Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Galerie Dennis Cooper presents ... Charles Avery's Island *

* This post courtesy of a tip from Oscar B
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'Charles Avery arrives, quite by chance, at an island that he believes to be uninhabited. It's not. Fascinated by how it differs from the world he has always known, he begins to draw and to describe those differences. Like any plundering anthropologist-cum-archaeologist, he brings stuff back from this magic place to show us how the world he has chanced upon differs from our own. Of course, like Swift, what Avery is really doing is using his "discoveries" as an opportunity to satirise our own world.' -- Michael Glover, The Independent


'In 2004, Scottish artist Charles Avery began making art work based on his imaginary territory, which he simply calls 'The Island'. A mixture of Cairo, New York and Avery’s own childhood home on the Scottish isle of Mull, the Island is peopled by faint, tetchy-looking women and gruff, wizened men who occupy a world where there is no distinction between imaginary and physical reality. Taking a range of philosophical theories as guidelines, Avery has created a sort of metaphysical ant farm. On the map of the mirrored archipelago that forms his world, clever puns abound: the Analitic Ocean, Cape Conchious-Ness, the Causeway of Effect. The noumenon – Immanuel Kant’s concept, which describes an unknowable thing that cannot be observed with the senses but only conceived of or believed in – is here a debated beast whose existence is unconfirmed but for which the Island’s hunters relentlessly search.

'Wall texts describe this society’s paradigms, cults, creatures and places. Large drawings and physical artefacts accompany each text, fleshing out The Island as a vibrant place of constantly shifting existence, but the incessant dialectic of which inevitably seems to arrive at an existential stalemate. The drawings are unfinished, erratic in the precise minutiae they focus in on, as if excerpts from Avery’s ethnographic notebook. Like William Hogarth or George Cruikshank’s bustling street scenes, there is a distinct sense of alienation, highlighted further by his characters’ detailed, emotive faces, whose grim caricature recalls more contemporary illustrators such as Daniel Clowes.

'The gods, like everything else on The Island, are a profane embodiment of abstract concepts. Take, for example, Mr Impossible, who was deemed a god by a trio of drunken philosophers, arguing that owing to his ridiculous physique he was ‘highly improbable’ and ‘therefore he is essential’. The role of philosophy as status-giver in Avery’s project is telling. The endowing act of creating an avatar pervades his world, each aspect of The Island an emblematic transcription or one-to-one analogy of some philosophical tenet. This endowment extends to our guide’s own choice of presentation, using the museum set-up to provide us with a static portrait of this foreign place. The philosophy of this exhibition is meant to be an exhaustive epistemology, a summary of characteristics presented to us with an air of finality and predetermined readings.' -- Chris Fite-Wassilak, Frieze




Media Extras


(in German)








Quotes

"A lot of writers say: 'Write what you know', so I've based it (the Island) on my direct experience, which is growing up on the West Coast of Scotland, some time in Edinburgh, some time in Rome and a lot of time in Hackney. You'll find a distillation of these in the works."

"Film is my most important cultural medium. The characters in The Island are similar to a Coen Brothers film in the way [the Coens] favour the same actors from film to film."

"I don't want to it to look like sci-fi, or 'Hey, this is weird and wonderful!' I sometimes think, have the people who say these things actually looked? What is so weird about this place? There are a few weird animals, but nothing weirder than would turn up in Australia, they're just different, they're completely plausible. The Gods are a strange-looking bunch, but if you look at all the gods human beings have evoked I don't think they're particularly weirder."

"People have perceived some kind of satirical content to this, and there really isn't. I think maybe people have mistaken my ultra earnestness for cynicism. I don't see it that way."

"Some people talk as if it's a prison I've created, but it's the opposite. It gives to freedom to explore the ideas I want to explore. I might have a drawing which is more about mathematical philosophy, and one which is more about people. If you create a space where you put the things you don't have to relate them intellectually, you relate them spatially. It's about turning that intellectual space into a physical space."

"The Island is not a parallel world, it's part of this world, therefore it is a fiction. I use the word 'fiction' very broadly. History is a fiction, art history is fiction. Maybe reality is the biggest fiction of all."




Further

Charles Avery @ doggerfisher gallery
Video: from 'The Knight's Move', a lecture by Charles Avery
'Charles Avery: Mythologies' @ Map Magazine

‘I had sought this strange land with a view to being its discoverer.’ -- Charles Avery



























































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*

p.s. Hey. It's the usual cleaning/ exile day on my end, so I'll be trying to finish this before I get tossed out into the cold, and my rushing might show, sorry. ** Alex336, Hey! I'm glad you came back. I did read one of your stories so far, and I liked it a lot. I think written porn is actually kind of a difficult form to finesse, and I think you do quite interesting things, and the writing is real good. I'm going to read the other pieces in the next few days. So, kudos! It's never too late for the British Samuel Steward. Every age and its particular sexual mores and routines could use definitely one. Why not you? It's nice you're reading my books, man. thank you. Yeah, here's hoping on the UK publisher. I'll let you know when I do. ** Killer Luka, Hey. Wow, those Miles Pride art things are awesome and, err, awesome! Everyone, brilliant artist/ d.l. Killer Luka works her magie on reigning Emo porn superstar Miles Pride here. Get yourselves over there. Yeah, I missed the MP vs. RR tangling. You're a lot gayer than I am. That's for sure. I'm not really all that into Emo porn lately, and I'm not paying that much attention. I like the looks of the Emo porn guys, but the sex is too Narcissus at the pond or something for me. I'm into South American porn at the moment. It's more unpredictable. ** Nerstes, Hey, man. Well, I think the 'Dogtooth' they were referring to is the Greek film, yeah, or that was my take. Everyone, or, rather, you guys who like 'Dogtooth' a lot: you mean mean the Greek film of that name, right? We'll see. ** David Ehrenstein, Oh, I remember that song now. I'm sure I've told you before that I got to see an early workshop version of 'Sunday in the Park ...' This guy I was seeing at the time was in with Sondheim and later on was one of the stars of 'Merrily We Roll Along', and he got me in. Pretty amazing. Maybe 20 people in attendance, Sondheim among them taking notes, talking to the performers, etc. ** Misanthrope, Okay, your house does sound haunted. And I don't even believe in that stuff, so it really must be haunted. You should contact one of those paranormal investigation shows. I bet they pay the people whose houses they investigate, if you catch my drift. Mm, Panchitos, rawr, etc. Let me know for sure if/when your NYC dates are set, 'cos I think the shows are going to sell out very fast. I fly back to Paris on the 11th, just so you know. I've got all kind of ideas, fantasies, plans in place should a billion dollars fall in my lap, and, trust me, everyone would benefit in one way or another. Grants, whores, drugs, ... you name it. ** Bernard Welt, You were typing weird. Not badly, just differently. I noticed it before you even said anything. I can't quite parse the difference. The paragraphing? Slightly chunkier sentence construction? Not sure. Dude, scary story there with your external hard drive. I literally broke out into a sympathy sweat. Well, sympathy mist. Phew. You really should go to that Thermal Val spa in Switzerland. It was chosen recently as one of the three best works of the architecture of the last 50 years or something. So, there's that too. ** Pilgarlic, Well, you proved my point again. The point about your writing. You should write a book about something. You should. Let's see ... The Booze. Never heard of them. I can't believe that's the first time I've ever heard of a band called The Booze. One of the failed bands I started/ was in when younger was called The Same. And for years afterwards, I was amazed that no other band used that name, since I thought it was pretty good. But then a band did. No, thank yooooouuuu, sir. ** MANCY, Yeah, I like that last Rollerball album a lot. Strange about the sparse crowd. They're kind of talked about a fair amount over here. Best to you. ** Nick, Hey. Oh, thanks, man. I don't how/why that evaded my eyes. Cool list. Deftones, interesting, hm. I've been meaning to download that Tinsel Teeth album for weeks. I definitely will. Everyone, here's d.l. Nick's fave music list for 2010, and it's a good one full of awesome tips, so check it out. ** Ken Baumann, Ken! I was happy to see 'Mooney' on my list too. Dude, the trailer for 'Tree of Life', holy shit. I'm counting the milliseconds. And if the talk over here is true, it'll be at Cannes, and it will open in France before it opens anywhere else in the world, for fucking once. Really, I'm so excited to see that, I can hardly breathe when I think about it. A new new novel? Awesome! I'm getting through my post-'Swarm' malaise finally, and I'm going to finally start reading 'Solip' this week. Can not wait. ** Nicki, Hey, buddy! Early happy new year to you! And to the cub! And to your man! Thank you for stopping in. Let the habit reform, please. ** L@rstonovich, Morning. ** I got exiled and removed from the blog for an hour right here, for what it's worth. ** Paul, Hey, greetings, welcome. No kidding about the 'Tree of Life' trailer. I practically cried. Your blog is pretty amazing. Really happy to be introduced to it. I'll be a regular. Everyone, this new guy Paul has a really excellent blog. Lynch, Mina Loy, Donovan, Lynne Ramsay, writings about new books, his own photographs, and all just on the first page. It's called 'Gila Monster Laundromat', and it's here. He also co-edits a really interesting lit mag/site, radioactive moat. Check it out too. Thanks a lot. Come back any time, please. ** Alroads, Hey, welcome. A letter? Like a letter via the post? Hm, I don't think I got it, but let me ask my partner because he sometimes puts mail somewhere and forgets to tell me. I'll ask him tonight. You can get to me through email (dcooperweb @ gmail.com) or Facebook; I'm just a really, really, really slow correspondent. ** _Black_Acrylic, Fucking hell, those pipes again! Jesus. Nice Xmas haul, yeah. The Thek book/ catalog is quite excellent. Give it serious consideration, I say. ** Steevee, Great, the review. Super interesting. I don't know if the film will get this far. I'm interested now. Everyone, d.l. Steevee aka the eminent film critic Steve Erickson reviews the new film 'Red Chapel' by the director Mads Brügger at the Artforum site. The film sounds very curious, and the review is very fine, so have a read. ** Andrew, Ha ha, I don't know a blood butcher, no surprise. Everyone, anyone out there know a blood butcher? D.l. Andrew says, 'I need to find someone who can hook me up with blood butcher coats; I have this great idea that just came to me.' Post any help you can give him, please. Surely, you can buy such a thing online, no? ** Statictick, Feel better, man, and lots of love to you. ** Shannon, Hey, Shannon! Really, hospitalized for insomnia? Oh, that's painful to think about. I get whiny if I only get six hours of sleep a night. Your revamped site looks real good. And I love the new blog entry, 'Holy shit she blew a fat man'. Everyone, the excellent writer and d.l. Shannon revamped her writing site, here, and has terrific new writing on her always excellent blog, here. Go there, if you know what's good for you. Congrats on the latest acceptance. Hook me up when the poetry is public, if you don't mind. Thanks, Shannon. ** Chris Cochrane, Sir, morning. I'm sure the Thek retrospective is a must. Listening on my end: 'The Ghosts of Effingham', up my alley. Some stuff I found online by Jonny Fryer aka Onward the Indian. And other stuff. ** Frank Jaffe, Hey, Frank! I just read this snarky joke online somewhere to the effect that Aronofsky is probably going to call his Wolverine film 'The Wolverine'. Ha ha. Oh, 'Discontents', cool. I'm very proud of that book. I wish it could get reprinted. Two publishers have asked to do it, but they wanted to remove the comix, which is a ridiculous idea, so I said no. It's cold in Florida? Trippy. It's less cold here today. I actually sat outside and read a magazine, and it took fifteen minutes before my teeth started chattering, which is pretty good of late. ** Syreearmwellion, Oh, cool, thanks. Everyone, Syreearmwellion, whose works/ books were featured here on the blog recently, and one whose recent books was in my best poetry of the year list, has a new book -- Kindle format only, I think -- and you can/ should check it or even buy it if you have the appropriate technology right here. The new Assassins Creed, cool, okay. Of course, I'll need an XBox, which I don't have, unless it's on Wii too, which I doubt. Thanks, pal. ** Nb, I hope you get out of there and home today. I'm imagining a votive candle, and now I'm imagining it's lit. Yeah, I'll see you in, wow, less than two weeks unless either your or our blizzards comes back. ** Sypha, No, you've mentioned your former crush object before, but not her blog. She must have weird associations in her head with you or something. Probably not your fault at all. Maybe you remind her of something she doesn't want to remember of those days. Who knows. Sorry, though. ** Mark Gluth, Sounds like a totally legitimate and even fun NYE to me. More than I've got in store. A party, maybe a drink. ** Math, I just almost bought 'Epic Mickey' a few minutes ago, but when I saw the price tag, 50 Euros, I decided to sleep on it for one more night. Yeah, there's got to be a trade happy person on those games. Awesome you loved 'Enter the Void'! Loving 'Enter the Void' is a sign that something is very, very good in one's brain. I don't know what thing that is precisely, but something. ** Alan, It was sublime, my friend. Everyone, Alan, creator of yesterday's blog majesty, says, ' if anyone wants to read a sample of my novel they can email me at alanshorn at gmail.' ** Creative Massacre, Hey. Yeah, the track is terrific. I ended up playing it a bunch of times. Consider me an early fan and cheerleader. Kudos! ** Postitbreakup, Hey, J. Uh, yeah, Blogger eats comments once in a while. I have no idea what that's about. Totally strange. I played a decent portion of the most recent Grand Theft Auto, and bits of the earlier games, but I only have a Wii and a DS, so I haven't had the chance to play those games in a leisurely way. No, I haven't played 'Red Dead Redemption', probably for the same reason? ** Panda?, Hey, P. Maybe you are crazy. No, you're not. Mad musical scientist/ genius, maybe, but that's different. Cool about the CHSPE. It would be great if you could get to college asap and then get out of that big valley and into UCLA or wherever. A pediatrician? That's a surprise. Is studying music or something like that kind of pointless? Probably, I guess? It's more about using university to get yourself into a good, interesting job situation in case it takes a while for your albums to go platinum? Yeah, I finished my novel. Big relief. I'm waiting for the judgement call from my publisher, so I'm a little tweaked, but hopefully it'll be okay. Yeah, it's Newsom's voice that's really hard for me. I'm trying. Take care, man! ** Lord_s, Hey, man. Oh, yeah, the Harvey Milk album, I dug that too. Mm, okay, maybe I'll try some more of the recorded Zola Jesus stuff. I saw her live with recorded tapes, and maybe that was problem, although I don't really like her voice, which could be a big problem. I'll try again. I'm read glad you liked Zach German's book. I tried really hard to get that book for Little my House on the Bowery imprint, but I didn't manage to score it. Well, could your novel be a novella? I mean, could you find a way to wrap it up in its current form? Oh, you're heading back into lurkdom. That's fair enough. I'll set my lord-s watch for late January then, and you dig it all until then. ** Brendan, 'Jealousy', yum. The book, I mean, not the, uh, emotion. Freedom is a week away maybe? Excellent. Tick, tick ... Vegas, hm, let's see, hm ... LA trip is a bit in flux at the moment, Long story, trying to sort it out. So sad I missed the Baldessari show. I love, love, love him. My book 'Wrong' is titled after a piece by him. Maybe it'll travel. Maybe it'll even come here. Whoa! ** Hm, even with the period of exile, I made it through today before it got too late, cool. Post: Charles Avery's project interests me. See what you think. See you tomorrow too.
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