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London 2012 comes to UAL’s galleries
Aaron McPeake Iceland Landscape 3, 2010
The University of the Arts London’s exhibition spaces are gearing up to commemorate the Olympic and Paralympic events in local and idiosyncratic ways.
Opening on July 26th and running through August, Wimbledon Space will showcase a selection of work by emerging talent from across Theatre and Fine Art courses at the college. Its title is LAUNCH: Ceremony and Wimbledon is currently inviting student makers to submit work for consideration, in response to the theme of Ceremony during London 2012. One student also stands to win an award for their work, and with it, a bespoke residency that culminates in an exhibition at the college in 2012 – 13. The award is to be judged by two prominent figures in the create sphere; Lea Anderson, dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director and Sarah Williams, Jerwood Visual Arts Gallery Manager and curator, artist and lecturer. The winner of the award will be announced at the opening event.
To coincide with this, a performance will also take place in the Theatre space. Divided is a collaborative choreography project responding to the themes of ‘Athleticism’ and the ‘Olympic Ideal’, by Design for Performance students at Wimbledon and Youth Group London Contemporary Dance School.
Paul Ryan What are feelings for? 2007
Meanwhile, Camberwell College of Arts is set to mark the Olympic Flame passing through the area with an exhibition at Camberwell Space. There will be: smoke and mirrors, burnt houses, archives on fire, sirens and alarms… To mark the Olympic Flame passing through Camberwell, UAL PhD artists and associates, present an exhibition that considers fire in its ceremonial, ritualistic, metaphysical and symbolic aspects; as well as its physical, audio-visual and scientific representations. An artists’ residency relay will pass the torch of audience encounter across the three weeks; as practitioners work in the galleries, alongside the exhibits.
In the context of the riots during 2010 and the fatal Lakanal House fire in Camberwell 2009, flames may raise mixed associations locally. This year’s Olympic flame lit in Greece on May 10th 2012, where protestors in Athens clash with police over austerity measures, arrives in Camberwell in July on the way to the Olympic Cauldron in East London, where tens of billions of pounds have been spent.
Despite austerity, there is the human resolve to celebrate. Fires and flames have roles to play in both. Art on Fire aims to give depth and breadth to our encounter with this symbol, brought to our attention by The Games, as it is run through the streets.
Artists include: Daniel Baker’s Smoke & Mirrors; installations by Eleanor Bowen; Maria Christoforatou, who considers fires in the home; Jenny Gordon’s collages on fire; Aaron McPeake – who has made gongs/bells from molten bronze e.g. Iceland Landscape 3 (see fig. below); a collaboration between Carolyn Flood & Dino Alfier – Where Words are Said; a siren piece by Rob Mullender; and Paul Ryan’s archive on fire.
Double Vision, an exhibition at Peckham Space (also part of Camberwell College of Arts), extends out of the gallery to celebrate the passing of the Olympic Torch through SE15. Artist Gayle Chong Kwan invites you to Peckham Square for a sensory feast to celebrate the arrival of the torch between midday and 2pm on 26th July. Passers-by will be invited to visit mobile sensory booths to experience the smells and tastes of Double Vision.
There is a plethora of events to get stuck into around UAL: and testament once again to the many, varied and often surprising ways that London’s creative contingency has been responding to this singular theme.
Launch: Ceremony
Wimbledon space, 27th July – 17th August 2012 (opening night 26th July)
Art on Fire
Camberwell Space, 23 July – 11 August 2012
Special Viewing / SLAM Last Friday: 27 July, 6-8pm
Sensory Olympic Feast
Peckham Square, 26th July, 12 noon – 2pm
Monday, May 28th, 2012
Tags: 2012, camberwell, camberwell college of arts, London 2012, Peckham Space, students, Wimbledon
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