Simon Faithfull "GOING NOWHERE"
Parker's Box
This event has ended.
In Faithfull’s new exhibition Going Nowhere, the artist demonstrates his preoccupation with the notion that human hyperactivity is utterly futile in the bigger scheme of things. Ultimately, the planet, (and its inhabitants) are literally ‘going nowhere’ other than heading for certain destruction at a later date. In perhaps its simplest form, Simon Faithfull has spoken about the possibility of running in a circle close to one of the poles where it would be possible to run at the same speed as the earth’s rotation, in the opposite direction, effectively cancelling out the runner’s velocity. While this work, Standing Still, so far exists only as a documentation piece, it gives a clear indication of the artist’s focus and intent in his new work.
The central project presented in Going Nowhere, is Simon Faithfull’s new work, 0°00 Navigation, an ambitious undertaking in which the artist set out to walk, climb, wade and swim his way across the whole length of the United Kingdom, from the English Channel to the North Sea, keeping strictly to the Greenwich Meridian, the zero longitude point from which all international navigation is calculated.
The resulting black and white film and photographs document the artist’s progress as he crosses fields, roads and canals, passing over or through whatever obstacles present themselves be they natural or manmade including houses, factories, offices etc. The lone figure of the artist, seen always from behind as he heads ever northwards, presents the romantic image of an anonymous, slightly dandy individual, stubbornly carrying out the mission he has been given, in which he is at the mercy of the whims of geography – an insignificant being pitched against all the unknown traps and tricks of the planet’s zero meridian. Filming the project in black and white adds to a notion of clandestine operations, somehow conjuring shades of 007 engaged in discreet and bizarre operations (of the utmost importance)! Here, however, this romantic element of quintessential British eccentricity is complimented by other connotations that deal with more universal notions about the relation of mankind to the planet.
Media
Schedule
from March 03, 2011 to April 03, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-03-05 from 18:00 to 22:00