Elementary Study of Form
Centre for Remote Possibilities
REVOLVER II, Matts Gallery, London
2014
Craig Barnes’ Futuro house functioned as the Centre for Remote Possibilities on the roof of Matts Gallery.
The space was given over to an invited artist/curator each day to create a response. Experienced by a limited audience in the space, the responses were also broadcast live via the gallery website.
Elementary Study of Form
Centre for Remote Possibilities, 10/12/2014
Building on the Floor Plan for an Institution project at Meter Room, in which 5 artist-run spaces based in the West Midlands were invited to contribute to the collective imagining of a speculative artist-run institution over the course of 6-months, Elementary Study of Form featured the work of 5 artists, who each responded to the title of a room/study within Craig Barnes’ Centre for Remote Possibilities.
The original floorplan for the US-spec Futuro house, which was divided into 5 internal rooms (Bathroom, Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room, Bedroom), bears a resemblance to the highly influential circular curriculum model developed by Walter Gropius at the Bauhaus. This pedagogic model was also central to discussion between several of the participants on the methods and ethos of a newly developed Foundation Art & Design course in Brighton.
The Bauhaus concentric model, which was passed through, from 1 outer section (Vorlehre: 6-month Preliminary Course), through to 5 internal sections representative of a range of study subjects, and then a further 7 sections focusing upon specific materials surrounding a core of Building/Site/Testing/Design, shares similarities with the Futuro’s floorplan, whereby the different rooms common to an average small home circle a focal point demarked as Fireplace/Hood/Stereo.
The 5 invited artists were each given the title of a room and a subject of study within the first inner section of the Bauhaus model.
1. Bathroom : Study of Nature
Mocksim, Rearing, performance with 12 dozen eggs and 3 children's potties
2. Kitchen : Study of Materials
Jonathan Gilhooly, Domestic Science
3. Dining Room : Space Study/Colour Study/Composition Study
Joshua Uvieghara, Orientation within itself, mixed media
4. Living Room : Study of Construction and Representation
Daniel Pryde-Jarman, Curtain, projection of found footage of Bauhaus windows
5. Bedroom : Study of Materials and Tools