Following from 2010’s Sideshow, Nottingham is host to its second city wide art festival from “Not Lost”. Formed from a collaboration of young artistic talent from across the city, the Not Lost crew are keen to pull apart the pretension of other modern art festivals. On the contrary, Not Lost’s organisers want this month long event to bring in as many different types of performance to the fray and show the city some creative roots. Meeting with Alan Binns, key organiser and head of artistic group 1%ers, he explained “although the guys at Sideshow are fantastic at what they do, we wanted to showcase newer, younger talent, taking on the more established names”.
Opening exhibit “Banality & Big Questions” has the appeal of a cinematic premier; a red carpet from the front of the gallery leads to 6 foot high glass prism, encasing a gold landscaped mound from Alistair Pett. We are then lead to the main hall with an installation from Scott Illingworth; a miniature train running circles around a garden shed. A deity sits inside, staring into a television surrounded by neon glitter. It’s a fine balance of whimsy and charm to complement the more adult themes from Binns’ own contributions.
Binns’ photo montages of 60s female iconography interspersed with modern photography questions the facetious obsession of vintage glamour. Womb Tomb develops this theme,opening with a repeating 8mm clip of a burlesque dancer, undressing to a melody that echoes Bernard Herrmann’s Taxi Driver score.
Other highlights include Emma Gamble’s White Elephant, a tribute of sorts to Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary Grizzly Man. Using a script extract as a foundation, this simplistic film playing white noise, with little effort, elegantly grasps the concept of personal secrecy and the quiet chatter of regret. By comparison The Self Dissection of Bartholomew Hunt by Janine Francesca Lucchese is wildly imaginative and hilarious idea inviting the audience to step up to a Cuckoo clock to see a how the “tick tock” sound could be a coup of warring creatures hidden away from the world.
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A Candy Coloured Clown...- Scott Illingworth
Continuing in similar style at the Backlit gallery is “BackStage” taking the theatrics a step further, putting on handful of local and regional artists and performers for a live exhibit. Throughout the night the gallery echoes the “Minotaur Blues” of Simon Raven – although it amounts to little more than the performer adorned in an animal mask, sat in a shopping trolley and playing slow guitar, it’s an amusing refrain from some of the more abstract pieces.
Dance troupe Spilt Milk bring their – as they describe it – “free for all attitude” that marries concerto music with modern dance performance. Their quirky style and earnest effort to make the worlds of classical dance and pop culture join hands is charming but the idea wears thin as the show drags on. Similarly another concept, “Cognitive Behavioural Therapy” has a group of actresses spout endless political and personal clichés. It makes a worthwhile observation about the “fashion of therapy” before running short of ideas.
Much like the Minotaur Blues, BACKstage is at its best when the work is concise. The Salon by Resting Theatre Company lasts for over two hours as the group host a dinner party for the audience. The minutiae of communication and skill of the actors is convincing and light hearted but as their gathering continues into the night, the sense of distance grows as you begin to feel more an invader that an invitee. It’s a progressive and mildly disturbing piece.
Unfortunately, the evening closes with a wildly unimaginative and risible show by Rachel Parry. All Head No Sex saw Parry use a razor blade to cut cartoonish pictures into her breast – the audience left paralyzed to take any action against this horrid act. An abusive, repulsive and nihilistic work with absolutely no artistic merit - it was a stupid choice to include this and one which blemishes those who had worthy contributions to make.
Thankfully, the Crocus Gallery’s own Lenton Faces and Thursday Group, offers a more wholesome approach the next day. Thursday Art Group being a culminating showcase of the Gallery’s regular local art group and Lenton Faces, a slideshow of inspiring figures from the community. More regional talent is found at the Nottingham Society of Artists from Sarah Fiander who takes cartography prints and transforms them into unique and delicately built woodwork sculptures. Filled with painstaking detail and craft, Fiander’s work is a loving tribute to her home town and a promising close to this week’s highs and lows.
Not Lost Ran from 1st July - 6th August 2011
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