19. Kathryn Faulkner: RING OF GOLD

16 July - 7 August 2009

“25p, 50p each” “Did you sell it though?” “YES!” “Did you?”

As part of THE SUPER ESTATE programme, EXHIBIT is delighted to present “RING OF GOLD”, a video installation capturing the second Market Day at Golden Lane Estate on 6 June 2009.

Despite the inclement weather many of the residents laid out their tables with a wide variety of goods to sell. During the day, artist Kathryn Faulkner worked her way around the balcony, taking hundreds of photographs of the tables and the people behind them, building a weaving sequence of portraits that eventually form this short film. The residents were captured holding hands to emphasize the collaborative nature of this event and the community spirit behind many of the activities at Golden Lane Estate. The idea of a linked chain within a circumnavigation of the space also alludes to the passing of time, the rotation of the earth and the cyclical nature of life.

It is interesting to note what each table contains – in some ways the contents can be seen as an alternative self-portrait, by revealing what the owner doesn’t consider worth keeping anymore. If we think that these objects are the excess from someone’s life they become pointers towards their personality and hint at their life style to some extent. Even the way the table is organized is psychologically telling.

There are books for sale on over half the tables. What makes us decide to get rid of books – lack of space and affection or simply to make room for new reading experiences? On the other hand why do we hold on to some books forever? What makes a book important enough to live with it in our personal space? Will we reread it many years later or simply keep it as a talisman or memory jogger?

Books point to a free society where reading is respected and Kathryn sets out to identify the cultural climate among artists in this ‘Bibliography’ project during 2008-09. These still life photographs of artists, writers or photographers twenty most important books were printed at exactly life size and are accompanied by a short statement from the contributor. With the images comes an awareness that they are a portrait of that person through their books; rather like scanning the titles on an acquaintance’s bookshelf we can make assumptions about their interests, character and status in society. As libraries adapt to attract new users with racks of DVD’s and rows of computers books are threatened with replacement by electronic ‘readers’, the idea of the book as object, something to treasure and keep because of what it has provoked in us, is perhaps tinged with nostalgia already.

For part 2 of THE SUPER ESTATE residency Kathryn will investigate how and why people live with books on the Golden Lane Estate. In collaboration with as many residents as possible, she will endeavor to answer some of these questions and show the results in EXHIBIT gallery in February 2009.