Time and Gallery Space

Mark Walinger's exhibition at the Hayward earlier this year (and presently touring the UK)entitled 'The Russian Linesman' explored the themes of 'Frontiers, Borders and Thresholds' (echoing Nicolas Bourriaud's Altermodern concept...see below) and was interested particularly in 'the ambiguities of perception and the interface between different realms of knowledge and experience'. There was an array of thought-provoking artefacts including his own 'Time and Relative Dimensions in Space' (2001) - a life-sized mirrored representation of Doctor Who's TARDIS which was placed in one corner, opposite another corner, so that by standing in a particular spot the reflection of the walls and skirting boards matched those behind the actual TARDIS, giving the illusion that the TARDIS was somehow in the process of materialsing into the space from some other dimension, as it would appear to do in the fictional TV series.
What Wallinger is conveying is a sense that our percptions are fallable - that they are subject to a particular subjective point of view that is unique for every individual and are therefore ambiguous.
I like this piece alot.
It reminds me that my own perception is a mere reflection of my previous knowledge and experience affecting what and how I perceive the world at any given moment. The beauty of this realisation is it means that our perceptions of the world can potentially be altered for the better by new knowledge and positive experiences. This to me is truely great art because it literally does change my perception of the world, but it also does something else...
By coming to this conclusion I then must also agree that the world is therefore changeable through my percpetions of it and that if I review my percpetions of the everyday - the interactions I have, the objects I own, the all-too-familiar everyday environment I barely notice usually and the decisions I make based on assumptions that are themselves based on subjective experience, I might just be able to envision my place in the world with more possibilities and inspiration.
However, if I'm not interested in art or going to art galleries then maybe I'd never get this knowledge or experience. It's a shame that some really good ideas by artists are locked away in gallery spaces never to be experienced by some people. It seems a sign of the times that creative minds are hidden away whilst bankers and politicians get to make important decisions that require creative solutions. Maybe, just maybe, if artists were to give up trying to make money by selling their art to rich people, as just another product in the marketplace, they might step outside the gallery system and enter into a direct engagement with the rest of society in a bid to inspire the everyday person in the communities of the world to put down their credit cards and reconsider what is important and what actually makes them happy.

The Russian Linesman is at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea til 20th Sept 2009.