Tipping Point is a balancing act in which change needs to occur before the scales are tipped in the wrong direction and the opportunity to re-balance is lost. The latest group exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery revolves around the impact of environmental and humanitarian issues on the world today and how changes could effect us in the future.
We are aware of global warming, overpopulation, industrialization and the continual use of energy. All the data and information that we have culminated can be hard to digest, and visualize, resulting in denial, the reluctance to act or the feeling that individually we are too small to make a difference, The Age of Stupid springs to mind. But art and artists enable the public to engage with these issues, artists such as Simon Starling, Darren Almond, Katie Paterson and John Kelly to name a few. This is an exhibition with a strong message. Aiming to promote taking individual responsibility, making small changes and motivating a shift in public thinking.
 |
| Katie Paterson, |
 |
| Gerry Judah, Bengal #2 (2013) |
 |
| One of Many books in the Gallery |
Usually silent and thousands of miles away from the West Midlands, is the sound of glacier ice melting. Three videos by science artist Katie Paterson depict Icelandic ice records spinning on turntables, creating grinding sounds that bore into the heads of gallery visitors, along with the issue of melting ice caps.
Weighing heavy on delicate, Indian style bikes and rickshaws are immensely dense and intricate architectural structures, defying the laws of physics. The commissioned pieces are a result of a research trip artist Gerry Judah took to West India. Extravagant forms are a monument to progress, an attempt to overshadow poverty and deprivation with beauty. The work marks an imbalance between the rich and the poor.
‘In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push - in just the right place – it can be tipped.’
Malcolm Gladwell.
Tipping Point is at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery until the 6th July 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment