ANDROID Exhibit…

ANDROID Exhibition Review 11.06.13

By Kathryn @AcuteAgency

Noam Chomsky recently postulated ‘What is the future likely to bring? A reasonable stance might be to try to look at the human species from the outside’. This perceptive phrase may be the perfect starting point to look at the recent collaborative exhibition ANDROID in the ultra-modern and sterile environment of Piccadilly Place.

A collection of 24 Manchester-based artists have come together to respond to the theme of ‘android’. Stepping into the space, you can tell that this is a sophisticated and responsible creative endeavour: a rare find. ANDROID, an exhibition realised by Sarah Sanders, curated by Julie Del’Hopital, Ian Irvine and (assisted by) John Lynch, have without doubt hit on something exciting and may have even alluded to a hopeful future. At the very least, a hopeful future in relation to the art scene in Manchester.

Cult classics and urban despotic themes resonate from each piece. The multi-sensory landscapes intrigue the viewer, from Antony Hall’s (2013) engineered Lung (prototype for breathing) to Ben Gwilliam’s (2007/2013) Empty Spiel IV, these pieces underline the idea of achievable hybrid technologies. Matthew Bamber’s (2013) Blink is reminiscent of the fictitious but extremely relevant ‘Big Brothers’ found in 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451; watching and recording passers by. Trickery and beauty collide in Evi Grigoropoulou’s (Semi Precious, 2008-9) and Ian Irvine’s (Hollywood androids, 2013) work, asking the viewer to ponder the discourses surrounding perfection in the modern world.

The performances over the weekend, by Naomi Kashiwagi (Origami Nabaztags) and Sanders (Romeo) created a provocative and subtle atmosphere of a cyborg space. A production line of origami Nabaztags and the repetitive binary call-out for love in the silent quadrangle, blurred the lines of everyday reality and fiction.

Collaboration is one of those things that I personally rate quite highly, but is often a tool that is forgotten and mistreated. Psychologists refer to the demise of the ‘groupthink’. However in the case of ANDROID, collaboration has achieved great and magical things.

On entrance to the exhibition, Denis Whiteside’s Soliloquy (2013) phonetically notates the final monologue of the Blade Runner replicant Roy Batty, quoting that “All those moments will be lost in time”. Ultimately, I hope that, this moment and the work of Sanders et al., will not be.