and walk about, introducing natural elements of flowing water and reflected light by day and at night’ – Susanna Heron.
Regeneration and Renewal Awards 2007: best Heritage-led Project.
HS Projects commissioned ‘Aquaduct’, 2003-6 on behalf of Allied London. ‘Aquaduct’ is located in The Bruswick Centre, Bloomsbury London.
‘Granite Sculpture II’, Tim Harrisson
For ‘Granite Sculpture II’, Tim Harrisson responded to Michael Manser’s new terminal building for Southampton Airport, the geography of the South Downs, the ancient history of the area and the impression of take-off and landing.
‘I wanted to complement the fine horizontal structure of the new terminal building by the architect Michael Manser and so convey a visual impression of ascent and descent. My main aim was to capture the idea and physical experience of movement, reflecting the dynamic view of landscape both as we see its physical surface and its underlying geological structure. By selecting granite, this allowed me to tap into the hidden geological forms which shape and continue to slowly re-mould the landscape we live in and move through. The way a landscape ‘appears’ to change as we actually look at it, either from sea, land or air, is also echoed in the piece as one moves around it, or indeed from above a plane which is landing or taking off, each different viewpoint dramatically altering our viewpoint and visual perception of the work.’
We managed the commission process from concept through to completion. Working closely with our client, we established the opportunities and constraints of the commission, developed the artist’s brief and managed the artist selection process, design, fabrication, site preparation, installation and opening.
We commissioned ‘Granite Sculpture II’ in 1995 on behalf of Southampton Airport, Hampshire.