British artist Conrad Shawcross has constructed a giant, site specific, mechanical installation in the Kingsway Tram Subway, Holborn in October 2009. This vast underground tunnel is a remarkable and fascinating survivor of London’s tramway heritage which has been closed for public use since 1952.
Chord is Conrad Shawcross most ambitious and complex work to date. Conceived specifically for the long subway, the artist has built two identical rope machines that will weave a thick hawser from 324 spools of coloured string. These vast machines will begin back to back in the centre of the space and then gradually move away from each other slowly down the subway following the old tram tracks. Like two huge spiders, they will slowly weave their rope behind them as they slowly travel through the space over the course of the exhibition.
Chord is a Measure commission produced in partnership with Camden Council, Victoria Miro Galley, inholborn and London Transport Museum.
Funded by the Arts Council, Bloomberg, Victoria Miro Gallery and The Henry Moore Foundation.
A Measure touring exhibition, first shown at Permanent Gallery and the Regency Town House, Brighton.
15 November – 14 December 2008
A series of cinematic portraits by Ben Rivers showing the lives of three individuals who have made the isolated pockets of Northern Europe their home. Living self-sufficiently off the land, the subjects of the films are independently evolving a way of life that quietly, but resolutely, refuses to submit to the demands of conventional living.
The three film-works are projected within huts made of reclaimed wood from the local area, and installed across two sites: the ex-office space of Permanent Gallery, Brighton, and the semi-restored Regency Town House, Hove.
This Is My Land, observes the daily routine of self-sufficient Jake Williams. Sördal focuses upon an abandoned film set found while searching for a Norwegian hermit. Origin of the Species surveys the geography surrounding a 75-year-old amateur inventor and Darwin enthusiast.
On Overgrown Paths is a collborative project between the artist, Measure and Permanent Gallery, Brighton.
A new collaborative commission for Arnold Circus featuring as part of the Concrete and Glass Festival in partnership with The Friends of Arnold Circus.
Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October, Arnold Circus Bandstand, Boundary Estate, Shoreditch.
Rubble Music is a site-specific sound installation by artist Thor McIntyre- Burnie for the bandstand, at Arnold Circus in Shoreditch.
Using specialist seismic and infra-sound recording instruments, Thor will delve deep into the vibrations and sounds beneath our feet, in the depths of the Arnold Circus mound. The circus is a the central feature created from the rubble of one of London's worst Victorian slums, The Old Nichol. Cleared in the late 19th century to make way for the first purpose built housing estate in Britain, the Boundary estate remains impressive architecturally.
The aim is to tap into this resonant site and give voice to the mound, by replaying its inner vibrations as sounds from the sites bandstand and thereby temporarily transforming the function of this derelict bandstand into an ear on the earth.
Click here for a link through to the Friends of Arnold Circus website, and click on the logo below for the festival website.
58 Processions
9 – 24th August 2008
The Crypt,
St Pancras Church,
Euston Road, London,
NW1 2BA.
58 Processions is a large-scale sound installation in St Pancras Church’s crypt. This is the UK premier of a collaborative project by artists Duncan Whitley and James Wyness.
The labyrinthine passageways of the crypt act as the space for a re-interpretation of seville’s Holy Week processions. Guided by sound, audiences are encouraged to explore the space as drum marches, brass bands, tolling bells and the shuffling feet of marching penitents process through the crypt’s darkened corridors. The
space will be animated by moments of loudness and profound quiet in turn, characterised by both an austerity of presentation and a rich, cinematic listening experience.
The Dalston Drawing Project is an ongoing collaboration between Dan
and the community of Dalston and Hackney. The drawings will be exhibited
on billboards in the area in summer 2009 as part of a series of project
based around the publication of Iain Sinclairs new book, 'Hackney, That
Red-Rose Empire'.
A film by Emily Richardson
16 June to 25 June 2006
Smithfield Car Park, West Smithfield, London, EC1A 9PQ.
A three screen video installation. 7mins, 2006.
A collaboration between filmmaker Emily Richardson
and author Iain Sinclair, Transit journeys through the East End quietly
observing the shifting architectural and social landscape. Underneath
Smithfield Market, at a juncture where the past encroaches upon the modern
world, a two storey car park occupying a former underground meat depot
is transformed into a projection space incorporating the only remaining
row of the original high arched vaults.
Sat 6 May-Sun 21 May 2006
Caretaker's Cottage
Shoreditch Town Hall
380 Old Street
London EC1V 9LN
The Marxist Magicians are a calamitously cack-handed and argumentative
fictional bunch of revolutionary conjurors. the Keystone Cops of communism.
Their aim is to bring about the overthrow of capitalism through embarrassment.
This show finds the Magicians changing tack. They have decided to assault
capitalism not as usual from above, but from below. Their aim is to shoot,
edit and duplicate a DVD film version of The Communist Manifesto which
will then be sold to the proletariat pirate video-style from sports bags
on the streets of London.
A projection of new sound interventions at Wilton’s
Music Hall by Loretta Bosence & Liz Haven, Thor
Mcintyre-Burnie & Chris Watson and Duncan Whitley.
Wilton’s Music Hall
Graces Alley (off Ensign St.), London, E1
14-18 May 2005
The artists were commissioned to create work for the building. Performed
sequentially as a series of sound interventions, each work aimed to transform
the atmosphere of the auditorium in subtle, unexpected and compelling
ways.
Me and my Shadow was organised and curated by Measure,
Melanie Smith and Duncan Whitley.
19 – 27 June 2004
Farmiloes Building, 34 St John St, London, EC1
The old warehouse of glass and lead merchants, George Farmiloe &
Sons, Clerkenwell, played host to the exhibition, Mementoes & Other
Curiosities.
Mementoes & Other Curiosities blurred the line between historical
documentation and the artists’ work, creating a rich mix of dark,
playful interventions and intriguing scenarios. Evocative objects and
documents were found as the visitor explored the space. Slights of narrative
weave through them, giving hints of events, characters and the stories
that bind them. Whether real or imagined, art or history these collected
artifacts have a common aim to beguile, charm and twist the perception
of the audience.
211 St Johns Street had been the site of a gin distillery since the
early 18th Century under the name of J W Nicholson & Co. A practice
the area was infamous for.
The work in the show reflected the scary and mysterious atmosphere of
the basement, with its vast vaulted spaces and dark hidden passage ways.
St. Pancras crypt, St. Pancras Church, Euston
19th Sept - 29th Sept 2002
As part of London Open House 2002, Measure presented ‘Lights On’, housed
in the catacombs of St Pancras Crypt. Situated in an already weighted
and potent building, artists have been gathered whose work utilise and
respond to elements integral to the space. An experiential component is
central and works have been placed so as to make use of the crypt’s maze-like
architectural features. Lit almost entirely by the work itself, physical
negotiation of and perceptual adjustment to the space make interaction
an implicit part of the show.
The Isokon Flats, Lawn Road, Belsize Park.
19th - 26th September 2001
Minimal Existence featured ten artists creating work in
response to the Lawn Road Flats. Hallways, staircases, ‘minimum’ flats and penthouse suite
were all utilised. Measure provided the public with a unique opportunity to view the building.
The exhibition also focused in a more documentary fashion on both the
past and the future of the Isokon flats. Flat 15, once occupied by designer Walter Gropius, housed historical information
about the Isokon flats.
Measure collaborated with The Isokon Trust to provide visitors with
an insight into the the rich past of the building and the the people and
events that have shaped it. Isokon Plus, the company who still make furniture to original Isokon designs,
kindly donated some pieces to accompany the exhibition. This was the first Measure show to have a a complete history program.
The exhibition was held in conjunction with the London Open House
Weekend in 2001.
Click here
for a brief history of the Lawn Road Flats
I love your work' was installed in the only remaing part of the old hostpital on Hoxton Street. It was a selection of our favourite work by our favourite artists.
The exhibition was held in Hoxton House, 34 Hoxton Street, London,
from the 21st July until the 3rd August 2001
A exhibition of new work by young artists.
A series of installations were installed sympathetically within the station. Visitors were able to explore the station's ticket hall
and its previously inaccessible storage rooms. Exhibiting at Aldwych was
a challenging and exciting chance to juxtapose contemporary artworks
with a public space from early last century.
tunnelvision featured as part of the London Open House project, which
took place on the 23th-24th of September 2000.
