Martin Creed. Work No. 360: Half the Air in a Given Space, 2015; installation view. Courtesy of Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Photo: RJ Sánchez, Solstream Studios.

Over the past decade, Creed has made about a dozen pieces involving colored latex balloons of various dimensions. The exact number of balloons for each installation is calculated via a mathematical calculation; the volume of the gallery is halved and then divided by the equivalent volume of a sixteen-inch balloon in cubic feet. Work No. 360 turns the Henry’s lower-level gallery into a space of play that simultaneously, thanks to the sheer density of the balloons, makes one self-conscious of the volume that one’s body takes up while masking the true dimensions of the surrounding white cube.

First viewed from above, the installation swells and moves, recalling a wave pool, although the source of the balloons’ undulations isn’t entirely clear. It’s only as you descend a gradually sloping ramp to the gallery’s glass entrance below that you realize people inside are causing the bursts and ripples seen on the surface. Once you have been given a green wristband (to track attendance), squeezed in through the glass door, and let the initial wave of shock wear off, it’s hard not to start reaching for metaphor: the aforementioned mosh pit, a snowstorm, a fog bank, or, to expand on Sylvia Plath’s remarkably prescient phrasing, a herd of “oval-soul animals/taking up half the space.”

Martin Creed. Work No. 360: Half the Air in a Given Space, 2015; installation view. Courtesy of Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Photo: RJ Sánchez, Solstream Studios.

Whatever your choice, nothing quite encapsulates the physical experience of the space. The balloons both impede and warp one’s range of motion and field of vision, making the bounded space they’re contained in feel infinite and decidedly more viscous. That initial endorphin-fueled sense of fun is tempered by unease (and for the truly claustrophobic, panic would immediately ensue). Getting separated from someone is easy, whereas—as attested to by the anxious fidgeting and fruitless calls of the parents lined up outside the gallery, still waiting for their children to emerge—finding each other is far more challenging. Bumping into another person frequently came as an unexpected surprise, despite the sounds of the balloons squeaking and rubbing together (or popping underfoot), which offered a kind of echolocation for sensing other people’s trajectories.

Martin Creed. Work No. 360: Half the Air in a Given Space, 2015; installation view. Courtesy of Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Photo: RJ Sánchez, Solstream Studios.

Through the piece’s accompanying wall text, the Henry dutifully posits Andy Warhol’s bespoke, pillow-like silver clouds as an art-historical precedent and counterpoint to Creed’s denser massing of commercially produced gray orbs. Given the range of feelings triggered by the piece, a more instructive comparison might be to the large-scale, participatory amusements of Creed’s contemporary, Carsten Holler. Broadly speaking, both artists are interested in setting into place conditions that heighten, trigger, or play off of sensory-based affective states such as excitement, surprise, and wonder. However, unlike Holler’s giant corkscrew slides or flight-simulating harnesses, Work No. 360 achieves these thrilling ends through simpler means: It makes solid the volume that is already present within the space, by using a readily available object. Creed refrains from couching his work in the aura of pseudoscience that, in Holler’s case, often feels pretentious and condescending. If both Holler and Creed invite us to reappraise institutional space as a site for play, Creed goes further. He asks those who step inside Work No. 360 to reencounter play as a kind of viscerally felt negotiation of boundaries, emotions, and interpersonal recognition. Perhaps it’s all much simpler than that, and Work No. 360 boils down to one question that it leaves unanswered: What’s more fun—running through a room full of balloons or running through a room full of balloons in an art museum?

Martin Creed: Work No. 360: Half the Air in a Given Space is on view at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle through September 27, 2015.

Martin Creed. Work No. 396, 2005; planks of wood; 102 x 482 x 29.5 cm. Courtesy of Hayward Gallery. Photo: Linda Nylind.

One framework that is readily apparent for all of Creed’s work at his major survey show at Hayward Gallery is a numbering system that he started using around 1991. Every work has a unique number assigned to it, but not every work receives a title. Whilst considering one of the large gallery walls covered with 1,000 multicolored imprints of broccoli on card, titled Work No. 1000: Broccoli Prints (2009-10), I considered the idea of frameworks and was reminded of a joke my wife’s grandmother used to tell frequently. In some ways, it works as a nice analogy for the moment one has when looking at Creed’s work. To paraphrase:

A woman walks into a grocery store and asks the clerk for some broccoli. The clerk responds that they’re fresh out of broccoli, but the woman refuses to yield on her request. After a bit of back-and-forth, the exasperated clerk offers:

Clerk: Ma’am, spell the “car” in carrot.

Woman: C-A-R.

C: Okay, now spell the “let” in lettuce.

W: L-E-T.

C:  Very good, now spell the “fuck” in broccoli.

W: [pause] There is no fuck in broccoli.

C: That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!

Martin Creed. Work No. 1000, 2009-10; various paints on card; installation view. Courtesy of Hayward Gallery. Photo: Linda Nylind.

Martin Creed. Work No. 1000, 2009-10 (detail); various paints on card; overall dimensions variable. Courtesy of Hayward Gallery. Photo: Linda Nylind.

The woman is of course a stand-in for the viewer who comes to the work with presuppositions, which leaves the artwork to play the role of the clerk—the voice of deadpan, punning logic. In this situation, there is a crisis moment, and a blunt conclusion occurs at the end of the exchange; a solution is presented through the obvious, and the viewer is left considering a joke that is a result of the framework. Work No. 1000 is necessarily an artwork made from 1,000 prints, because of its rank in the numbering system, and its title dictates its form. The part the viewer is then left to consider is the absurdity of making 1,000 imprints of a vegetable.

Martin Creed. Work No. 200: Half the Air in a Given Space, 1998 (detail); white balloons; multiple parts, each balloon 12 in./30.5 cm diameter; overall dimensions variable. Courtesy of Hayward Gallery. Photo: Anna Maltz.

In the early days of conceptual minimalism, it was considered frivolous to make a piece look good, and there certainly wasn’t much room for fun or humor. All effort was to be put into the formula through which a concept was to find resolution. Conceptually comprehensive systems can turn out to be overly didactic and eventually become stale. LeWitt—the grandmaster of closed-ended instructions—fully understood this dilemma and seemingly abandoned it for broad strokes of good-looking color. Creed has borrowed and learned from the best, yet he hasn’t prevented a conceptual strategy from having fun or looking good. Work No. 200: Half the Air in a Given Space (1998) is one of the most beautiful conceptual gestures that I’ve thought about or seen. The piece consists of a room with half the airspace taken up with white balloons. The viewer is allowed to enter and be engulfed by the piece. It is a perfectly distilled idea illustrated physically in a playful and beautiful way.

Martin Creed. Work No. 1588, 2013; iron beams. Courtesy of Hayward Gallery. Photo: Linda Nylind.

Creed’s work functions like a song with a good hook. There may be a moment when a piece isn’t fully understood, but there is no secret language to decode. If necessary, give it a bit of time and it will then be plainly obvious what the piece is attempting to do. Frank Stella famously said, “What you see is what you see.” What’s the Point of It? is an incredibly satisfying exhibition that presents the very best that Creed has to offer without hiding the blemishes. Considered as a whole, this comprehensive survey strikes the perfect balance of a super-smart conceptual practice with a sexy but justified veneer. What is evident is that Creed can have his “fuck in” broccoli and eat it too.

Martin Creed: What’s the Point of It? is on view at Hayward Gallery through April 27, 2014.

The Edinburgh Art Festival annually commissions new works of art and partners with the local art community to provide a strong exhibitions program throughout the city.  The 2010 EAF presents commissions of new work by artists Martin Creed, Richard Wright and collaborative partners Kim Coleman and Jenny Hogarth.  Coleman and Hogarth’s Staged, which concluded August 15th, was produced by the Collective Gallery and situated at the City Observatory on Carlton Hill.  The artists turned the space into a multi-channel video installation described by the EAF Guide as both a ‘digital camera obscura’ and ‘a mise-en-scène’ for the city.  Capitalizing upon the theatrical emphasis of the Edinburgh Festivals, the artists included visitors in their work by projecting live CCTV footage along with pre-recorded filmic images of Edinburgh.

The 2010 EAF also commissioned intervention and performance works to take place throughout its run.  Among them is Ross Christie’s Mobile Art Market.  His environmentally friendly cycle-powered market stall travels around Edinburgh, offering up affordable prints, multiples, books and fanzines created by local artists.

Martin Creed: Down Over Up

The Fruitmarket Gallery presents new and recent work by 2001 Turner Prize winning British artist Martin Creed in Down Over Up.  Down Over Up – an evocative title – is inspired by the artist’s commission to refurbish the Scotsman Steps.  Creed notes the strong use of repetition in his work, which is for him a comfortable means of approaching our chaotic world and creating some semblance of regularity.  The exhibition’s strong thematic emphasis upon repetitive, incremental changes allows one to see differences where things might have otherwise appeared to be the same.

Down Over Up is centered upon the concept of ‘stacking and progression in size, height and tone’.  The exhibition features work where Creed has stacked or piled planks, chairs, tables, boxes, or legos.  The artist also uses paint and ink to explore the theme.  Creed’s new commission within the gallery transforms the central staircase into a synthesizer and is one of the conceptual highlights of the exhibition.  Ascending and descending the staircase causes notes on a scale to sound – making visitors’ movements through the gallery take on heightened participatory purpose as they both enact and complete the work

The Scotsman Steps Commission. Artist's impression of EAF commission for the Scotsman Steps, curated by the Fruitmarket Gallery and supported by the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Photo: Courtesy the Artist.

Down Over Up aptly references Creed’s permanent public work commission to refurbish Edinburgh’s Scotsman Steps.  The Steps, which take their name from the newspaper whose headquarters they were built to serve in 1904, are located by the Fruitmarket Gallery, connecting East Market Street and North Bridge in Edinburgh’s uniquely elevated Old Town.  The city seeks to give the Steps new life through the commission, as they have fallen out of favor due to disrepair and association with crime.  While the work has not been completed, Creed plans to resurface each step with contrasting marbles sourced from around the world.  The materials will not only infuse the Scotsman Steps with visual interest and a sense of permanence, but will also inject it with global character.

Martin Creed: Down Over Up will be on view at the Fruitmarket Gallery through 31 October 2010.

Richard Wright: The Stairwell Project

Richard Wright, The Stairwells Project, An EAF Commission in the Dean Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Supported by the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Photo: Angela Catlin.

2009 Turner Prize winner Richard Wright presents Stairwell Project, a new permanent work at the Dean Gallery.  The Dean Gallery, a part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art since the 1990s, was designed by Thomas Hamilton as the Dean Orphan Hospital in 1831.  The Gallery’s staircases are among the building’s most prominent features and provide an expansive, architecturally unique background for Wright’s work.  Known for his ephemeral, wall-based painting, Wright brings this character to the Dean Gallery’s western staircase – placing the tradition of stairwell painting within the modern art gallery and presenting it in a new way.

Wright hand-painted The Stairwell Project in a physically and mentally demanding process that took four weeks to complete.  Inspired by the honeysuckle design of the original ceiling moldings in the stairwell, Wright designed an organic, abstracted flower shape.  He chose to paint solely in black – a color which points to the building’s melancholic history.  The flower motif is repeated in varying ways several thousand times throughout the stairwell.  The organic nature of the shape notably has the effect of introducing curved lines to a space that is solidly geometric.  Yet, the shape’s simplicity and its neutral color do not overpower.  Instead, the carefully varied size, orientation and placement of each flower subtly emphasizes the stairwell’s architecture and the abundance of light let in by the large windows.

Hito Steyerl:  In Free Fall

Hito Steyerl, still from In Free Fall. Photo: Courtesy the Artist.

The Collective Gallery presents In Free Fall, featuring new and recent work by artist and theorist Hito Steyerl.  Berlin-based Steyerl works in visual essay or film essay similar to artists such as Ursula Biemann.  This nascent documentary-influenced approach features a montage of appropriated and new footage, interviews and voice-over narrative.  Unlike traditional media, film essays facilitate the analysis of global complexities.  Through the shared language of images and information, Steyerl closely examines the economic networks which define our existence.

In Free Fall – Steyerl’s first solo exhibition in Scotland – presents Journal No. 1 in addition to three related works that include After the Crash, Before the Crash and Crash (a new commission).   The Crash works address the global economic downturn by focusing on an airplane junkyard located in the visually bare California desert - revealing cycles of capitalism as seen through the evolution of commodity.  The airplane, which facilitates global mobility, is a recognizable symbol of globalization and reveals a larger story.  As the Collective asserts, these works present ‘an anatomy of crashes both fictional and real’, revealing ‘unexpected connections between economy, violence and spectacle’.

In Free Fall concludes at the Collective Gallery on 19 September.

Julie Roberts: Child

Julie Roberts, Staying Together (2010), oil on linen. Collection of Mr. Pontus Bonnier, Sweden. Courtesy of Andrehn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm.

University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery presents Julie Roberts: Child – featuring new work by the artist.  Julie Roberts, a painter based in England, is concerned with the means through which ‘our social experience is given shape’.  In the past, Roberts has often chosen to paint the overtly sinister, drawing her to crime scenes and medical instruments.  Child – a thematic departure – focuses on gender roles, domestic environments, familial portraiture, school rooms and domestic labor situated in mid-twentieth century Britain.  As with past work, her new subject matter is underpinned by extensive research.  This allows Roberts to accurately present an entirely different, decidedly austere approach to childhood in a time period complicated by a great displacement of children into orphanages and foster homes.

While Roberts focuses on historic approaches to childhood and the family network, there is no sentimentality involved.  In works such as Staying Together or Meat and Two Veg, Roberts makes once familiar family scenes and portraiture both strange and unrecognizable.  Carefully constructed, unnatural stiffness is tempered by realism.  At the same time, historic subject matter is stylized and set against characteristic patterned backgrounds and wallpaper.  Roberts’ both stylized and informed approach to her subject matter combine to highlight ways in which society has changed over time.

Julie Roberts: Child remains at the Talbot Rice Gallery through 25 September.

life.turns.

life.turns. Uploaded submission.

life.turns. a film made by thousands of people, one frame at a time, is part of the 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival.  Blipfoto, an online photo journal and social networking community, was commissioned by New Media Scotland‘s Alt-w Fund to create an animated film using thousands of photos uploaded by participants. People were invited to submit photographs posed in any of 8 specified stances that represent the progressive movements of walking.  Blipfoto then presented these still images in a rapid succession giving the illusion of thousands of people walking – working together to complete one another’s gait.  The resulting animated film revives the Victorian zoetrope in a new way for the digital world and presents a celebration of everyday life in all its diversity.

life.turns. was completed and presented at Inspace in Edinburgh on 26 August.  The film can be viewed online at Blipfoto.