Edmund de Waal at Kettles Yard
de Waal, E. 2007. Edmund de Waal at Kettles Yard.
de Waal, E. 2007. Edmund de Waal at Kettles Yard.
| Creators | de Waal, E. |
|---|---|
| Description | For this touring exhibition De Waal made a series of new installation pieces, all of them concerned with 'framing devices' - the question of how the vessels were placed. Some of the installations used unconventional materials, others were more concerned with the architectural spaces they occupied. This major Arts Council-funded touring exhibition took as its premise the exploration of two completely different environments for the display of ceramics. One, Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, has an extensive collection of ceramics alongside its more famous paintings and sculpture. The other, the newly opened Mima in Middlesborough, is a post-modernist series of white cube spaces. Installation can be site-specific or it can be site-sensitive. The methodology of the project lay in the testing of this idea through the re-siting of installations, and hence the interrogation of the idea of installation itself. This exhibition comprised fourteen new installation pieces, all concerned with ‘framing devices’ - the question of how the vessels were placed. Some installations used unconventional materials (Corten steel, lacquered wood, plywood), others were more concerned with the architectural spaces they occupied. Some of these spaces were already extant - bookcases and cupboards at Kettles’ Yard, structural metal beams at Mima - others were created for the installations. One substantial installation Wunderkammer was created in its own sealed space where vessels were glimpsed through interstices. Another Imago was suspended 35 feet up in a central gallery at Mima. Alongside the exhibition was a photography project by Helene Binet, known for her work on the architecture of Hadid and Liebeskind. These photographs feature in the exhibition catalogue (ISBN 978-1-904561-24-8), alongside substantial essays by Helen Waters and Dr Jorunn Veiteberg. Two symposia were held, one at Kettles Yard concentrating on contemporary collecting, the other at Mima on architecture and ceramics. Reviews included Guardian, Times, Blueprint, Independent, Ceramics Art and Perception, Ceramic Review and Crafts. A performance of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae was given at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in relation to de Waal’s installation, Tenebrae. |
| Year | 2007 |